Thread: Land Rover Register of South Australia

digger nailed it

and yes Melrose is a good family event. but i do not ever recall digger being at blinman.

melrose with the option of powered sites, toilets and showers etc and one tagalong ( photos above) being quite a distance away on the seal.


but the enduring images of Blinman was the volume of used series. i remember a S3 cooking breakfast Bacon and eggs on the tail gate. the series convoy. IE series vehicles driving up and the choice of tagalongs.


my point is that you could go to blinman year after year and not be bored with the activity's. unlike melrose which is great event ( i didn't bother going this year) has for me become boring, its well orgainised but just the same. the only difference is the trial track being changed because the local council got upset about using the old rail way.

if you haven't been to melrose GO its great. but not for the 4th time. even after 5 blinmans i was dribbling in anticipation of the next one.

i believe the club reinvented its self from the old-school hard-school click to something much more tamer. with the new to Australia Australians running the club, they have brought a level of professionalism and organisation which is quite simply bloody brilliant.

but some thing got lossed along the way

if blinman was a county, then Melrose is a puma. computers and plastic with not a dirty fingernail in sight

I have mainly older vehicles an being country based have found the changes within the club not to my liking. I did enjoy Blinman greatly with my series vehicles as half the enjoyment was getting there, especially before the bitumen got there!
Since the change to Melrose, I have found there is very little to keep me in the club, and have been very disappointed with some of the attitude and lack of alternative to the 110kph club.
this last year the final straw was the combining of almost every previous class of series vehicle in an effort to save money, a $2 ribbon has as much pride in the display as a $500 trophy, an no this isn't sour grapes.
I do enjoy meeting up with the like minded from around the country and will probably go again, but I wont bother putting in the effort to take half my fleet, just camp in the corner an enjoy the polishing from a distance!

Originally Posted by mark_coffey

this last year the final straw was the combining of almost every previous class of series vehicle in an effort to save money, a $2 ribbon has as much pride in the display as a $500 trophy, an no this isn't sour grapes.!

ok i can totally relate to that, the county's well there are not so many there now, we were rather protective of our count status and resisted being combined with the defenders, i didn't really mind being combined with the S3 stage 1s but when the ribbon was printed "Winner - County, stage 1, v8" it sort of shows the actually lack of knowledge with in the club management of what vehicles are in the club.

or driving up to the morning line up to be told " defenders over there??? what?? who are you calling a defender!!!!. may seem a minor thing but its MY 110 and its NOT a defender, never will be and i am very happy because of that

i know to many people my 30 year old 85 county is an old pile of junk, But its my pile of junk so to me its magic. i know just about every bolt in the suspension brakes steering, chassis. the wiring i have traced patched replaced and its mine. i know many other people feel the same about there older vehicles. but if your not in the as already mentioned . the 110klph club you are excluded.

the combining of the older classes is like the last straw, its losed its essence

Just a thought guys, (and I do understand where you are coming from)
but here is my rant..!! (don't get too serious with it folks)

The best way to get things changed is to suggest what you'd like changed and why to the LRRSA people, I've found them pretty accommodating..

Without suggestions for changes etc and maybe even some help setting it up or working it out they have nothing to work with. Remember its a small core of the club working on this meeting each year. If you know a trek, or have an idea of a tour or destination etc.. plan it out, suggest it...you never know it may get up and you could name it what you like (even after yourself!)

There are a few AULRO members who travel to SA and lead some of the tours or treks- and I've loved all those tours.

As for the move from Blinman to Melrose, it was I believe an economic one, the more people who come and the better facilities available the more it can pay for itself. But that is just my belief...


Maybe there could be a 'series show' arranged for BLINMAN each year as well BUT realistically how many will definitely come?
How many will help run it?
Without help its going to be pretty hard to arrange.
--maybe start as a series camping trip weekend and build up?? Im not sure what the answer is -- but I know someone will lose some serious time and sleep arranging it!

Although I desperately wanted to attend BLINMAN until a few years ago my position meant I couldn't have leave at all during Easter as we were on standby for protests etc. I didnt have an easter off since 1993. I have managed the last few as the rules have changed and enjoy it for what it is.

That is (in my opinion) a good fun day with enough to do if you want, (or stuff all if you dont,) and an enjoyable evening either at the dinner or around the (yeah, and sorry about the noise people !) campfire - sitting back with old and new mates having a laugh and throwing another log (book) on the fire. I enjoy the chance to play in the mud at the trials track after all is done, and the short bush track at the top of the showgrounds. I dont mind at all that there are dunnys and showers available!!

Nay (the minister for war and finance) came the first year but isn't landy mad so thought she would prefer quilting at home whilst Will (my slightly landy mad son, wonder where he gets it from??) and I go. Nay says there isn't a lot for people who aren't "landy fanatics" (her term for people who like land rovers ) That's probably true but it is a land rover weekend after all.

I enjoy the Melrose show and know there are people about my age (or a bit younger ) helping run it. But lets be honest its a weekend where you can discuss the pros and cons of series parking.. (eg on the hill because the starter or genny is gone, or on the flat because the handbrake doesn't work) there isn't many places we can do that without others harping on about their cars!!

Lots of people rock up without a landy (they have one in pieces at home or had or pine for one) but the common thread is its all about products that come from land rover!



I stress this is my opinion and I am not a member or affiliated with LRRSA (although I should state I would be, but I just live too far away to attend meetings and have too much else on when I do have free time!!)

Digger, been down that track.

as i have already posted. the management of the club changed and with that a lot of other things changed as well. many for the better. many of the older or original members have faded away and i believe that there are many new members, but is this not the way for a club?

but then i gues that is part of my point, it is a club and not a business, so should melrose/blinman be treated as a businesses. if so then my understanding is that melrose is a worse business model than Blinman.

and I can completely understand that a club survives on the time and ablitys of those with the time. but with the average age of the members getting older. the strength of personality of a couple of people who are doing what is close to the ideal for them, seem to have forgotten the rest.

Yes after the first melrose membership was up but quite a bit, , but a lot of the new members have not stayed. since the club is now just a melrose only club with a pie floater mid year. meetings are not going to keep members.

events and outings will keep member's, especially those designed for people who are younger than the organising members themselves. get some training days organised again. weekend trips so that those who work and have kids can enjoy as well. get rid of the stopping at every bakery along the way. these places are not cheep not all can afford. etc

i think the Secretary's Review sums it up well, just a couple of years to late. and i see membership is down from its over 200

[ame]http://www.lrregsa.org.au/images/Obsession_November_2014_.pdf[/ame]

Something that scared me off is the requirement to have a 2 way radio for all club runs. I can understand that if going out bush but this seems to suggest that all runs are perilous affairs or high speed affairs or some such thing where you need that sort of contact. I've spent enough time working in the bush (the real bush, ie, WE were surveying the tracks so they could the build roads, the bulldozers followed US) to know I didn't buy Wombat to do that... well, not on a regular basis. It just seems like an odd requirement that you need that sort of thing for ALL club events. I guess that attitude fits in with my distrust of the yahoo element I've observed in owners of modern 4 wheel drives and yes, I know that's stereotyping and like all stereotypes, unfair to a large part of the subject group. Nor am I particularly interested in being in a group that values money spent ie, the 'mines more rad than yours' element - funny how I've also little time for most cycling groups either due to the 'must the have latest' thrust. Yup, I'm well and truly a retro-grouch and would rather sit around talking about vehicles valued for what they are and what they represented when new than how much money is involved. [/rant]

Originally Posted by 85 county

http://www.lrregsa.org.au/images/Obs...mber_2014_.pdf

Hmmm.......
Looks oddly familiar.

Originally Posted by crackers

Something that scared me off is the requirement to have a 2 way radio for all club runs. I can understand that if going out bush but this seems to suggest that all runs are perilous affairs or high speed affairs or some such thing where you need that sort of contact. I've spent enough time working in the bush (the real bush, ie, WE were surveying the tracks so they could the build roads, the bulldozers followed US) to know I didn't buy Wombat to do that... well, not on a regular basis. It just seems like an odd requirement that you need that sort of thing for ALL club events. I guess that attitude fits in with my distrust of the yahoo element I've observed in owners of modern 4 wheel drives and yes, I know that's stereotyping and like all stereotypes, unfair to a large part of the subject group. Nor am I particularly interested in being in a group that values money spent ie, the 'mines more rad than yours' element - funny how I've also little time for most cycling groups either due to the 'must the have latest' thrust. Yup, I'm well and truly a retro-grouch and would rather sit around talking about vehicles valued for what they are and what they represented when new than how much money is involved. [/rant]

Get a little hand held.
Rather poor excuse not to join a club. Join it or not. Your choice. It's not as if it's The Hotel California.