This past couple of weeks we’ve been in Whyalla, South Australia, staying at the showgrounds. The first week here was for us to attend the CMCA (Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia) rally and then we decided to stay the extra week until after Easter (since we hadn’t booked anywhere and would have trouble getting in to a park anywhere along the SA coast).
The rally was good – over 700 motorhomes and fifth wheelers. Here’s a shot from the roof of our van showing the queue into the rally site
And here’s a couple from the roof showing everyone on site
We’ve had a lot of fun catching up with friends we’ve made on the road and making some new ones. The organisers did a really good job. There were lots of interesting things to do on site. There are many craftspeople on the road so there were workshops in quilting, knitting, weaving, appliqué, macramé, decorative painting etc. There were also a vintage car display and seminars on HF Radio, Communication on the road, Satellite TV stuff and other more blokey things that David went along to, as well as entertainment every night, poets breakfasts each morning, morning teas, tour bookings on site, and buses into town every hour. One thing most of the women thought was great was the laundry service. For $15 you could fill a basket (provided) with as much washing as you could fit in, and it would be picked up, washed, dried, folded and returned to you later in the day. I think we kept them very busy. The town itself offered discounts at most of the shops and clubs to all CMCA members and we found the people in the shops and clubs really friendly and welcoming.
One of the highlights of the entertainment was a guy called Jim Haynes who performed at one of the night time entertainment shows and also one or two of the poets breakfasts. He also ran workshops on writing bush poetry. Jim is an author, bush poet, and very funny comedian. Here’s his website http://www.jimhaynes.net – if you get the opportunity to go see him, then do yourself a favour and go.
Also appearing with Jim was country singer/songwriter Amber Lawrence – http://www.amberlawrence.com” . Amber’s a favourite of ours and another entertainer to catch if you get the chance.
There were also a few trade stands around the site, selling goodies for travelers such as thermal cookers and inverters, but I did hear a few comments about there not being as many as there usually are at the rallies. This was our first rally so we didn’t have anything to compare it to, but we found it very good. Of course, a lot of it is what you make it. We did hear some grumbles about other rallies being better/bigger etc, but we really enjoyed this one.
Ok – I have 1 little gripe – while most of the people here were really great, and we met some lovely people, unfortunately there are a (small) number of older people who are among the rudest I’ve ever met! They pushed and shoved their way through people to get to the front, or out of a venue, or trying to be first in line for something that others have been waiting patiently for. They seem to think their age entitles them to being given way to or allows them to be crabby. Good manners work a lot better. I hope I never get like that – but I think David would shoot me if I did
I did hear from some of the men that on the market day there was virtually nothing for the blokes – it was mainly lovely hand made craft items, which apparently appealed to the women more. A lot of the items being sold (cards, jewellery, quilted, sewn, knitted and crocheted items) were actually made by CMCA members, and it is mainly the women who make these crafted items, selling them on the road or at events like this when there are organized market days. Plus, it’s mainly the women who buy this sort of stuff as gifts for family and friends. Maybe the guys need to either organise stuff themselves or drop hints to the rally committee to see if they could get more traders along who sell ‘blokey’ stuff.
It was also a bit disappointing to be told a couple of times by local people in town that some of our members (again, it was only a few) were quite rude and were telling local businesses that ‘we’ are bringing a lot of money into their town and that they should be grateful. This appears to be in response to them not getting some sort of expected discount. Quite a lot of the local businesses did offer discounts to rally participants, and this was done in the form of a book of discount vouchers, but apparently some participants wanted/expected more. While it’s true that we do inject money into the towns, I don’t get why people think they have a right to discounted goods because of it. The local councils also spend a fair amount of money ensuring we have the necessary facilities for the rallies. Perhaps the locals need to take note of the member number (shown on the tag most of us wear) of the person saying this and report back to the CMCA.
Ok, that’s the end of my rant.
The rally was good, we really enjoyed it, and hopefully we can make the Tassie one next year.