Just over 2 years ago when we decided to do up an older van to tow behind the Classic 38 Coupe and 57 Chev, we had only thought about attending car events.
Earlier this year a post advertising the Nationals appeared on a Vintage Caravan forum and we decided to attend.
The caravans are grouped as Vintage for those built prior to 1970, Classic between 1970 and 1979, and Modern for anything later. Our 1972 Travelhome is therefore a Classic, and the Nationals cater for both Vintage and Classic Vans.
They were scheduled to run from Friday 20th April to Friday 27th. We left home on a cool foggy morning, but by lunchtime it was a beautiful sunny day, and this was to be the case for the next two weeks.
Friday was a travel and setup day with 116 vans in the Caravan Park. About half the vans were towed by older vehicles with a lot of early Holden’s, some Hotrods, two early Mustangs, three 57 Chevs, and a few others.
We were just across the river from the central part of town with three suspension bridges across the river. There was also a lovely walking track which we used every morning.
Saturday was entrants only with van doors open for inspection. It was a very casual day and we saw a great variety of vans and layouts. Sunday was open to the public and there was also a show and shine for cars. This was also attended by the local car clubs.
The week was spent with trips to Chiltern where there are lots of historic buildings, Barnawartha for a visit to a private collection of garage artifacts and old machinery, the Silo trail from Tungamah to Goorambat and attending the Anzac Services in Wangaratta.
We had a lovely relaxing week and met a lot of great people and saw lots of lovely caravans and cars.
The second weekend was spent in Benalla with the 567 Chev Club. We meet in Benalla for lunch and then walked around the town viewing the Street Art before embarking on an observation run to a local winery. We then got together for tea at the Golf Club.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at Jeff and Kaylene Wilson’s and viewed Jeff’s collection of cars.
These included a 1923 T Model tourer which has been in the family since 1925, an FE Holden which his father bought new, a 55 Chev Sedan and a Chev pickup which is being built.
Nick and Kaye