Christmas in July .. 2015

[reddo]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK !!!!!
2 Typhoons threatening to merge together off Japan. ( would that be could a megaphoon or a Supaphoon .... callossaphoon....bloodybigphoon ??)
An East Coast Low bringing up to 70 CM of snow to the mountains from around this Sunday onwards
Temperatures down to 4 degrees and less along the coast...
A wintery blast of Sou West winds predicted for early next week.

HHHHmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... i might ring the SES and see if they can come to the van park and board up the camp kitchen.... that'll keep the chill out....
Not too sure what to do about the Typhoon induced Tsnami coming over the sand hills...

Ummmm... just make sure you pack some dry slippers... could get a little damp. Oh .. and maybe any spare tarps you might have kicking around...

We have survived ( very unpleasantly on most occassions) inclement weather at previous Xmas in Julys at Katoomba.. Bleakheath, South West Rocks... So... why should Stockton be any different.

I suggest that we drop the idea of Xmas in July ( Hey... don't whinge .. it was my idea in the first place to go to Katoomba around 2008 )....and come up with "Xmas at Xmas "

Swaying palms... warm summer breezes.. 30 degrees... sipping martinis on the beach ....cool dips in the ocean...
Nup.. Nup... all sounds a bit boring duzznit !!

See ya there next week.
Reddo

[reddo]

Nice catching up with everyone. I see Richard taking lots of photos so its over to him for more on the weekend.

As always... open to suggestions for next years Xmas in july
Regards
Reddo

[Richard]

What Reddo, thats not like me to be taking photos or VIDEOS of the weekend.
Ill see what I can scrape up.
Cheers.

[Richard]

The weather forecast had predicted another arctic freeze over the weekend so there was a lot of going, not going, going on a day or two before. With the van packed ready just in case, I woke on the Friday morning fairly early so thought thats it iam going and grabbed a few thing from the fridge and headed off to beat the early morning Friday Sydney traffic. With a clear run all the way along the M2 , I only encounted a little traffic about 2 kms before the exit, which I thought was quite fortunate.

With a quick stop for Morning tea I headed into the Stockton Beach Caravan Park at about 10.30am and was pleasantly surprised that they had up graded me to an ensuit site at no extra cost.
So a big thank you for that. Once I had the RoadCruiser set up on the site I soon realised that I needed more clothes on, and I just about wore every thing that I brought with me for the weekend. . Anyway now warm I headed of to say hi to everyone and take some photos.

On Friday about lunch time I had this Viscount pull into the site next to me, its had an unusual modification to say the least and it turned out that it belonged to Fred and his photographer from Caravan and Motorhome magazine, but more on that later on.

[Richard]

More photos from last weekend.

[griffin]

Here's a few more photos, things looked much more pleasant in the dark, just like big cities, the pretty lights make it so much more appealing.

I've not mastered night shots with the digital so I can only offer the bit of camera shake as an effort to enhance the lights!
A late starter was a couple on this Sprite van, with little knowledge of its origin or year. Lots of thoughts put forward, don't know if any of them were of any use.

And this outfit got plenty of looks.

Boblor held court on the corner with no less than four Olympics when Boblor Jnr arrived late with his Debonair. With two other Olympics on the field they held their own with Sunliners.

Having two portholes in our van we got double the view but it was mostly large Sunliner.

Thanks to Reddo for his work on the 'observation quiz' and those who partook of the event and observed properly were suitably rewarded when Reddo presided over the answers. For some reason Judge Judy sprang to mind!

We chose the best day to pack up and head home with a stop at Brooklyn for lunch at the pub where unlike on weekends we managed to get a park right outside, on a nice incline.

I was quite impressed that the Velox's hand brake held it firm, but not that impressed that I didn't engage first gear before we went to lunch. The observant may notice the van is still different colours, but it is now back to a coat of paint applied sometime before 1986 after finally getting all the grey and white house paint removed. It is still in good condition and I'll be looking to keep it that way for a while to come.

George

[griffin]

And a few more photos.The discussion here might have been how many Dons could you make from that pine tree.

Ever wondered what's in an Airstream, well this super bathroom is at the back.

This old Jennison was a surprise for me.

And this old Millard was an arrival on Monday, probably not a Vintage but worth a second look these days. Interesting way to open the cover on the Ford.

Stockton Beach with the breakwater in the background might be nice on a summers day, but not too inviting during our stay.

The caravan park from the breakwater with the wreck of the Adolphe. The vans are among the trees.

And Reddo's teardrop.

George

[Richard]

Finally finished a little video of the Christmas in July weekend. I would have had more footage but had to leave early.

[reddo]

I George and Richard..
Wow...How good are those shots of the vans and cars at this years Christmas in July at "Stocko"..
That video is dang near profession quality Richard..
Good to see so many unique vans getting some extra special "screen time"
It really highlights just how unique our hobby of old vans is.

The managers at the park asked me to send them a few photos of the vans and thecrew that stayed there for the festivities..
I will be sending them a link to this thread as well as the shots on the other forum.
Glad everyone from both sides of the intet fence had such a good time...
What we need to decide now is "Where to next"??..
In my honest opinion ( and not my local biased opinion) I reckon that Stockton has the best of everything for another Christmas in July next year.... with a promise of a bigger and better camp kitchen ( maybe even less draftier) being on the drawing board and hopefully completed by next July I don't think we can top the Park with a better venue... !!!!!

Hey... don't let me hear any grumblings about the weather.. we have frozen to death and been blown off our sites by worse weather in previuos years..
just imagine..next year......bathed in glorious sunshine ( don't quote me ) a beach cricket game.. The Bondys V the fobergrossers..... Bauxite owners can run the drinks stand.
Traditonal Kite building and flying comp on the beach... sand modelling vintage caravans.. .
Put a sail on that old billy cart and have low tide sand drag races


Ok... Ok.. I will shut up now.
Reddo

[Richard]

That video is dang near profession quality Richard..

Now Reddo what do you mean by near professional? I put hours of work into these videos and I recon I am more just above average. They at least give every one that didnt go a bit of an idea of what they missed out on.