Australian CamperTrailers national meet at Glen Innes 2014

introduction

The Australian CamperTrailers Group's 10th national meet was held in the Glen Innes Showground on the New South Wales, Northern Tablelands over the week from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th September 2014.

The meet attracted 104 camper trailers, caravans & tents with over 260 people from as far a field as the Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria & Queensland. It was great to see such a diverse group of people attending, from young couples, families, retirees to grandparents with their grandkids, all enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded people.

As you could imagine with some of the best rain makers gathering in the one location, the CamperTrailers Group lived up to its reputation by producing some rain for the local farmers. The days were mostly warm & sunny, however the temperature quickly dropped as the sun set with overnight temperatures getting down to four degrees producing a few chilly mornings.

As usual the campfires were the hub of the evening & a big thanks goes to the Glen Innes Men's Shed for supplying the much needed firewood.

 sunday opening

Sunday evening saw the start of the week with the grand opening in the showground pavilion. Amongst the guests was Colin Price - Glen Innes Severn Council Mayor, Patric Millar - Glen Innes Showground Trust, Sal Molesworth - Glen Innes Tourist Information & Paul Raper - Glen Innes Mens Shed President.

Australian CamperTrailers Group co-owner Kevin Phillips welcomed members & official guests to the 10th national meet. He then went on to tell of the groups beginnings in September 2001 & how the group has grown to the present day, owing to the popularity of camper trailers. The campertrailers.org now has three medias for members to exchange tips, tricks & travel information, the long running Yahoo Group, a Forum introduced last March as an alternative to Yahoo & a Facebook Group which has been running for around eighteen months. In all there are around 10,000 members.

The Glen Innes Severn Council Mayor Colin Price welcomed the Australian CamperTrailers Group to the region & wished all a pleasant visit to the region. He went on the thank the group for choosing Glen Innes & in particular the showground as the venue for our 10th national meet.

Glen Innes Showground Trust vice chairman Patric Millar hoped members enjoyed their stay. Co-owner Kevin Phillips thanked the Showground Committee for the organisation before our arrival & co-owner Rob Sanderson presented the Glen Innes Showground Trust with a certificate of appreciation.

Glen Innes Mens Shed President Paul Raper also wished all an enjoyable stay. Co-owner Rob Sanderson presented the Glen Innes Mens Shed with a certificate of appreciation.

Sal Molesworth from the Glen Innes Tourist Information suggested a few places that would be of interest to members while they were in the region. The lady Lord Mayoress was on hand to draw the lucky door prize. Winner was Bob Sproston with a Glen Innes beanie, scarf & vest donated by the Glen Innes Tourist Information. Co-owner Rob Sanderson then presented the tourism with a certificate of appreciation for behind the scenes organising & the information bags provided to everyone attending.  

Rob Sanderson went on to outline the itinerary for the week with workshops held by members on a variety of subjects relating to camper trailers & camping in general. Being an internet based group there are subjects where the information cannot be easily exchanged through typing & this is where face to face workshops come into their own.

Group co-owner Jason Cox outlined the events happening on Wednesday's Glen Innes Day. The day would start with the Glen Innes Men's Shed cooking breakfast followed by a number of community based stalls as well as other entertainment from the local community of the day, finishing with a dance night.  

Several 'Outfront in the Outback' videos were dontated as lucky door prizes by Vehicle Components. Winners were Mark & Fiona Stagg, Darryl & Barbara Walker, John Florian, Terry & Sandy Agland, Craig Quin, Doug McFarlane, Shane & Nikki Adams, Stan & Robyn Bryant, John & Claire Martin, Colin & Natali Hoopgood and David Thorndike.

Joy and Dave Wilkinson finished the opening by hosting a 'Getting to Know You' session with members attending their first national meet introducing themselves.

 

Showground invaded By Kathleen Davies Sept. 25, 2014, midnight Sea of campers: Glen Innes Showground was a hive of activity this week THE Glen Innes showground was a sea of campertrailers, cars and people as the 10th national gathering of the Australian Campertrailers group took place this week. Community day on Wednesday began with a breakfast cooked up by the Men’s Shed. Market stalls were set up and sheep shearing and working dog trail demonstrations were held at various times during the day. The event had taken close to 18 months to organise. The money and tourism value brought into Glen Innes couldn’t be more welcome. Visitors have flocked to the town and with an expected injection of around $50,000 in the form of fundraising and shoppers spending their dollars within the town the event has proven itself valuable on the local calendar. The internet-based group has around 10,000 members Australia-wide and operates through various mediums including internet forums to support people buying campertrailers. One of the management team Rob Sanderson said the week had attracted over 100 campertrailers and over 250 people. “We held an auction night and raised $2,000 towards the showground tust,” Mr Sanderson said. Showground Trust secretary Patric Miller said he is delighted with the event and the response. Happy camper: Visitor Marge Hynoski from Wollongong chats to Kerry Sturtridge during the campertrailer event. “It’s a reflection on the attractiveness of our community that this event was held here,” Mr Miller said, adding that the raised funds will go towards ring lighting. “It’s been a community effort to bring and keep the group here, and we hope it’s a boost to tourism with return visits, and great to see our showground being put to good use,” he said.   reproduced with permission of the Glen Innes Examiner

 

itinerary