Friday 24th May saw a bevy of Buicks gather at Ginger’s Roadhouse on the Gt Northern Highway. The cars ranged from 1938 to 1976 and all looked pretty dam good in the morning light. A mandatory stop was at Bindoon, about 100 km from Perth. The bakery there makes a great range of pies and pasties, cakes etc. The adjoining park is the perfect place for the Buicks to park. From Bindoon the cars swung left off the highway and proceeded across pastoral land to Moora. There was evidence of some farmers having already seeded although the ground looked pretty dry and the dams were well down for water levels. The lunch stop at Moora was in the park alongside the railway line. Local townspeople drifted across for photo opportunities and chat. We hit the road again, heading west to the coast to Cervantes. The town took its name from an American whaler named after Spanish writer, Miguel de Cervantes, which was grounded on the coast there. On 29th June 1844 the crew were apparently fishing near Jurien when the weather blew up and the ship was grounded rather than wrecked. It was subsequently auctioned off for salvage. The town has traded on the Spanish name with Madrid Street etc and sculptures featuring Don Quixote tilting at windmills. It is also a stopping off place for the nearby Pinnacles rock formations. Late afternoon saw all the Buicks swing into the motel apart from Steve McLennan’s ‘38 which was having some axle / diff problems and was pushed into place. The management at the motel made us particularly welcome and assured us of new gas bottles in the BBQs. The large pergola held everybody and we all watched as Steve’s Buick was transported back to Perth on a flat bed truck. Although a fairly cool night, most braved the lower temperatures and a fun filled night ensued. Saturday morning and someone had told Events Supremo, Harold Hitchcock about a good coffee van just on the outskirts of town. After driving in two different directions for about 10 km, half of the group headed back to town and the others continued onto Jurien. It turned out that the ghostly van was not on the street that day due to illness. Lunch was at the very popular Lobster Shack. In Western Australia they are called crayfish and I think lobster is just for the tourists. It was certainly a sumptuous lunch indeed. There was a tourist bus there with loads of Japanese, taking pictures of the Buicks. I have often thought it would be a good idea of charge $5 per photo to cover fuel costs. I nearly reversed over one Japanese photographer who stood behind the car taking photos. This could have been awkward. Saturday evening we were booked into the bowling club across the road from the motel. They do a great meal there and a very convivial atmosphere. This evening there was a hypnotist as the evening’s entertainment. This can be hilarious but it needs to be visual to watch people make gooses of themselves. Most of the patrons had to stand along the walls to see what was happening. It was a bit tiresome just listening to the bloke and it seemed interminable. The locals seemed to thoroughly enjoy him though as did most of the Buick people. Sunday breakfast was had, cars were fuelled up. Cars drove down different roads, depending on where you lived. I had a last minute visit to Lake Thetis (a very bumpy gravel road) where there are a collection of stromatolites. These are the oldest living fossils on earth and are World Heritage listed at Cervantes. The name comes from the Greek, meaning layer. They are a one cell organism and are extremely rare. They are close into the shoreline and look like dried out brains in the water. Uneventful drive back home but I pulled into the garage only for my son to advise me that my coolant had all disappeared. Oops! However no damage on inspection. All in all, a thoroughly great long weekend with good food, fun and nice long drives. Article by L M Haime (WA Buicks)
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