The awnings are up, chairs are out and and washing is flapping in the wind ahead of the 33rd Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA) National Rally.
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Rally manager Paul Flynn jokes that CMCA really stands for Carry My Chair Around as he meets and greets fellow RV owners at a temporary RV site near Donnelly Fields. The site is one of three, with two others at Mullaley and Curlewis.
Almost 250 volunteers are rolling into town over the week to help set-up “a small city” at the Gunnedah Showground complex for the rally, which runs from October 6-13.
The annual event will draw 700 motor homes to Gunnedah from around Australia for eight days of entertainment, sight-seeing, tours and activities in the shire.
Co-organisers Anita and Paul joined the CMCA in 1991 and attended their first rally in 1993 at Lake Macquarie.
“The first rally we ever went to was the coldest day they’d had in 100 years,” Anita said.
Despite the cool start, the pair stuck in there and even helped run the next rally in 1995. They have taken up the reins again for the Gunnedah rally, which will draw 700 motor homes from around Australia.
Anita said the rally had been well-supported by Gunnedah Shire Council and local businesses.
“The town here has been amazing,” she said.
“Some councils are very hard to deal with, but we’ve found [Gunnedah] council has been fantastic from go to whoa.”
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Anita said travelling in a motor home provided “freedom of choice” and joked that it was “better than sitting at home waiting to die”.
She said the keys to a good location for a rally were “a good bakery, a supermarket close by and being able to just walk into town”. But the best ingredient is good friends.
“Everyone gets pretty excited in the lead-up to a rally because they see their friends and make new friends,” Anita said.
