Australian Lambretta Jamboree, Canberra (March/April 2024)
Easter snuck up on us like the Easter Bunny trying to steal our chocolates. After missing last year’s event, Steve and I were excited for the big weekend ahead, especially since we had tickets to see Gladys Knight on Thursday night with Chris and Nicky.
We left Sydney later than planned because Steve was working right up till the last minute. He also had a quick visit from a fellow scooterist on his way down the coast to the Lammy Jammy and of course, this involved a cuppa and a chat. I mean, come on Steve, priorities!
We finally hit the road, after a quick service of his Series 2, but unfortunately, Steve didn’t have time to service my Series 1 too, so I had to drive instead. On the bright side, at least we had more space in the car for luggage and all the spare parts Steve was delivering.
The traffic was so heavy on the M5 that Steve lane-splitted and rode ahead, while I got stuck with the rest of the holiday makers getting out of Sydney for the long Easter weekend. I eventually caught up with Steve, then followed him riding down the M31 grinning like a Cheshire Cat as he slip-streamed behind trucks, to pick up some extra speed. Not that he needed to, the S2 was moving fast, around 100 kmph apart from when he was going uphill. And there were many hills. We made it to Chris and Nicky’s in the evening, then had a great night out, seeing Gladys Knight, although we tried to pace ourselves as we knew we had a big weekend ahead.
On Good Friday we had some breaky courtesy of our lovely hosts. Then, we packed our stuff into the car, and after I helped Chris collect some meat for the evening meal, we headed to the jamboree campsite at Capital Country Holiday Park.
Everyone arrived at the campsite later that day in dribs and drabs. We had scooterists arriving from as far as Tasmania, Qld, Victoria and SA as well as nearby NSW and ACT. Gatherings were taking place in various points around the campsite and I found Steve, beer in hand, chatting with some of the scooterists who were staying in one of the cabins by the lake. Not sure what they did to score such a prime position, perhaps it involved bribing the staff with beers.
There was lots of catching up over drinks well into the late afternoon. Rally packs were handed out, and then we made our way to the campsite kitchen where a few volunteer chefs were cooking up a storm of endless kebabs and vegetarian chili. The kebabs were amazing, with plenty to go around. Apparently, so was the chili, as I even spotted some of the carnivores among the group digging in. We had a great time acquainting and re-acquainting with new and old friends, and then headed over to the conference room for Quiz night hosted by Andy and Terry. They made a bold entrance, dressed for the occasion in their typical crimplene safari suits and went about testing our Lambretta and music knowledge, with a touch of Spicks & Specks style. As usual, I did appallingly on the Lambretta knowledge so apologies to the rest of my team if you were expecting Steve’s expertise to have rubbed off on me. Funnily enough, Steve, who was in a different team, didn’t do much better thanks to the number of beers he’d had and lack of listening skills. Note to self, next time be on Nev’s team. At least I did a bit better contributing on the music knowledge, though some of us were tripped up on some of Terry’s obscure questions. Drinks and laughs continued later into the night before stumbling back to our cabins for the night.
Saturday morning, after breakfast and some real coffee courtesy of the orange coffee van, everyone assembled by the entrance to get ready for the first ride out of the weekend. There was a good turnout, but a few people, including Steve and I, decided to stay behind. Eventually, after waiting for some stragglers, they took off, enjoying their ride and lunch at Bungendore. A few hours and only a couple of minor breakdowns later, everyone started arriving back at the campsite, in time for the afternoon’s entertainment.
Saturday afternoon was filled with Gymkhana, slow-ride and a Show’n’Shine. The gymkhana was a bit slow to start after Bill demonstrated his expertise going around the circuit. I think at first nobody was game to follow, fearing they’d fail abysmally in comparison. Then gradually a few came forward, thankful that Bill was willing to lend his TV175 to anyone wanting to attempt the course. Things got interesting when Ziko tried to take his chopper around the course, getting stuck on some cones in the process. Other stand-out moments were watching riders get some air on the see-saw, and of course, Chris never fails to disappoint with his attire. He will forever now be known as “Pope Puddington”. The slow-ride was done differently this year. Rather than two at a time in a knock-out competition, everyone lined up to do it at the same time. What a sight! At first, I was amused to see Rappers going sideways in the wrong direction, then gradually one by one, as a foot went down, a Lammy would take off down the straight until there were only a few left, wobbling to the finish line. As for the Show’n’Shine, well let’s just say that Steve and I disappeared for a while to visit someone’s impressive collection of rare scooters and cars nearby, so we missed the display and judging.
In the evening, we had a presentation dinner in the dining room by the lake. We enjoyed a delicious roast meal with all the trimmings, followed by dessert – there was plenty left over. After we’d eaten, awards were given out and there was a quick ‘thank you’ speech to everyone who had made the event successful so far. Then a few disappeared and some of us went back to the conference room for more drinks, a variety of music and more chatter. The night ended with some dancing to Northern Soul, where even Steve got up and gave his new knee a whirl (a sight to behold) . We were disappointed when the night had to end because the music source ran out, although I’m sure it was much to the relief of any neighbours trying to sleep nearby since it was after 1am when we finished up.
Easter Sunday morning another ride out was scheduled, and this time, I convinced Steve to join the ride, with me on the back of his Series 2. We had a nice ride under sunny blue skies, heading a bit further than the previous day, to a nice pub at Gunning, “The Telegraph Hotel”, where we stopped for lunch. The route back to the campsite got a bit hairy though, as the road was diabolical, full of potholes the worst I’ve ever seen. God knows how it didn’t end in disaster, there were so many lumps and holes, they were impossible to dodge! Fortunately everyone made it back to the campsite without any damage. At least it made for a good story later.
Sunday afternoon involved more catching up and then after teasing our senses all afternoon with glorious scents coming from their cabins, the South East Asian Lambretta crew treated us all to a delicious meal. As the sun set, we all sat out by the pool in the cool Canberra autumn air, enjoying the tasty Asian food, company, music, and, of course, more drinks for our last evening together.
On Easter Monday most left early, Steve and myself included. We encountered some fog heading north but, fortunately, not much traffic considering it was the end of a long Easter weekend. We were both home by lunchtime, in around 4 hours – a record for Steve on two wheels!
It was another cracking, successful weekend of shenanigans and laughter. Thanks again to everyone who helped organise, attended and contributed to such a fantastic event. We can’t wait until next year.