Hi All,

Well you're probably wondering why I didn't do my column last month and the answer is simple.

The attendance at the last meeting was appalling and although some had a valid reason for not being there and Bathurst was on, I had very little news to pass on then :(

Hopefully I can make up for that now. First of all I want to go to Canberra!! Steve and I were hoping to get there but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Anyway a few did make it down there but for one couple in particular it was a very trying trip!! Dave and Leanne took "Bunty" down for the week-end but she didn't want to play. After a lot of overheating and much stopping along the way, checking parts etc, it took them four and a half hours to get there!! Man...can we relate to that!!

It had to have been worth it in the end because Leanne took out the trophy for "Best Modified Lowlight Kombi." That's a big whoo hoo from me guys and another one to Bill who judged for us on the day. I don't understand the need for this Club to baptize new members by asking them to judge at shows..........just saying!!!  I am reliably informed that air-cooled numbers were down this year and water-cooled were up. Perhaps next year we can do something about that.

Ending on a sour note (for the Silvestris again) they left Canberra at 1.45pm  on Sunday afternoon and arrived home at 7.30 that night!!

I also want to go back to Old Bar for a minute and tell you that it was probably the wettest "Old Bar" in history!! Some of the photos I have seen look horrendous!! However the big news of course was the light plane that crashed into the ferris wheel. Mine and Steve's thoughts at the time were........"Oh no what have Flat Four done now"!!!  What wasn't known at the time and on a more serious note, the Still family was hopping on the ferris wheel at the time of the crash and were very lucky to escape unharmed. The operator decided to move the wheel along so that they could get in and in doing so probably saved the lives of the two little kiddies who were already on board. Needless to say it was a very frightening experience for all concerned and despite debris from the plane all over them, Larry breaking his camera and Mirae suffering minor burns from the leaking aviation fuel, I'm pleased to report that all is well now. From what I hear, it wasn't just the rain that dampened (pardon the pun) everyone's spirits. Leanne and Dave had a terrible time just trying to get to Old Bar! "Bunty" decided she didn't want to go there either after the Canberra trip and she played up something chronic again. Thinking it best to call it quits they turned around and were supposedly going home. Diehards that they are, they went to Klaacks instead, got her up and running  and turned up at Old Bar at about 10.30 that night!! Boy, they deserve a medal!!
   
At the October meeting, we had the pleasure of meeting Ralph. He has an older autistic son and is looking for an interest they can both get involved in. Ralph has a '68 semi automatic beetle that he has been restoring. Last Sunday night saw a much better turnout at the meeting and although it was a short one it was a good one!! The coming events were discussed (check them out on the site) and a new concept was brought up regarding the Christmas Party!! There were plenty of raffle prizes to be won and a good laugh was had by all regarding F.F.F.A.R.R.C. There were plenty of fines being issued by Mr G and plenty of revenue being raised!! Goodness knows what Ralph and Rachel thought about the goings on!! All the following fines except one were from Old Bar..... Dan was fined for drinking Four X and sitting in the back of "Bunty" on the cruise into town. He was also "done" for reversing his ute (we all know how loud it is) right up to where Lilly was sleeping. Dave was fined for "bringing the rain with him" and for wearing his "hippie" shirt which Marco found quite distasteful!! Kevin turned up at the meeting with extremely red eyes (wink wink) after being at a bbq. so he got fined for that as well as having a beer in one hand for the whole long weekend!! Still on Kevin and another fine was handed out to him for hogging the totem tennis from the kids on a week-end where there was absolutely nothing for them to do!! After a bit of debating on the side of Marco and Rachel, she was finally fined for standing by the ferris wheel watching the proceedings after the plane crashed and the camera crews were filming for asking "what would they do if I did a streak"!! Apparently she went missing and Bill asked "where is she"....................

Still on Rachel, on the cruise into town she was with Stuart and Dave was driving behind them and again she asked the question."wonder what they would do if I chucked a brown-eye"!!!  Seems we have a bit of a wild child in that girl and I like it!!! While on the subject of the Zarafa's, Bill's Beetle was registered last week but it just needs a new muffler. Also it seems that Rachel is a bit of a competition junkie and she won 20kgs of Cadbury's chocolate!! Yay for us.......we all got to get a share of it on Sunday night. Thank you so much Rachel, we're really enjoying our block at the moment!!

I think most of you know that Steve and I bought a caravan, well last month it was Murray's turn. He got himself a 1964 Crusader from New Zealand. I'm sure there are going to be many interesting stories in the near future about the work that's being/going to be done on them!! Why just last week Steve went through the floor of ours! It's hard to believe but "Princess Lilly" turned one in October. This big milestone in her life was celebrated with a huge party at the family home. She and Maddie are growing up so quickly, it was really cute watching them play on Sunday and soon there will be another member of the group. Amy looks terrific even though she hasn't been well during her pregnancy but she only has three months to go. That lil' baby will be born before we know it!! We haven't heard from Peter and Dawn for a while but I do know that Chris and his lovely girlfriend graduated from Uni last month. How quickly did that go?? Dawn put a photo up on Facebook and I must say she looked very attractive with her new cropped hairstyle. As a matter of fact they both looked very happy and oh so proud of their eldest son. On a footnote, if you're wondering what was wrong with "Bunty".........blocked fuel filter!! Well I guess that's it for now, I hope I'll see you at one of the upcoming events or at the very least the Club Christmas Party.

Until then keep the shiny side up!

Barb