Location: Manning Valley
Date: June 2010

June 26, 2010. The Old Holdens Show 'n Shine was held in a pub on Bushland Drive, Taree, today. It rained for a while but that was okay... cars look better wet. Yeah? A bit like girls in T-shirts... or blokes if... whatever. So I waddled out there with my Fuji Finepix S7000 and clicked away. I think I'm getting better at this kinda thing... there's a few good pics there even if I do say so myself.

I recognized one owner...Ted McKellar, the local steam loco enthusiast, and he recognized me. A couple of weeks ago he bought a 1966 HR Holden in pretty good nick (pics 008-013). His wife was there and she told me the story of all the haggling, etc. So I asked her how much they paid hehe. I can be brutally unsubtle sometimes. The asking price was $12,000 but she whipped out the trusty umbrella and whacked the bloke around the head for a while until he agreed on $8,000. Not bad for a classic Holden in lovely nick. My dad had one. It cost him $1200 used back in 1976. There ya go.

Another interesting and unusual item on exhibition was the front end of a 63/64 Holden EH that had been turned into a barbie. How novel! Throwing a shrimp on that Aussie icon is one for the books. (Pics 026-028).

As I photographed the exhibits, quite often on bended knee which is getting more difficult as I get older, I heard a voice: "Hey, do you know who I am?" It was the Watermelon Kid. He's obviously eating his Weetbix for breakfast because he's shot up to 6' or whatever. Whoosh! Anyway, it was good to see him again. I should have asked him to pose with one of the Holdens but it didn't occur to me at the time. Click here for the photo album.

June 25, 2010. The Winter Orchid Show is being held this weekend at the Uniting Church complex in Taree, with judges appointed by the Orchid Society of NSW. The show was held indoors which meant taking flash photos - not the most desirable of situations photographically but nonetheless some of the pics turned out okay. I also took the opportunity to take a pic of the late 19th century neo-gothic church, which was Methodist before the Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregational churches got together to create the Uniting Church during the 1970s. Across the road is the old Taree Public School, so I took a few pics of that as well. And a few doors down is the old Parsonage, which was the home of the Methodist minister I suppose. It now houses professional offices. Click here for the photo album.

June 4, 2010. This album is a bit of a ring in. I'm not a car freak although I do take an interest in cars. This morning on a newsgroup, I saw a bunch of pics of the Citroen Revolte - a prototype, and I was quite impressed. Most new cars to me fail to inspire but this one is an exception. In fact, I'm sure I recognize some design aspects similar to the old Beetle, and I wouldn't be surprised if this car (should it go into production) captures public imagination the way the old Bug did. Click here for the photo album.