Prelude to Nostalgia

With Annie's tiny improvements completed I put my 70's thinking cap on and decided that if I was to embrace Annie's year of manufacture (1977) going into the festival, I should go all the way and decorate her and myself as groovy as possible. I started collecting pieces from the depths of my kitchen and hall cupboards as well as the storage cupboards in the garage. Family and friends rallied with their unique 70's memorabilia. I searched ebay and other buy and sell sights to find just the right vintage decor to turn Annie into a 70's Time Capsule.

Now for the fun part . . . .

I decided that for a 70's theme a groovy outfit might be appropriate.  The theme of the Festival was 50's and 60's but Annie is not out of that era. She's would have been a bit of a groover in 1977. Ebay came through with the threads . . . . I'm still deciding on whether to wear them.😎

Some internal decorating was also needed.  With her new paintwork, Tic Tac Tiles and newly sewn red curtains, everything had to fit.

I googled "food" that was consumed in the 70's and headed to the supermarket with an extensive list.  So much that we eat these days was also on our shelves in 1977.  The packaging may have changed slightly but you know you can't keep a good convenience food down.

As for music, I needed a great soundtrack to play while folks were spending time inside Annie.  I consulted the Google music brains trust and came up with the Billboard Top 100 from 1977, which I promptly downloaded as well as the Top 25 from Australia.

I also collected photos from Annies reno to show how much she has changed since she followed us home 2 years ago. I downloaded them to the Tablet to play as a slideshow.

A fellow Vintage Caravan buff sent me some 70's newspaper clippings and sale advertisements of the York in its heyday.

A visitors book and a couple of copies of Vintage Trailer Magazine #39 featuring Annie completed the "all about Annie" side of things.

It was all coming together.  I was so excited.

It's "Showtime" - Day 1

We woke at 6am to pouring rain.  This was not good.  Check in was from 7am - 9am. We promptly went back to sleep and woke at 7.30am to more rain and no end in sight.  I messaged the organisers and said we would still be coming but not to expect us until 9.00am.

We entered the check point at 8.57am and were directed to our position for the day.  We donned our wet weather emergency ponchos and began to set up.  Putting up a fabric caravan awning in the rain is not a task I would recommend to anyone.

Visitors to the festival began milling around and taking photos before we were finished setting up. 

🤪

If it was like this in the rain . . . .what could we expect when the sun came out and that it most certainly did.  I was overwhelmed with the attention Annie was receiving.  Ooohs and Aaaahs from all directions.  Folks wanting to have their photos taken with Annie and me wanting to take photos of Annie with them all dressed up for the occasion.  We were the only caravan on show for Day 1 with about 100 cars to keep us company.

The time capsule . . . .

I had so much fun decorating inside.  Her freshly painted walls and new tiles made for a perfect backdrop for all my 70's trinkets.  With a few added colouring books, some 70's board games, a traditional 70's backyard bbq crowdpleaser, she was ready for visitors.  And they came in the 100's.  I was lucky to have a few minutes to myself to take some photos and videos.

The day ended at 4.00 with us locking the keys inside the van with our phones and belongings.

A borrowed mobile phone and a quick call to my daughter and within 20 minutes she'd arrived with a kitchen knife and one small child. The back window was open slightly so I was able to cut the fly screen and get my hand inside to wind open the window. One grandson was inserted head first onto the dinette chair.  Unfortunately his tiny fingers and underdeveloped caravan savvy mind could not work out the locks to open the drawer. Shane again disappeared and came back with one of the extender poles for the awning which has a 90 deg angle bend on the end.  He was able to poke it through the window and unclip the lock.  The keys were removed from the drawer by superhero grandson and handed through the window to his very relieved grandmother(moi) who then opened the door.  A kiss and a hug and we were on our way home for the night.  I would have loved to have some video footage to show you but at the time it was a little too tense to start with "that thing" 😀

"Showtime" - Day 2

We woke to sunshine and were up and about and ready to roll by 7.30.  As it happened so were the other 348 entrants for the day.  Kurri Kurri streets were full of vintage hot rods utes sedans and assorted vehicles from the 70's and 6 vintage caravans including Annie.  We set up at the top of the hill in the cross street outside the pub. The wind was blowing straight off the mountains and we were totally shaded by the pub.  It was freezing.

We had her set up and fully operational with 30 minutes. The crowds arrived soon after and they did not stop until 4.00 that day.  We had over 1500 visitors come through Annie's door.  So many that the folding step I purchased specifically for the occasion which could handle 100kgs ended up bending under pressure and falling to bits at 2.00pm.  Lucky we had her spare plastic step with us.