NIK `N` OFF: Bingara and Leyton Sprints

We spent a week at our Daughters in Adelaide, in that time i was able to do some home maintenance for her whilst Vickie & Erin flew to Melbourne for three days to look at wedding dresses for Erin's wedding next year. A visit to Adelaide is never complete without us going to the Central Markets and having lunch at a Chinatown Cafe, they make the best Chicken and Rice and yes we are addicted to it.

Chicken Rice

We have 2 weeks before we get to the Bushtracker factory to have some work done on the Van but we both didn't feel the need to take our time looking around the Murray River again, the nights were very cold and we both just wanted to get where it was warm. We stayed a night at the Forbes Bird hide and a night at Manangatang before pulling in at one of our favourite camp spots, the Gwyder River at Bingara.

Gwyder River Bingara NSW

The Roxy Theater

Bingara Main Street

Bingara holds a special memory as it was where my Mother lived in her later years, she and her 2nd Husband were keen fossickers and loved the small country town. The town has grown with a few nice cafes but basically it's the same as it was 15 years ago. The free camping along the Gwyder River is excellent and the Shire should be congratulated. The nights were freezing but beautiful sunny days, thank goodness we have a diesel heater in the van.

Lamb Shanks and Veggies

Traveling further North we came across Leyton, I have been receiving emails from the Sprints Committee regarding the annual Leyton 'Round the Streets' Sprints for months but didn't give it much thought until we saw the sign showing that the forth coming weekend they were on. The decision was an easy one to stop and take it all in. We arrived on a Wednesday and camped at a large grassed area only a few hundred metres from the Town and the race itself, already there were a few other campers scattered about but we were told that by Friday it would be very busy with up to 15000 spectators and quite a few of them camping for the weekend.

We got ourselves set up in time for another Bushtracker to roll in, Mick & Sue [SMICK] had also decided to attend the Sprints so they set up along side us. The next five days were spent enjoying each others company. The Sprints were on the Saturday & Sunday and i enjoyed walking around the Pitts having a chat with the drivers about their cars. The cars were a diverse lot, everything from a 1926 Amilcar AC to 50's 60's and 70's cars like Escort, MG, Mini, Cortina, Porsche, and some dedicated race cars, Van Diemann , Cheveron and Prosport Eclipse, some of my favourites were the XY GT Falcon, 68 HT Monaro, 1970 Bolwell, a V8 engined 1951 Morris 1000.

64' EH Holden


67' Ford Mustang


71' XY Falcon

68' HT Monaro

72' HQ Holden

69' Datsun 1600

65' XP Falcon

64' VW Beetle

51' Morris 1000 [V8]

75' Ford Escort [V8]

70' Morris Mini

64' Ford Cortina GT

70' Bolwell Mk7

The days were beautiful and sunny but the evenings were quite cold, we had a camp fire each evening and were joined by another couple Kevin and Jan whom the SMICKS had met previously. It's a small World as Kevin was ex RAAF and knew a Pilot friend of ours. Sue also had a connection as she lived not far from where i grew up and knew many mutual friends way back in the 60's. There is a saying about 6 degrees of separation, I describe that as yack on enough and your bound to know someone they know, its a Small World.

We left Leyton on Monday and drove through to Kenilworth, we stayed the night at Little Yabba which is only 6klms out of Kenilworth. Superbly maintained by the Shire it is a magic spot, today we have come into town to stay at the Showground and catch up on all the washing. We intend to stay here until Monday when we take the Van into BushTracker to have some additions done.