AUSTRALIA – 2024
Tuesday – March 5.
No rest for the weary. I like it that way.
Yesterday, Carol and I got home from a family visit to Austin, Texas. Today I planned to fly from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia.
I wish I could tell you more!
Although I can’t go into details about my airline experience, I can tell you this. I came within 15 SECONDS of not making my flight to Australia tonight. If I run into you on the street please don’t hesitate to ask me the details. As it turned out, I was the last person to board the plane and within three minutes of my boarding, the plane taxied away for the 16-hour flight to Australia. Whew!
Not my first Australian rodeo.
This would not be my first trackchasing adventure down under. The trip was my 13th. Additionally, Carol and I have been down this way another time or two for cruising and vacation. The continent of Australia including Australia the country and New Zealand are definitely worth visiting.
Get on the plane, watch movies, get off the plane.
What’s my strategy for flights of this distance? Pretty simple, really. I get on the plane. I sit down in my seat and buckle my seatbelt. Then I entertain myself by watching things I’ve downloaded from Netflix on my iPad or using the plane’s entertainment systems. When the plane lands I get off. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. I am not an airplane-riding “whiner”. Two hours from Los Angeles to Denver or sixteen hours from Los Angeles to Melbourne. It doesn’t matter to me in the least.
I left Los Angeles on Tuesday night. I landed in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday morning. How does that work? As I mentioned the plane ride took 16 hours. Melbourne’s time zone is 19 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That’s 35 hours in total which is how I left on Tuesday and arrived on Thursday. Welcome to my world. Oh, just to confirm how crazy I am about travel I once flew to Australia on Thursday night, landed on Saturday morning, and flew back to the U.S. on Monday morning. Yes, welcome to my world.
Thursday – March 7.
Landed. Now what?
Considering that I had just flown so far, today was going to be a busy day. Some things were planned. Most were not. I like a trip like that.
Google is my friend.
When I landed at the Melbourne airport, I found a quiet spot and did some searching using Google. I was trying to find things that I would enjoy doing for the day. I love touring auto museums for the first time. I’ve seen quite a few in my travels around the world. I also very much enjoy watching sporting events. I might like that even more when I’m able to do it in a foreign country. I struck gold on both of these choices this morning.
First I found a place called Charlie’s Auto Museum. This museum was located an hour south of where I was at the moment. Charlie’s Auto Museum would be perfect.
I checked sporting events for this evening. I was in luck! It just turned out that the Melbourne United professional basketball team would be hosting the Illawarra Hawks in an Australian National Basketball League finals game in downtown Melbourne tonight. “Finals” sounds pretty impressive, right? Please don’t mistake a “finals” game to be the same as the NBA finals. In Australia, the finals are for the final four teams. The “super finals” are for the final two teams. I know, you probably already knew that but on the off chance you didn’t, you can bring this up at your next cocktail party. By the way “Melbourne United” does not have a nickname. More ammo for that cocktail party.
Getting the right “wheels”. Very important.
The next thing I needed to do was pick up my rental car. I was renting from Eurocar. I made the reservation at home a few days ago. I’ve found Eurocar to be a very good source on my European and now Australian travels. I even joined their frequent renter program. I was expecting to drive about 2,000 km over the next five days so a comfortable car was a must.
Of course, in Australia, they drive on the opposite side of the road. I would be maneuvering a right-side steering automobile. I’m good with that. I’ve driven cars on the “wrong” side of the road all over the UK, Australia, and even in Japan where the signs are unintelligible at least to me. Did you know that 42% of the world’s population drives on the wrong side of the road? I guess they don’t see it that way!
A Cupra? I’m going to rent a Cupra?
I ended up getting a Cupra brand car. This car was developed by SEAT an upscale brand from Spain. Volkswagen bought SEAT a few years ago. The car had 28,000 km (about 20,000 miles) on the odometer. The Cupra would be just perfect. I paid about 90 bucks a day and thought that was more than fair for my five days of rental.
I have driven tens of thousands of miles in a right-side steering car. Despite that, after being away from this style of driving for a while, I needed to pay attention. I have a perfect strategy for this. I would follow two general guidelines.
Randy’s rental car guidelines for driving on the wrong side of the road.
Those guidelines? The first is one that I shared with my children when they were 16 years of age and had just received their driving licenses. I simply told them, “Don’t hit anything”. I find that to be some wonderful fatherly advice. Some of our children were able to follow that advice better than others.
The second wrong side of the road driving principle? I’ve learned that if I simply stay in my lane not much can go wrong by doing that. Carol and I have a couple of sayings when driving on the left side of the road. First, “left-hand turns are easy” and “right-hand turns are scary”. I believe all of that to be true.
Taking my current eating plan to another continent.
I am in week four of an eight-week Nutrisystem eating plan. I just want to lose fifteen pounds. Who doesn’t? I am fond of saying you can never be too rich or too thin. I won’t be eating much in restaurants on this trip. I will be supplementing the Nutrisystem non-frozen foods that I brought on this trip with grocery store purchases.
Coles, the Kroger of Australia.
I saw a shopping center that included a Coles. Coles is a leading grocery store operator in Australia. I walked in and grabbed a few things.
It’s kind of hard to tell if 19.50 Australian dollars per kilogram is a good deal or not for whatever I might be buying. I figured I didn’t have much to lose since Coles’ pricing has to please people of all economic levels.
Just grab a few handfuls until I tell you to stop.
I told the guy at the meat counter to keep grabbing handfuls of lean champagne ham until he got to about 12 bucks worth. After each handful was weighed he told me the price. Pretty soon I had a nice stash of the ham for AUD 13 which turned out to be delicious. I also bought some blueberries, string cheese, and Coke Zero. I was set for at least a few days.
Seeing new things and meeting new people. That is always the plan.
After checking in at my Hyatt hotel I found my way down to Charlie’s auto museum. Surprisingly the place was located up in the mountains. It took some driving along winding two-lane roads to get there.
What I found was a smaller, rustic automobile museum that also had an extensive collection of toys, radios, sewing machines, and all kinds of collectibles. I’m going to guess they had tens of thousands of pieces in this museum.
To me, a stranger is just a friend that I haven’t met yet.
It turned out that “Charlie” of Charlie’s Auto Museum checked me in. I asked for the “concession” discount which you may know to be the senior discount. That saved me five dollars. I paid $15 Australian which is roughly $10 American at today’s exchange rates (65%).
Charlie and I got to talking. I learned that he had started the museum 35 years ago and was now 90 years of age. Charlie was sharp as a tack. How do I know that? He told me he thought I was 65 years old and according to my driver’s license, I am no longer 65 years old.
Here’s some very sound advice.
I have also learned that when you are asked to guess someone’s age you had best be careful. If you can decline that request I recommend you do so. You’ll get a much bigger smile from the person you are talking to if you guess on the low side rather than the high side…unless you are talking to a nine-year-old. I always look at someone closely, get a number of their actual age in my head, and then subtract 10-15 years. That works most of the time. However, even using that “age discount” strategy I sometimes wonder if it’s a good idea to take the risk of guessing someone’s age at all!
I enjoyed my walk through the museum. I took lots of photos of the old well restored cars as I always do. Then I had a special experience.
The first real highlight of the trip.
The museum wasn’t very busy. Charlie and I started talking. Soon he invited me into his office. We sat down and talked for nearly an hour. Despite whatever age I might be at the time I have always enjoyed talking to older people. I love picking their brains. In many cases they have already experienced, what I am about to experience in life. If I can get a heads-up from them I’m well ahead of the game.
Charlie had accomplished a lot in his life. He, and now his son, had built the largest forklift business in Australia. He had this beautiful collection of cars and “stuff”.
Nevertheless, not all was going perfectly. His wife was in a nearby institution with dementia. His kids didn’t get along.
At his 90th birthday party, he told the kids not to attend if they couldn’t be civil to each other. These are the kinds of experiences that many people would only talk about with a stranger. I gave Charlie my trackchasing business card and told him he would be part of my story. He accepted my card but told me he “doesn’t do computers”. Fair enough. Charlie, I hope you live for a very long time!
Time to move from the rural to the city part of this day’s Trackchasing Tourist Attractions.
From there I headed over to the John Cain Arena located in downtown Melbourne, Australia. The arena was completed in 2000. The arena features a cycling track, which is covered over with seating for court events.
The tennis court is a GreenSet surface (between 2008 and 2019 the surface was Plexicushion) and the roof is retractable, making it one of the few venues where tennis can be played during rain. John Cain Arena is the main home court of National Basketball League (NBL) teams Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix. Netball is played regularly at the venue. In 2004 that drew more than 10,000 fans for a netball match with New Zealand!
Melbourne city planners…job well done.
Melbourne has had some fantastic city planning. All of their sporting museums are located downtown within a well-struck nine-iron of each other.
I’m talking about the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This stadium is one of the 10 largest in the world and seats more than 100,000 people. Carol and I went to a cricket match there a few years ago. We sat next to a guy who was a huge cricket fan. He explained the game to us. I enjoyed the cricket experience much more after that.
As you may know, the Australian Open tennis tournament is played in downtown Melbourne. Tonight’s basketball arena is host to several of those tennis matches. The finals are played in the Rod Laver Arena again a stone’s throw from tonight’s national basketball game. A huge soccer stadium is right across the street from where the basketball game was being played this evening.
Could I get a ticket at the last minute?
I bought my ticket after my plane landed using the Australia Ticketet app. This is pretty much identical to Ticketmaster. I had used it one other time when Carol and I landed in Melbourne to see a play in their theatre district.
As you might imagine just a few hours before the big game my seating options were limited. There was only one seat available on the lower level of the arena. I grabbed it. I would rather go one time with a good seat than go to two games with bad seats for the same price. I paid about 100 bucks Australian which I thought was more than reasonable. Die with Zero. I was optimizing for personal enjoyment and creating memories every step of the way.
I arrived early just to check things out. I would say the arena was on the basic side compared to many of the much more modern and lavish areas I have attended in my time.
I just like buying stuff.
I wanted to buy a souvenir t-shirt to join the bulging drawers in the master bedroom of our modest seaside cottage that houses all of my other souvenir t-shirts I have bought on my travels. Alas, the designs were not to my liking. I did go with the arena’s footlong hotdog, which had a most unusual mustard dispatching system. Then I spent much of the time trying to Google the calories in a foot-long hotdog and bun. As it turned out, I decided it was around 550 calories.
Covid has made a big difference in how I buy my sports tickets. It’s not only sports tickets but parking and food and well…. everything. In six days of visiting, I can only recall using cash three times out of well over fifty expenditures. I used to enjoy using my “need one” sign to buy tickets. What a great way to save money and meet people. I think I have almost been “teched out” of that with technology! Everything is “tap to pay” and app-based. No problem. I’ll change my habits to keep up with technology.
The basketball game itself was exciting. The hometown crowd was given complementary “clappers”, which made a huge racket. The fans used them throughout the game. This reminded me of seeing professional baseball being played in Japan. Japan has 12 professional baseball teams. I’ve seen games at ten of those venues. When will I see the other two? Very soon. Very soon.
The basketball game was a barn burner.
The game was close until the fourth quarter. The visiting Hawks jumped out to a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter. By the way in Australian National Basketball, they play four 10-minute quarters. Again, accept my apologies if you already knew that. This is the same way they do things in women’s college basketball.
I think I am reasonably qualified to tell you that these teams could have demolished any American college basketball team. At the same time, these Aussie teams would probably get demolished by the leading NBA teams. Bill Walton once said that the worst team in the NBA would beat the NCAA national champions by 25 points every night. I found that to be a very strong statement but I suspect Bill knows more about this than I do.
Somehow the Melbourne United team came back from their 14-point deficit to tie the game at 100 in regulation. Then equally surprising the hometown team came back to win in overtime 115-106. How lucky was I? I had a great seat to a big game that went into overtime and was able to grab a footlong hot dog and learn more about mustard dispensing! From there I headed back to my Hyatt hotel for a good night’s sleep. I hadn’t even been in Australia for a full day and the trip was already beginning to stack up the memories.
Friday – March 8.
An easy day?
Today was going to be pretty much a kickback day of trackchasing. I did find a bit of a surprise at the Hyatt Place I was staying at south of Melbourne. Hyatt Place is sort of the entry-level Hyatt property in the U.S. At every Hyatt Place in the States breakfast is complimentary. My HP in Australia was very upscale. It reminded me of a nice Hyatt Regency if you know the difference. In Hyatt Places in Australia, breakfast is not free. My hotel charged $25 Australian. Luckily, I had my Nutrisystem foods to tide me over. The next time I come to Australia I will be sporting the title of “Globalist” in the Hyatt frequent stay program. Breakfast will be free at whatever Hyatt I choose to stay at in Australia or anywhere else in the world.
Trackchasing on the island.
This morning I was headed down to Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. From what I could tell this was an exclusive and popular getaway a little bit off the beaten path in the Australian state of Victoria. Phillip Island was going to be a 2 1/2 hour drive from my Hyatt hotel.
Kangaroos? No! Penguins!
Phillip Island is about 80 miles southeast of Melbourne. The Penguin Parade where little penguins come ashore in groups, attracts visitors from all over the world. Phillip Island is also a popular place for professional surfing. And of course, Phillip Island is noted for Australian auto racing. This is what Wikipedia has to say about the Phillip Island Circuit.
“Phillip Island is steeped in the history of Australian motor racing. A temporary circuit utilizing the island’s interior public roads was used for the inaugural Australian Grand Prix in 1928 and continued to be used for the race up until 1935. Racing on public road circuits continued through to 1940. In 1952 the Phillip Island Auto Racing Club was formed and commenced construction on the permanent Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit which opened in 1956. In 1960, the inaugural Armstrong 500 was held, although, with the bridge to the mainland unable to support heavy hot-mix bitumen equipment, the track broke up during the third running of the race in 1962. The damage rendered the circuit unusable for racing and for 1963 the Armstrong 500 was relocated to the Mount Panorama Circuit and over time evolved into what is known today as the Bathurst 1000.
The circuit was refurbished and was reopened in October 1967. It was closed in 1978, but was redeveloped and re-opened in 1988 and the following year hosted the first international version of the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix. It continues to host the race today and is also a venue for rounds of the Superbike World Championship, the Moto GP Championship, the V8 Supercars Championship and the Australian Drivers’ Championship.”
This was historic car racing at a very well-known venue.
There were several good things about seeing racing at the Phillip Island historic event. First of all, this was a big-time item on the Australian racing schedule. I knew it would go off as planned. That is not always the case with some of the smaller race locations I visit.
Racing would take place over a 4.45-kilometer road racing circuit. The drawback to these types of race tracks is that from any single position, you can’t see all that much. I did grab a spot on a pit garage rooftop where I could see about 75% of the track. Much of that was at a good distance away.
A walk in the park.
I liken this type of event to being similar to taking a walk in a huge park where a large car show is happening. It’s a laid-back day. I would get to see a bunch of rich guys racing their hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machines at high speeds against their fellow competitors. There is virtually no prize money in these events. Er…how do they pay for it?
The cars are brought to the race track in large semi-truck haulers with thousands of dollars worth of tires and equipment inside those trailers as well as the race cars. How is all of this paid for? The crowds at these races are not huge. There is little to no TV coverage for this type of racing. The sponsors, where they exist, are not getting much exposure. I have a very good European friend who is a former racer and team manager. He tells me this situation is perfect for laundering money!
Sharing is caring.
It must be nice to have money. Me? I’ve got to scrounge out every $10,000 I get by coming up with super valuable credit card strategies. I am more than happy to share with you, my friendly reader. The good thing about my deal is that I don’t have to worry about anyone coming to break my kneecaps. I don’t have to look over my shoulder trying to stay away from the tax man.
Another aspect of a place like Phillip Island is that I can get my steps in. I pretty much just kept walking and walking for the entire afternoon.
Garth, could I get a photo?
Today when I did stop I asked a race fan to take my picture. I am not shy about asking random folks to take a quick photo of my friends and me. I do have a special strategy when I meet celebrities. I plan to go up to Garth Brooks or Tiger Woods and simply ask, “Can I get a photo”? When the celeb agrees I hand them my phone and pose with my friend. Of course, I have not actually implemented my plan…but I will someday and when I do you will be the first to hear about it.
I make commitments. I keep commitments.
This afternoon I asked a guy to take a picture of me while he was facing my back. Why do that? Today I was wearing my Pasco County Fair (Florida) T-shirt given to me by Richard K. the track promoter at a Florida figure 8 event I attended a couple of weeks ago. I promised Richard I would take a picture of me wearing his shirt in a foreign country. I always keep my promises because that’s how I live my life.
Let me introduce you to my new friend, James.
Soon I was striking up a conversation with my new photographer friend. His name was James. James had been to the United States one time for 10 days. He was representing a junkyard operator in Australia. The owner wanted my friend to pick up lots of parts and pieces from the United States, and have them shipped back to Australia.
Someone said it’s a good idea to give everyone just a little bit of space because you never know what they are going through. Everybody seems to be going through something at least some of the time if not most of the time.
James’s son had some health problems. His female partner had escaped an abusive relationship, and that had caused issues with the commingled children from her past. Although he put a positive spin on his circumstances, I could tell it was bothersome for him. Like everyone I met, we met as strangers and parted as friends.
Dim sum. Me loves my dim sum.
It was now time to get something to eat at the Phillip Island circuit. I looked around to see what I could eat that supported my current low-calorie eating plan. I decided on the steamed dim sum. I love dim sum.
I marched up and ordered a serving size of three pieces. It was later in the day. The lady told me she would give me four pieces for the price of three just to get rid of them. I couldn’t tell her about my caloric limitations, could I? When someone offers you a gift you accept it graciously. That’s what I was always taught. I downed those four pieces of dim sum, which were delicious, and then spent some time Googling what would be a fair caloric count for dim sum! Sometimes goal-setting can be tedious.
I got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour. That was important. Tomorrow’s wake-up call would come at 3:40 a.m. Melbourne time. As they say at 3:40 a.m. I would be “off to the races”. By the way, I had no idea what time this would be back home at our modest seaside cottage in San Clemente. Carol always tells me to forget about what time it is back home and go with the flow. I try, but am not always successful, in following her directions.
Saturday – March 9.
Alarm ringing. It’s dark outside. It’s also time to get moving.
This morning I needed to leave my hotel at 4 a.m. That required a 3:40 a.. wakeup call. The sun doesn’t rise in Melbourne until nearly 8 a.m. I would be driving in the dark for nearly four hours. This would give me lots of time to think. With my trackchasing hobby, I commonly drive long distances in the dark either at night or early in the morning…or both.
When I stay in a hotel room, I rarely turn on the television. I really don’t need any outside entertainment. I seem to have a very active mind and can entertain myself just by thinking about the plan for the day or the plan for next week or next month. I packed up my gear and was off. Time to change hotels.
As I drove along the Australian highways in the Eurocar Racing Cupra I encountered warning signs for kangaroos and koala bears. These are similar to deer warning signs in the United States. I had not seen any kangaroos yet…but I would. The sun was coming up. Life was good.
This was one of my most memorable driving encounters.
I will tell you that one early morning on a past trip to Australia I was driving overnight to get to my next race track. A kangaroo jumped out of the bush from the left side heading directly for my car at 2 a.m. I’m not gonna lie. That did pretty much scare the sheet out of me!
On that same drive, I encountered fallen trees on a very rainy night. The trees were a little bit smaller in diameter than a telephone pole. They completely blocked the two-lane highway. They were far too heavy to move. I had no chance of clearing the road. With the first fallen tree, I made a U-turn. During the second stoppage, I got lucky. An Australian family soon showed up behind me to see what we were up against. This was a man and a wife and their adult son. They were returning from a night at the rodeo. Remember I don’t make these stories up. They knew the property owner whose home was within yards of the fallen tree. My new “friends” tried to rouse their friend who didn’t appear to be home. The son went into the barn, grabbed an axe and in about thirty minutes we were on our way down the newly cleared road. This family was nice enough to let me follow them until the final turn that took me to my motel. I have met some very nice Australian people. Remember, I am not Stephen King. I can’t even imagine these things to make up!
Sometimes the logistics of what I do can get intense.
Today is going to be my most challenging day of the trip logistically. I would be driving nearly 10 hours. Speed limits on Aussie highways are low. I’m talking about 100-110 kph (60-70 mph). It is interesting to know that Australians stick to the speed limit very closely. Americans not so much.
Additionally, despite this being mid-March it is just past the official end of summer in Australia. This weekend’s temperatures were going to be warm. I’m talking about 100°F or 37.8 degrees Celsius.
What helps with a five-hour drive?
The first part of this morning’s drive would be five hours. That was perfect for my downing a bottle of 5-Hour energy drink. The good thing for me is that 5-Hour makes me feel exactly normal (my description). I can’t ask for more than that. I never get tired. I only use 5-Hour energy drinks four or five times a year but when I need it, it helps a lot.
Traffic was light. I used cruise control to keep from nudging above the Australian speed limit. Some time ago, Queensland chased me down for a speed camera violation for a couple of years over one of these fines. I listened to podcasts and SiriusXM radio. Back in the day, SiriusXM wasn’t available very far outside the U.S. and certainly not in Australia.
Do you pay your taxes with a credit card? Here’s why you should.
Today I listened to an episode about paying your taxes with credit cards. I just covered that idea in my last newsletter. This was an excellent analysis of why it can be a good idea to do that. If you want to check it out, search for the “Takeoff: A Points and Miles Podcast by 10X Travel” podcast – Episode 19.
Sorry, Dave.
Later in the drive, I turned on the business radio channel with SiriusXM. I listened to the Dave Ramsey show. Although Dave Ramsey has some good financial strategies, I am not a big fan.
Today his show probably had as many commercials as it did interviews with people calling in to discuss their financial problems. Even the content was sprinkled with Ramsey products where they make money. I can only repeat what I’ve said in the past. Dave Ramsey did not get rich following his advice. He got rich giving others his advice on the radio and TV.
I read that Dave Ramsay has a net worth of $220 million. I wonder how much debt he used to leverage his investments to get that much money. He totally avoids the value of debt and debt’s ability to generate revenue from both home appreciation and business growth among other things. Don’t misunderstand my comments. Debt mishandled is a crusher. Nope. At my stage in life and with my financial knowledge I am not a big fan of Mr. Ramsey.
GPS is one of the biggest technology advances ever for my lifestyle.
I feel the need to point out the tremendous value of using GPS on these trips. I’ve been doing this type of traveling internationally for the past 35 years. For more than half of that time, GPS wasn’t available. I remember one late night in England in the pre-GPS days. I knew I was close to my hotel. My eyesight was just starting to go before I needed reading glasses. I had a paper map and barely enough light in my hire car to read the map clearly. That was frustrating!
I was one of the first people that I knew to get a Garmin portable GPS unit. Carol and I would laugh at the frequent audio statement “recalculating” which meant that I screwed up and our Garmin was going to try to fix the problem.
In today’s world, my GPS operates with my AT&T international phone connection ($10/day) with my iPhone. Apple CarPlay software shows the map and provides audio directions with most rental cars today. I can honestly tell you I don’t remember how I got from point A to point B before GPS and cell phones. This technology definitely makes the world a lot smaller. What do I say to someone who doesn’t use GPS much? You need to be going to places more often that you don’t know how to get to!
Trackchasing allows me to optimize for creating memories.
In some ways, my hobby of trackchasing is very straightforward. Trackchasing is a collecting hobby. Some people think it is a hobby only about going to race tracks. For me, that is certainly not the case. One young trackchaser, John Simpson, does a great job of seeing his own “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions”. Virtually every other trackchaser has simply gone from home to the track and back home again without taking the time to see much “local stuff”. I am not a fan of that approach.
One simple trackchasing concept.
For a racetrack to “count” in my lifetime totals I simply need to see adults racing cars in wheel-to-wheel races. Yes, there are lots of other rule’s minutia that add to the above statement. I have actually made many of the rules. What do I mean by that?
The formal hobby of trackchasing began back in the 1990s. A group mainly from Pennsylvania and the surrounding area came up with the official “guidelines”. Most of those guidelines commonly known as the rules of trackchasing are still intact. I am surprised that most of the newer trackchasers I meet have very little knowledge of exactly who created and what trackchasing looked like two or three decades ago.
Don’t believe those who tell you trackchasing is not competitive.
Trackchasing has been a very competitive hobby at times. The chasers who would tell you that trackchasing is not a competitive hobby are the most competitive! Imagine that. When I came onto the trackchasing scene I was in threat to some of the founders. Each time I would use one of their own rules to my advantage they would decide they didn’t like that. The rule was then modified to take away any perceived advantage I might have. I then took the new rule and exploited it. These new “rules” came to be known as “Randy Rules”. I commonly say I didn’t break the rules of trackchasing. I made the rules.
The Illabo Motorsports Park was almost a “backyard” track.
Today’s five-hour drive would take me to a morning racing show. The first races were scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The track, Illabo Motorsport Park was located in the small town of Illabo in the Australian state of New South Wales.
Illabo was offering up “vintage” racing. This meant they would be using vintage race cars that last raced, in some cases, back in the 40s and 50s. Yes, these are now antique racers that shared the spotlight in motorsports, decades, and decades ago. In many cases, the cars are worth quite a bit of money. In most cases, their owners are now getting up there in age.
When I go to see a vintage motorsports event, I need to confirm, if I can, that they are actually having “wheel-to-wheel racing”. They can’t just be puttering and sputtering around at 30 mph for the delight of the crowd. The fans show up to see these old machines back on the track one more time.
I wasn’t exactly sure if today’s vintage racing at Illabo was going to count for me or not when I arrived. There was one deciding factor that convinced me to give this track a shot. Going there would only take me one hour out of my way for tonight’s racing event up in the Australian Capital Territory.
There are no speed limits in real racing.
The only specific rule in trackchasing that talks about vintage racing is there can be no speed limits for the cars. Of course, the other general rules about racing, such as the cars all need to start at the same time and run for a certain amount of time or laps on an oval, road course, or figure 8 track apply.
I showed up a few minutes after the official starting time of 10 a.m. I paid my five-dollar spectator admission fee in Australian cash. I’m now on the fourth day of my trip. The only cash I’ve spent was for today’s ticket and admission to Charlie’s Auto Museum a couple of days ago. Everything else has been tap to pay with my iPhone or Apple Watch.
I found a seat in the shade of the grandstand where I could watch the racing. Each race was a collection of cars that might have raced against each other years ago. The entries primarily focused on midgets and open-wheel sprint cars. If only these race cars could talk. I would listen.
Racing cars used to be more dangerous.
Auto racing with these types of cars back in the 50s, 60s and 70s was a very dangerous sport. For the longest time, open-wheeled racers were built without steel cage rollbars to protect the driver. At the time several drivers thought this type of protection was for “sissies”. If you go back to the 40s some of the drivers thought not wearing a seatbelt was a good idea. They reasoned that it was better to be thrown from the car than trapped in the car during an accident. Just like GPS times change and we need to change with them.
This counts!
I was more than delighted to see the racers come on track. The drivers took the green all at once in a single file formation. The cars did quite a bit of passing, which told me they weren’t just playing follow the leader. There were no speed limits. Some of these old cars and drivers got around the track nearly as fast as they did back in the day. Finally, after a certain number of laps, I didn’t count them, a checkered flag was thrown, and the race was finished. I always say if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s got to be a duck!
During the luncheon break, spectators were allowed to visit the pit area. This was a highlight for me. I took lots of close-up photos of these old race cars. Some of which predated my interest in racing and even predated my 1949 birthdate.
What the heck was “ACT”?
From Illabo I was off on a 2-1/2 hour drive over to ACT. I didn’t know what “ACT” was. Later in the evening, I would discover that ACT stands for Australian Capital Territory. ACT is sort of like our Washington DC. ACT is not part of a state. It is located inside of a state, New South Wales. ACT is the capital of Australia and exists as its own territory. I never knew that!
This roadside motel brought back memories.
On the way over to the racetrack, I checked into the Swagger’s Motor Inn in Sass, New South Wales, Australia. Swagger’s was a roadside motel. I used Expedia.com and then Booking.com to identify hotels located in the area that would be good for me. Tonight’s rate was AU$157. That would convert in United States dollars at about a 65% conversion rate to only about 100 bucks U.S.
This hotel was clean and probably built in the 60s or 70s. I picked it because logistically the motel was located in the perfect spot between this afternoon’s racing and this evening’s racing. I checked in at 3 p.m. This way I wouldn’t have to worry about rousing someone at nearly midnight after tonight’s races to check in.
For most of my visits to the continent of Australia, I have stayed in motels exactly like this. However, now I am on a mission with the Hyatt hotel chain to get 60 qualifying nights in 2024. When I achieve that goal I’ll get Hyatt’s top-tier frequent stay rating of globalist. I will stay in Australia for five nights on this trip. Four of those nights will be at upscale Hyatt properties.
I like “firsts” and “only ones” in life.
Tonight’s trackchasing will be at the ACT Speedway in Pialligo, ACT, Australia. The ACT Speedway is the only racetrack located in the very narrow confines of the Australian Capital Territory, so there’s that. No trackchaser had ever visited this track since the hobby first began back in the 1920s, nearly a century ago.
Tonight, for the first time since 1991, the track was offering high-powered winged sprint cars. They expected a big crowd. The crowd likes the sprinters because they are fast and have wild wrecks as shown above. Also…check out that sunset!
The track’s website told me that I should buy my ticket now to “avoid disappointment”. I should also try to get there early before their existing parking spaces were full. If I didn’t get their early, I would need to ride a shuttle bus to and from their remote lot which was located nearly two miles from the track.
I take chances to gain advantages.
When I got near the track, I saw people parking along the highway. As you might imagine that can be dangerous. When fans do this it normally signifies a very popular event. Proving that I can see and do what other people are doing as well as just about anybody I parked alongside the road as well. I’ve done that a few times and never been towed, but I guess you never know.
I saw most people walking in one general direction. At the same time, I saw an “ACT Speedway” sign that directed me into the woods. I looked a little closer and saw there was an old dirt and sandy road. The path was not well marked. I figured I would give it a try and I went.
After nearly a mile of walking and being able to hear the cars practicing at the speedway, I found the entrance to the track. I wasn’t sure making that same walk after the races were finished in the dark was going to be a good idea. I figured I would deal with that when the time came.
There is always room for one more.
I am a religious person. I try to implement as many Christian values into my lifestyle as I possibly can. I am not an expert on reading the Bible. Nevertheless, I have seen enough Christmas plays to know there is a story in the Bible that says when people are looking for lodging that there is “always room for one more”. That is the strategy I use when trying to find a seat at crowded sporting events. It always works for me. There truly is room for one more.
Short on amenities.
Quite a few of the tracks in Australia are like the tracks in the United Kingdom. They don’t offer all that much grandstand seating. Patrons bring their lawn chairs and blankets and watch the races that way.
I didn’t have either of those items. I needed to sit in the grandstand. The place was packed. I always prefer to sit in the top row. Then I don’t have to listen to people sitting behind me. I can stand up as much as I want. I found just that seat tonight.
Time to meet my new friends.
I sat down between a couple of blokes who seemed to know each other. The seat between them was open. They nodded in agreement that I could take the space between them. Remember as you read this, “I’m a sales guy”.
I find an interesting phenomenon about my travel. If I am traveling with Carol or with other friends, my “trip experience” is going to be a lot different compared to my traveling by myself. If I’m with Carol or friends, I will find myself having most of my conversations with them as you might expect.
However, if I’m by myself, I’m going to strike up conversations with the people sitting next to me. I’m going to ask them a million questions. They might or might not ask me any questions about myself. I’m good with that. Commonly, at the end of the night, I will know the names of their children, oftentimes the names of their pets, and exactly what kind of emotional and mental issues they may or may not be dealing with. That’s just me.
Tonight, I had that top-row seat. In the early going the cars were throwing mud balls up to the top row. That doesn’t happen very often. Is that a selling point? Is it good to say to your mate, “Hey honey, how about we go to the races tonight, and if we’re lucky you’ll get hit by some nice juicy mud?” What other sporting event can you attend where you have to put your hand over your beer cup to keep the mudballs out? Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
I struck up a conversation with Peter to my right and Tom to my left, both Aussies of course. For the rest of the night, we talked about all manner of things that were specifically focused on racing, and life in Australia and the United States.
Good racing, a track curfew, and a downright generous Australian.
The racing was good…the best of the weekend. There were just three classes, those being the production sedans, legends, and the 410 winged sprint cars of which they had about twenty.
I also learned from Tom that the track curfew was 10:30 p.m. and from Peter that the track curfew was 10 p.m. In Australia, just like in the United States, the general public is not all that tolerant and approving of local motorsport events. They complain about the noise and the dust and whatever else they can think of. Normally, the little short track isn’t all that well prepared to handle these complaints legally. Many have been shut down because of it.
The final event of the night, the 30-lap sprint car feature took the checkered flag at about 9:30 p.m. That was fantastic. With my hotel being just one hour away this meant, I could get a good night’s sleep after a very long day of driving.
Appreciate the hospitality, Peter.
I had told Peter where I parked my car which now seemed to be about a mile from where we were sitting. He told me after the races were finished he would take me in his car to where my car was parked so that I wouldn’t get “mugged” walking through the forest as I had done in the daylight before the racing began. I appreciated that.
Both Tom and Peter warned me about the dangers of kangaroos while I was driving. They told me that the kangaroo population was as thick as thieves. Peter said it might be a good idea to follow a big truck so the truck would wipe out the kangaroos before I did. I was most surprised to see a huge kangaroo warning sign in a residential/commercial area. I figured the “roos” would be mainly a problem out in the country.
When racing was finished Peter asked me if I wanted to go into the pit area. Not wanting to impose, I told him that it was up to him since he was going to be taking me to my car. In true Australian friendly fashion, he said “It’s your night. You decide.” Considering the early hour, we did take a tour through the pit area which was lots of fun. Then Peter went out of his way to drive in the opposite direction of his home to get me back to my car. Then he waited along the side of the highway until he saw my lights turn on in the Eurocar Racing Cupra machine and begin to move. What a nice guy and a wonderful evening.
Sunday – March 10.
You get to see the scenery best when you’re walking.
After a good night’s sleep, I was off on a one-hour power walk in downtown Sass, South Wales, Australia. Sass is a very cute little town and sits next to the Sass River.
Today I had a 5 1/2-hour drive over to Moama, New South Wales. I’ll be seeing some racing there tonight at 6 p.m. at the Heartland Raceway. This will be the fourth and final track of this particular adventure and gives me a lifetime total of 61 tracks, in 13 visits to the Australian continent.
I was expecting to arrive 2 1/2 hours before race time. With a projected high temperature of 97°, there was no need to arrive early. I figured that over the next 5 1/2 hours I would stop to see anything that looked worthwhile. That’s kind of how I plan the touring aspects of these trips.
How many states does Australia have?
You probably know that Australia has only six states. They also have the Northern Territory in Australia and now I have just discovered the Australian Capital Territory. The Australian landmass is about 75% as big as the United States.
For the life of me, I can never remember the names of all six of those states especially where they are located. I guess I have a mind and personal philosophy that tells me that I don’t really need to remember more than I need to remember. I have GPS!
As I drive along Australian highways, I continue to see race cars being towed from wherever they came from to wherever they were going. That used to be a big deal for me. I figured if I could find out where the cars were going that information might give me a new track opportunity. This is no longer the situation when I see racers being hauled along the highways. In most cases, these race teams are probably going to a track I’ve already been to.
This was Australia’s Northern California.
The further I drove today the more rural the landscape began to look. This reminded me of the rolling hills of Napa during the dry season. Very picturesque. The weather got hotter as well topping out at 36°C, which is 96.8°F. My weather app predicted a high of 97° today! I love that app.
This is not a good picture. That’s my car. Why is my car stopped? I ran out of gas! Luckily, I was close enough to a toll booth to get some help.
Would I run out of petrol in the Australian countryside?
I decided I needed to get some petrol. However, the landscape was so rural there were no petrol stations. I kept driving and the kilometers remaining of fuel kept decreasing. I was reminded of the time I ran out of gas on a toll road in Chile. My GPS had been directing me to a place where I could have gotten gas but when I arrived I saw that the gas station had burned to the ground. Does everyone have experiences like this or is it just me?
I was now down to about 40 km of fuel remaining which is about 25 miles worth. Just at that point, I came across a petrol station on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. This was the kind of “country store” place that had two pumps and a very rustic log cabin-looking store. As I entered the store, I noticed a huge sign telling me they sold bait.
Here I paid the highest price for fuel for the entire trip. The price was $1.99 Australian per liter. At a 65% exchange rate that’s $1.29 AUS per liter. As you already know there are 3.8 liters in a U.S. gallon. You did know that, right? That meant the price was $4.90 U.S. per gallon. Heck, gas in California just down the street is that or more. The best petrol rate I got during the trip was $1.83 AUS.
Late starts are usually not a good omen.
Tonight, the racing at the Heartland Raceway was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. I pulled onto the speedway grounds at 4 p.m. Now that I had a full tank of fuel, I could simply sit in the car, gather my thoughts, and enjoy the Cupra’s robust air conditioning to keep me comfortable.
There was a time, a very long time ago in a faraway place, that I used to show up with my family an hour or two before the races began. We wanted to get there before the gates opened. We always wanted to get those coveted top-row seats. I don’t do that anymore. However, it was kind of fun to watch the hard-core fans tonight. They were hauling their lawn chairs and coolers into the track to sit out in nearly 100° temperatures waiting two hours for the races to begin. Everyone is in a different stage of their life, aren’t they?
Not my best night of trackchasing.
I didn’t much enjoy the races tonight. I had contacted the track in advance and talked with a man I thought might have been the track owner/promoter. He told me when I arrived I should “make myself known”. I was wearing one of my “World’s #1 Trackchaser” souvenir t-shirts. Well, I guess these shirts are not a souvenir to me!
When the ticket seller saw my shirt she said, “You must be the man!” That sort of surprised me. Then she charged me the full adult price ($30 AUS) rather than the “concession” price aka senior price of $25 that I inquired about. I don’t know that I’ve ever had anyone reject my request for a concession price. That did not put me in a very good mood. I guess it’s the principle of the thing.
Sally. Yes, Sally from Australia who wanted to go to Arkansas.
Just at that point, a woman called my name, “Randy, are you Randy?” At first, I thought it was the ticket seller reconsidering her decision and wanting to make things right with the “racing media”. No such luck. This was another woman who introduced herself as “Sally”.
It turns out that Sally had messaged me back in 2018. She and her husband Ross were making a trip to the U.S. and wanted to know if I might be able to recommend a place where they could see racing in Arkansas during their visit. At first, I didn’t remember our interaction. Then I did some research and this reminded me that I recommended the Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas. I’m not sure where they get “international” as part of their name. It was nice that Sally and Ross “made themselves known”. I always enjoy helping anyone who asks for it. So many people have helped me out in similar circumstances.
Late, hot, and sort of boring.
As noted tonight’s racing was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The first race did not hit the track until past 7 p.m. Folks, it was nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Sitting in the spectator area with not much to do for more than an hour is not what I want to be doing at an Australian racetrack or any racetrack for that matter.
This race program was exclusively devoted to modified stock car racing. Tonight, there were about 30 IMCA mods at the track and even more of the “big block” modifieds. If you’re not into racing none of this makes any sense to you, does it?
In short-track auto racing, they have heat races and the main event. The heats are reserved for a short race distance and fewer cars. Often these races are 8-10 laps in distance and have 4-8 cars competing. The feature race is the biggest and most important event of the night. A feature race will normally go for 20-30 laps and sometimes longer. The field will be made up of the 18-24 cars that did the best in time trials and heat races.
In the U.S. almost every track has each car race in one heat race. I don’t like watching single-car qualifying (time trials) or heat races where the drivers don’t pass very much. Most of the time they are just feeling out their cars in preparation for the main event. In Australia almost every short track has the cars racing in TWO heat races. Doing some quick math this DOUBLES the amount of heat racing. No, thank you. Some tracks only run feature events. I’ll take that any day over tracks that want to run two heat races and a feature race.
Sally told me that tonight’s program ran until 12:30 a.m. Scheduled start time? 6 p.m. Actual start of the first race? About 7 p.m. The total amount of time from the scheduled start? SIX AND ONE-HALF HOURS! When was the last time you went to a sporting event, a musical concert OR ANY other kind of entertainment event that lasted for more than six hours? Maybe never? No, thank you. Maybe the track should have given me the concession price and I would have been more tolerant in my analysis but I doubt it.
A darn good trip.
On the nearly three-hour drive back to the hotel in Melbourne I thought about my 13th trackchasing trip to Australia. Everything had gone really well. It was so much fun to meet and talk to Charlie of Charlie’s Auto Museum. The Australian National Basketball League finals game with the hometown team, Melbourne United, had been a blast. What could be better than a game that is tied at 100 in regulation and goes into overtime?
The trackchasing offered up lots of variety. Seeing historic racing on a road course at a place as beautiful as Phillip Island was perfect. Then seeing vintage open-wheel racing at a track that most people had never heard of was a great trackchasing find. I never knew that “ACT” meant Australian Capital Territory. I was happy to see their only racetrack, the ACT Speedway. Finally, knocking off a Sunday night track helped “amortize” the cost of the trip over four tracks. I’m at 2,953 tracks at this point seen in 87 countries. I’m headed toward 3,000 tracks. Stay tuned to see if I make it.
Fuel, curbs, and kangaroos.
I was getting close to the hotel at this point. It was midnight. I needed to fuel up one more time. I pulled into a modern gas station that was located far away from anything else. The place was well lit but I couldn’t tell if they were open at this late hour. As I looked over my shoulder driving very slowly trying to see some sign of activity inside the store I ran over a six-inch curb with my right front tire. Bad words came from my mouth as they frequently do in similar situations. I immediately thought, “That’s gonna leave a mark” but it didn’t. The last time I hit a curb like that was at a much higher speed in a major snowstorm somewhere up in rural Quebec. That led, forty miles down the highway, to a complete collapse of the front suspension and one of my best-ever travel disaster stories!
Once I was filled up I was home free. Not exactly. I was seeing lots of kangaroo warning signs at this point. Then, all of a sudden up ahead, I saw my first kangaroo. He/she was bouncing along from one side of the road to the other as if there were springs attached to its feet. As I stumbled and fumbled with my iPhone to record the event the kangaroo jumped over a fence and was gone. That was fun!
C’mon folks. You just gotta smile, ask, and accept the rewards of your approach.
At the Hyatt, I was recognized for my loyalty. I always try to build rapport with the front desk clerk. I think I’m pretty good at that. As we talked, the subject of the hotel parking charge came up. The clerk also asked me if there was anything else he could do for me. I answered his question with, “Since I’m arriving so late and will leave early in the morning you could waive the hotel’s parking charge”. He smiled and replied, “Of course, I can do that for you”. If you don’t ask and if you don’t ask in the right way and in a nice way…you are not likely to “get”. Good luck with that. You’ll get the hang of it.
Monday – March 11.
This review was longer than expected. Thank you for bearing with me.
Today was getaway day. To cut to the chase I hopped on a jet airplane, in business class, and flew 15 hours back to Los Angeles. I’ve got a few days at home before next weekend’s trackchasing trip, way down in Mexico.
Cheers, mate!
Randy Lewis
P.S. I am very close to publishing the long slog it has taken me to buy a new Tesla and sell my old one…six months! You’re not going to believe this story.