The NSW Presidents Run – 2004
story – Jim and Virginia Russell
pictures – Col & Dawn Castle, Lynda Mitchell
Didn’t you know it was on? We missed you!!!! Oh well we missed some of you, the rest of you were there having as much fun and laughter as we had!!!Our weekend was to start off with a drive to Berry on Friday 21st May, after work. Well, we gave that up as a bad idea since we arrived home from work pretty late, and so decided to head off early on Saturday morning arriving in time for breaky and catch up with the other folk who did make it to Berry on Friday for dinner! That was a good idea and we made the cruise in little more than an hour, arriving in time for a great array of cereals, fruit, juices, eggs, baked beans, etc. Yummo!
The accommodation was a former orphanage now owned by the Department of Sport and Recreation and situated on the outskirts of Berry, south of Wollongong. Of course we, the latecomers, were welcomed as though we had forgotten yet another Buick Club event! Would
we?
After breakfast, we had the obligatory photo shoot, cars. In chronological order of course! Go the Prez getting everyone to start up their cold engines and patiently manoeuvre their cars just the way Colin directed! Around that time we had a few drop ins like the Casey’s from Kings Point who didn’t stay with us for long, but it sure was good to meet them.
Photo shoot over, we hit the road for the wineries and discovered why there are two places on the Eastern Seaboard called Coolangatta! You’ll have to go there to find out for yourselves if you don’t already know!
The wine was quite different at the two wineries we stopped at; not as pleasant as Hunter wines, not that we are experts, but the taste was quite different. Anyhow, some bought a bottle or three and we all had lots of chats and hopped back in our cars and returned to our accommodation for lunch. More lovely food, more chatting and then some of us headed back into Berry for a browse! Lots of crafty boutiques, and various shops willing to part us from our money. The pick of the crop however, and a real fave with most ladies was “Sew and Tell’! More cross stitch and embroidery kits than you could poke a knitting needle at! Some of us went back again and again! Thank goodness for big trunk Buicks!
No visit to Berry is complete without a visit to the Treat Factory. They make just about everything they sell which included dainty chocolates, jams, chutneys, and fruit sauces, and very reasonably priced too! They are proud to advise to advise they now export overseas which is great to hear of an Aussie business.
Back ?home? for dinner which was fantastic. Simone and the Chef looked after our waist lines only too well! Didn’t matter though that we may have overindulged because Colin and Dawn made sure we worked off any excess with our own Buick Olympic Games!
With games such as Race the ball down the table with the aid of oodles of air blown through drinking straws?! and beach volley ball played indoors, in the sitting position and with various other hindrances to make the game more fun, A couple of other ball games really had us all “on the ball”, the teams were even but then, Dawn was scoring and both she and Colin were open to graft and corruption well and truly!
To say we all slept pretty well as a result is a bit of an understatement – well most did with the exception of those poor people who had to listen to snoring all night! After yet another fabulous breakfast we gathered near our cars ready for any hint of a drive, in any direction.
Well, Henry and Ruth Booth very kindly invited us all back to their lovely home at Sanctuary Point for morning tea. Very well worth the drive for such a lovely vista and wonderful hospitality. We know we speak for all who attended, and say thank you to the Booths for a
lovely morning.
So then we high tailed it back to “home” for another beaut lunch, more chats and then farewells with promises to catch up again very soon. Oh and one last look in Berry,… well actually, one last look. at Sew and Tell!!! And then home through the Sunday afternoon traffic. Wasn’t too bad really, well bit hard to see since I was asleep most of the way!It was great to catch up with so many people, some we hadn’t met before and others who are old friends. Everyone had to travel a bit to get there, some a whole lot further than others, but all agreed well worth the trip. Even Dave Roberts’ twin brother Phil flew in from Perth to help celebrate their birthday with us!
So, if you have never been on a President’s Run, you don’t know what you are missing. But let us tell you, it is the most laughs you can have in a fairly short space or time and really, next time there’s a President’s Run, put your name down to go. You won’t be sorry.
Thank you to Dawn and Colin and their trusty team of helpers who made our weekend very special, loads of fun and very memorable. We hope we can join you on the next one.