The TR Register of Australia 2011 Concours was held in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, a premium wine growing district about 70 km north-east of Adelaide. For us, this mean't a ten day, 3300 km return trip for myself and Sandra in "old faithful" our Doretti, (Chassis No.1261) which has attended the last nineteen concourses. I actually purchased the car in 1972. On the first day, Sandra and I left our home and drove 300 kms to meet up with Chris Olson (No.1198) and my brother Warren McEwen (No.1205) at West Wyalong.
The next day we crossed the Hay Plains and had our second overnight at Renmark in South Australia. Here we arrived in the middle of their Rose
Festival and found a small classic car museum with some interesting vehicles in it. Also the pink Fergie tractor as shown in the accompanying picture.
Don't know if it is the same in UK, but pink is in support of breast cancer research.
The third day was another 500 km run which brought us into The Barossa where the Concours was being held. A day of rain, a day of heat, and a cold
one helped the variety.
About sixty TR's attended and of course our group of five Dorettis. We had three excellent days and nights attending the dinners and so forth.
While searching for the venue for lunch on the Sunday, I spotted a winery with a few sports cars in the field. I proceeded into the middle of the
meeting only to discover that it was a gathering of Italian cars. My Doretti was parked between a Ferrari and a Lamborgini, when someone said,
"If it ends in a vowel, it must be Italian." They did not know what the Doretti was, so feeling a bit cheeky I did not let on for a few minutes.
I did leave before the judging though.
After the Concours for our return home we took a different route through Tailem Bend and Murray Bridge with an overnight at Toolebuc, a town of
probably 180 people. We then drove up through Deniliquin and overnighted at Wagga Wagga, the land of the black crow. Here we stayed in a small motel
which probably had its better days in the 1950's. It reminded me of Anthony Hopkins and Janet Leigh in Psycho. There was the same shower
screen, a pond out the back and it was run by a gent who looked a bit like Norman Bates. We never saw the cellar though.
I loved some of the small towns we passed through, such as Murrayville, where there was a pub, three shops, one closed up, and another only open
three days a week. Displayed in the window of this shop was a carved chess set with Napoleon v Wellington figures. Needless to say , the shop was
closed the day we visited, but not to be beaten I found the phone number and rang from home, and subsequently bought the chess set.
All in all, we had a great holiday using these cars as they should be used, good driving, 500 km days with no major dramas. The only saga was my
overdrive going out on the way home, which only meant higher revs in top gear. We still sustained a steady 60-70 MPH for the trip.
It can't get any better than ten days away in a Doretti, can it? Can't wait till next year.