Report by Lee Skinner with additional information by Kathy O’Donnell, WIMA Australia. Photos by Angie Trevaskis, WIMA Australia and Michelle Lamphere, WIMA USA.
We had so much fun at our international rally in 2015 that we decided to do it again. 2024 marked the 40th anniversary of WIMA Australia. Our priority was to check out some possible rally sites. Some suggested places were in Tasmania, and Cape Bridgewater in western Victoria, and at the next AGM we discussed these sites and more options were suggested. We conducted a survey so that all our members could decide.
The site at Lady Northcote Discovery Park at Bacchus Marsh (Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and revelry, which seemed appropriate) offered very good value and we had stayed there in the past. The survey of members showed that they also thought that it was a good site for our AIWR24.
Our programme included a Welcome to Country (conducted by a local Aboriginal Elder), our version of a gymkhana which was a collection of games, Trash Night, a talk from Linda Bootherstone, organised rides (including the iconic Great Ocean Road and central Victoria), the National Presidents’ meeting and the fund-raising auction for Pikilily.
‘Welcome to Country’ is a ceremony undertaken by Aboriginal traditional custodians to acknowledge and welcome visitors to their ancestral lands. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular language group or clan who are recognised as the original human inhabitants of the area.
The usual features of all internationals were also included, the welcome and farewell dinners, the parade which went to nearby Ballarat (regional city) and which culminated at Lake Wendouree with the mandatory group photograph (despite it blowing a gale at the time).
We had just over 50 people attend, with a few late casual (one day only) registrations, and a total of five men accompanying their partners, ‘braving’ the silly antics of an international gathering of women.
We had a couple of ‘whoopsies’. One on the first night going into the site after dark, which resulted with a late-night trip to the nearby emergency room with a broken collarbone, and one later in the week with a mishap in a gravel car park which resulted in a lower leg injury, which also ended up in a nearby emergency room. Thankfully, in Australia we have universal health care, so both of our visitors had their costs covered.
The guys in the band were a big hit on ‘music night’ and as expected, Nutbush continued to get people up off their chairs and on the dance floor. Disco lighting and illuminated tutus brought some colour to the dance floor, and even the large kangaroo mascot got to show its moves. It was a fun night.
This event would never have been achieved without the collective generosity of many of the Australian members. The list is exhaustive, but includes the bus, blankets, pillows, goody bags and all the contents, the hats and water bottles, the Welcome to Country ceremony, the table flags… the list goes on and on. We even had first-class IT support from Jakub Baranski, with our ride day plans…
We also asked our visitors to donate small items for the Pikilily fund-raising auction and were stunned by the collective generosity. Not only did they donate, but they also purchased, raising the astounding amount of 1298 AU$ (about 809 euros).
It was truly wonderful to see so many people reach deep into their own pockets to help others… Truly a WIMA ethos.
A sad, but happy, farewell on the last day after a ‘few’ bevvies were sunk in the dongas on the last night. Someone suggested that they couldn’t take the grog with them, so it ‘had to be disposed of’…. another WIMA ethos?
2024 WIMA Australia International Rally – Promotion Video
