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A Visit to Paech Farm, Sunday 20th September 2009

Organiser: Malcolm Gray

It is awkward to do a report on a trip you have organised yourself as you do not wish to be seen as “blowing your own trumpet”. But it’s fair enough to say “I think I dun good”!

The Uraidla Oval just after 9:15am on Sunday morning is not expected to be the busiest place. However when I arrived I could smell the Barbeque cooking. It appears the Football Club had a win on Saturday and a party of some proportion took place that night because the people huddled around the BBQ were very much the worst for wear. By 9:45 I counted 26 machines, including a number of visitors who I believe intend to join the club. A couple of these were riding Indians which brought the numbers to 4. I received a call from the Golf Club at Echunga to confirm our numbers and I was able to report around 30-35. After a short talk and a roll call by Paul we were off and running towards Balhannah, where we encountered a group of moderns which quickly passed through our group and by the time we sorted ourselves through Balhannah they had gone their own way. We headed off towards Dublin and on to Hahndorf where we did a re-group under the freeway. Just a few k’s now and we arrived at the Echunga Golf Club for morning tea. A few had ridden straight to Echunga and a further count gave me 33 machines. Unfortunately the Espresso Coffee machine that was returned fixed on Friday did not work when they tested it, so we settled for instant. They assured us it was “good stuff” and it was. They had made muffins for us and as we arrived the first lot came out of the oven. We all decided these were absolutely magnificent as the trays appeared in quick succession. It was soon time to hit the road again into Echunga and on to Macclesfield where we took a left turn along Vernon Rd (which is sign posted as a No Through Road) onto Adelaide Rd and with one more re-group at Wistow we made Paech Farm, just as the first lot of barbequed food made it off the hotplate. Carolyn said “don’t mention that the blue Indian arrived at the farm on the trailer” so I won't.

This place has come along in leaps & bounds since I first visited, possibly 3 years ago and is a real credit to them. A number of stationary engines were started for us to enjoy along with many exhibits of artefacts form the early 1900’s. They were delighted to know that Rob Smyth’s Grandfather started FREESIA Ice Cream in Murray Bridge and cross examined Rob intensely. They were good enough to take the tin out of their display so I could take a photo of Rob holding it. Later in the day I visited the kitchen of the house only to find our hosts mixing up a batch of scones which were later served with jam and cream. What a day we had. However, time marches on and we decided to leave around 2:30pm and take the short option home through Littlehampton, Balhannah and back to Uraidla to finish our day. As I said at the start, it is somehow self indulgent to say how much the members enjoyed the day but everyone seemed to.

For myself I would like a few more people to volunteer as marshals for the rides, as it means we can have less re-groups and the marshals do not have to be re-used as many times. Enough from me. Thanks to all those who marshalled and helped in any way throughout the day and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Malcolm Gray

Last updated 13 October  2009