Old Bar 2011 - A Crashing Plane and Falling Rain

Old Bar is one of those staples as a Kombi enthusiast. I certainly feel drawn back every year, even with the promise of bad weather. Earlier this year I had bought a 76 Bay camper from Steve at Kombi Rescue, and had stripped out the original fit-out and set it up to suit our families requirements (see earlier blogs for details).

We decided a few extra days were on the cards so booked in from Friday until Tuesday. After a camping trip from hell at Coledale Beach (Gale force winds and I put my back out) I knew we could enjoy ourselves in almost any weather, so even though the forecast was for rain, we set out anyway.

Friday
Hooked up with Linz and Andy at Thornleigh Maccas at 9am, and caught up with Warb an hour north. Cruising with a bunch of mates in their classic splits is a real privilege. I thouroughly enjoy it whenever I get the chance.

A mishap along the way that could have ended a lot worse than it did - A semi trailer had just overtaken and moved over in front of me on the F3. A few seconds later a black rectangular flat object flew up from underneath its rear wheels. Was about 3 feet by 2 feet, maybe a big mud flap, and wind caught it and it flipped up and hit my spare wheel cover with a bang and went under my bus. I saw it coming up and prayed it didn't hit the windscreen. Damage was a hole in the spare wheel cover and some scuff marks on the bull bar. Could have been much worse.

Stopped at the obligatory Heatherbrae Pie Shop just past Hexham. These guys have a great business going. Always busy.

Made camp early afternoon at Lani's, with our new Just Kampers annex getting it's first work out. Really worked well. The kit I bought included the annex, under floor footprint, inner tent and carpet! As we were all sleeping in the bus, I didn't bother with the inner tent, but I can honestly say, having the bus connected up to the annex was just like a home away from home.

Basic configuration was my son, sleeping in upstairs sleeping quarters, my daughter and I downstairs on the rock and roll bed, which also doubled as a Tv room during the day with the 24" HD TV with DVD being priceless considering the long rainy periods we had. We were on a powered site and also had a fan heater on board keeping the bus nice and toasty. The annex ended up serving as a kitchen / dining / lounge room with a camp kitchen setup and camp chairs and table.

Saturday
Of course the Saturday was dominated by the plane crash. I was in our tent and heard a plane flying very low followed by a large crash, and then nothing. I told the kids to stay where they are and started running. A small plane had crashed into the ferris wheel in the Old Bar carnival just outside the gate to Lani's. I could see the ferris wheel was largely intact and that two kids were in one of the upper gondolas. The plane had lodged itself close to the top wiping out two more gondolas. Of course one thinks the worst in this case, and I felt sure that there must have been fatalities. Somehow, all survived uninjured.

Speaking to a guy manning the coffee stand, which overlooked the ferris wheel, he said that he watched the plane come in and the moment of impact. He said that the ferris wheel actually started tipping over and somehow righted itself. I still can't believe everyone made it.

The roads were blocked for most of the day, but the authorities let the 4pm Kombi cruise move forward - complete with surreal backdrop of plane stuck in ferris wheel at the mustering point.

At this point I saw Niel and Bernadette, a South African couple, who I had first met down at Rouse Hill Town Centre a few weeks earlier while they were peering through the window of my bus. good to see he already had his Volks Culture sticker on his Bay microbus.

The cruise was a success with a great variety of buses showing up. We proceeded up Old Bar Road to the Pacific Highway and then North to the next Taree exit and then through Taree and back to Old Bar. Lots of people parked by the side of the road to watch the procession passing. Kids and I had a ball. This was the highlight of the weekend with the weather taking a serious down turn after this.

After returning we were faced with the task of reconnecting our bus to the annex. We connected the two through an annex channel on the bus. This of course needs to be fed through so it meant me slowly reversing the bus while my daughter guided me in and connected annex and bus. At this point Mark Stanek, someone who had recently joined Volks Culture, came up and introduced himself, and kindly helped out. This made the process a little easier. Thanks Mark!

Sunday
Sunday morning came and the weather looked pretty bad. We had been through a night of heavy rain, and the morning looked grey and ready to dish out more of the same. We proceeded up to the festival anyway, and after registering we proceeded onto the field. There was lots of mud with a few buses getting bogged on the way in.

We were number 43 to register, and where we parked , we could only get out of drivers door due to a massive mud puddle. I wandered around in a poncho taking a few pics while my kids were watching a movie in the bus. The whole thing was called off by 11am - very frustrating.

Monday
Started the day with a nice cooked breakfast, some sunshine and got organized for a cruise. The plan was we were going to hook up with Warb (and maybe Linz) and cruise to the town of Wingham via a very scenic lookout. Linz decided he was going back to Sydney a day early, and Warb after trying unsuccessfully to call me had already headed up to Port Macquarie instead.

We decided we'd head to the local cafe to regroup and decide what to do. After a truly great coffee and a chat with Squadron Leader (Fred) and his wife, we thought we'd head up to Port Macquarie as well, taking the tourist route which involved heading for the coast at Kew. Around 2pm we arrived at Flynns Beach, just South of Port Macquarie, and had another one of those memorable experiences, fish and chips in the bus parked right next to the beach. This is what I love most about the Kombi lifestyle.

Warb ended up joining us at the beach and we decided, after looking at map on Warb's phone, that we'd make an extended cruise through Wauhope and Comboyne to Wingham. At the beach Sam and Ryan had told us of a previous Old Bar cruise experience from he'll where they ended up on an unsealed road in terribe condition with nowhere to turn around, sun going down and when they finally got to the other end they saw a big sign up saying Road Closed.

I don't know what it is about Warb, but the route he had suggested went straight through another closed road. We decided not to chance it a second time and did an about face, but not before discovering the little town of Comboyne. Tiny, beautiful old buildings, great looking cafe....we will be back there next year for sure.

Due to the change of route, we didn't get back until 7:15pm where reconnected bus to annex, and retired with dinner, a few games and a glass of red or two.

Tuesday
Woke up at 6:20am to the sound of a light shower, thinking oh no, I have to take the tent down and pack up camp. Fortunately, this was the last shower of the day, and with the sun starting to peek out, we were able to strike camp with a minimum of fuss. Warb was cruising back at the same time, so we decided we'd stop at the Australian Motorcycle Museum at Nabiac (about 30kms south of Old Bar) on the way back.

Well worth stopping, although we didn't do the place justice with only a 30 minute visit. Almost every bike warranted individual attention, having a back story and so many aspects you wanted to study in detail.

After leaving we caught up with Greg, Edwina and their beautiful split camper on the F3 and so all three of us cruised home without mishap. Certainly brought some stories home from this one, but I will definitely be back next year as usual, and hoping for some sunshine.