After an evening light show of the natural kind but fortunately no rain, Friday morning started off pretty brisk but another nice clear sky for a day of driving which turned out to be very warm at times. The morning started with the gathering of the various Mokes on the lawns at Moke central and then Newie providing the run down of what would be happening for the day, or at least what he thought ould be happening for the day. :)

With the growing number of Mokes, the group was split into two convoys to head out of town, with the first convoy supposedly travelling a little bit quicker then the second. Samm tried out his new Go pro camera mounted on the battery cover pointing backwards, giving those of us coming up from behind something to aim for as we passed.

Once we got through town and regrouped it was fairly uneventful run for the first convoy until the outer limits of Quirindi where we stopped to wait for the second convoy. Ainsley's Moke decided it didn't want to go again, no spark, but after a few different ideas and attempts someone did something and it fired into life, however most of the rest of the group had already moved on. The second group arrived just as Ainsley got going, having been delayed by the spare tyre on Moke2B's Moke having a major blow out, which seemed to strike nme has strange when he showed it to me mounted on the back of the car.


The first stop for the day was Bob's Shed which was an individuals personal collection of Holden and predominantly Peter Brock memorabilia with a few replica's of his lesser known race cars and some limited edition road cars. Also in the sheds, and really it would rival many commercial museums, there was a recreation of a saloon bar, a old time grocery store and some restored Motorbikes and a very original Standard Vanguard Ute. Besides the sheer volume and quality of the display what really impressed me was the detailed information boards about the cars and why they were special and the history of what happened to the original vehicle.

For a Holden and or Peter Brock fan this is a real must do for the bucket list.

After untangling the Mokes from Bob's Carpark we headed around the corner to the Heritage Museum for Lunch and a ride on the trains for the big'ish kids using he younger ones as an excuse to do a few laps of the track. Mellow Yellow had been getting pushed started for the morning due to a suspect solenoid or Starter motor but with my magic touch I turned the key and it started easily and has been doing so ever since. Moe and Newie ducked off to fix the bumper from Dynky in his workshop and later on Mazy and Newie disappeared for some reason but I didn't hear why.

While some headed straight back to Tamworth the remaining explorers headed the scenic way to Werris Creek to visit the Railway Museum at the still operating station. We were lucky enough to be parked just several meters from the edge of the platform as a coal train rumbled by with four engines and about 1.5 km of coal trucks behind. You don't realise just who loud it is until it has gone past. Some took the museum tour while the rsst looked at the outside displays. Biggles and Smokey swapped bonnets with at least one party being unaware of what had happened, even though he had chatted to Biggles in the Rat while his bonnet with spare wheel was on full display to the rest of who knew what had gone on.

Back to Moke Central and few more people had arrived during the day, Halfpint was in from the Cape, Netty and Rick in late and Andy W. was setting up around 6pm. Everybody got together for a spit roast dinner under the Marquee that was followed up by a Trivia quiz put together by Moke2B and Maddog. I am not sure of the result as I wandered off to chat to Andy W.

I left a few stragglers sitting around in the dark down there chatting away and some eating their Chocolate cake and Sorbets.

Heading off for a drive to Nundle in the morning.


Some photos from the day, with some pictures of the Mokes found around the park this morning, with the exception of Casper who was hiding and I didn't spot until later.

 

 

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