CANE TOAD REPORT

Official Report - Gary Bennett, Member #509

After a difficult year dealing with the dreaded Covid-19, the Cane Toad Rally (CTR), after being postponed from it’s new date in April, was finally run. After last years rally, lessons were learnt and changes were made to further improve the running of our clubs rally and ensure it’s survival into the future.

The success of last year’s CTR was evident on the first day of this year’s event, with the NSW Border being closed and strong winds predicted, we ended up with three times more people arriving on the Friday than we did last year. Processing these arrivals was far easier thanks to our new online registration which almost 40 people took advantage of. With the temperature being way less than last year we were able to light up a campfire both nights. There were a lot of familiar faces who attended last year and some from the year before. The journey to Toobeah was a lot better than last year, not only because I didn’t run out of fuel, but the roads were a lot more enjoyable. The road from Cecil Plains to the Moonie Highway was a real treat and we used a new road from the Moonie Highway that travelled due south ending right into Toobeah.

Saturday dawned and it wasn’t long before the gusty winds found us. Arrivals were very slow and I was beginning to think that this is as good as it’s going to get. After lunch a few started to dribble in, then just before the Gymkhana was due to start a s#%t load of riders arrived and we had to put the gymkhana back by a ½ hour to process the arrivals. The gymkhana changed location from where it was run last year basically because of the wind but the new location was also better for spectators. The Thong Toss was also changed as it was going to be who can throw the furthest for males and females but if the thongs got any altitude they would probably land in Goondiwindi. The changed format was more thrilling which is always a winner. A new event was introduced, the Egg & Spoon race, run on the same track as the Slow Race. The Rum Hunt tokens were hid on Friday and both were found on Saturday morning, with one being found by someone who found one last year.

Richard was helped out this year screen printing t-shirts by a “work experience kid” aka Geoff Hamon. This was a winner as Richard could concentrate on Screen printing shirts while Geoff was identifying who owned the shirt and if they had paid. Geoff did a great job and his help was very much appreciated. The presentation of Awards was next on the agenda and our President, Paul Hughes did a sterling job presenting the awards, as you would expect. The list of winners are on the next page. With the awards out of the way it was relaxing time and knocking down a few coldies talking to other club members and visitors.

The process of rebuilding the rally began in 2018 and is on track to return to its former glory. Our visitors are enjoying our rally and promising to return. Some who organise their own club rallies are impressed by some of our processes that they intend to introduce them into their rallies. We had 57 attend the rally in total. 22 BMWMCQ members attended. There were 17 that couldn’t cross the border from Sydney and Canberra and who knows how many from other parts of NSW, especially the Northern Rivers where good numbers came from last year.

Next years CTR’s will be held on the last weekend in April, which will be 23, 24 & 25th April in 2021. At the new northern location of Mt. Perry.