Cit-In 2010
Report from Frank & Pat Burkett
Photos available in the Photo Gallery.
Cit-In 2010 Launceston
Long distance travel pays good dividends when attending a national Cit-In as two cars from Queensland won their categories in this year’s Launceston event.
A Traction Avante belonging to Ray and Virginia Huth from Gin Gin won the award for the best Traction while the 1997 Xantia Wagon belonging to Peter Huth and Les Hay of Gayndah won the Best in Class for AX, BX, CX, XM, Xantia, Xsara and GS.
Their Xantia Wagon also won the Best Car of the Show.
Driving to the Cit-In was not a trek for the faint-hearted as the round trip from southern Queensland to Tasmania covered over 5300km through rain, gusty winds, a locust plague and the terrors of the Bass Strait.
Five cars set off on Saturday 27th March: Ray and Virginia in their Traction from Gin Gin, Frank and Pat Burkett in their 2CV Charleston from Maryborough, Peter and Jenny Boyd in their D Special from Mapleton, and Peter, Pam and Madeleine Huth and Les Hay in their Xantia Wagon.
The fifth car belonged to a Belgium couple, Filip and Suzy, who used electrical tape to cunningly disguise their Ford Focus as a poorly designed Citroen.
Each day’s travel was kept short out of respect to the ageing cars. First night we stopped at Stanthorpe (the Apple and Grape Motel), then Coolah (the Coolah Valley Hotel), Wagga Wagga (the Wagga Comfort Inn – where we caught up with Bob and Judith Shackley who had driven out from Canberra), Deniliquin (the Coach House Motel), Melbourne (the Albany Hotel) and finally, across the ditch to the Penny Royal Hotel at Launceston. (Other Brisbane drivers who had set out much earlier were already installed at the hotel.)
As expected, Tasmanian Citroen owners made us very welcome. Registration on Good Friday was at the Yacht Club where we enjoyed local wines and Launceston’s famous James Boag beer while catching up with friends we hadn’t seen for 12 months.
On Saturday morning under a cold sky we fronted up for the Show and Shine in Launceston’s Museum Park. Locals came out in force to admire (or goggle at) the collection of beautiful Citroen shapes that ranged from the very old to the latest C6.
A WA-owned Hoffmann in striking red livery won the judge’s choice in the 2CV Class and also took out the People’s Choice.
Following lunch provided by the Launceston Lions, visitors used a free afternoon to climb the Cataract Gorge, take boat rides up the Tamar River, tour the splendid wineries or share Citroen stories over a bottle or three.
That night we dined at the Launceston Golf Club where organisers raised over $500 for cancer research in a dutch auction of donated goods including a locally made rocking chair and coffee table.
Easter Sunday morning, after church services for some, turned into a lovely day for an Observation Run (or historic homes guided tour), followed that evening by the official dinner and presentation at the Cataract Bistro.
Highlight of the dinner was Peter Huth winning the Citroen 2010 banner in a hotly contested auction for cancer research, then asking everyone at the function to sign the banner as a valuable keepsake.
Monday morning after breakfast, the Queenslanders said good-bye to their Belgium friends then retraced their steps – ferry across Bass Strait, a night at Melbourne and dinner at the France-Soir, back through locusts, up across the Snowy Mountains to Bob Shackley’s place in Canberra (and his magnificent collection of French clocks), then along the New England Highway arriving home late Sunday.
Next Easter’s event at Stanthorpe has already drawn a number of enquiries, and having tasted the delights of the Granite Belt town on our journey south, we can strongly recommend the venue for Cit-In 2011.
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