GREG and Colleen Carr, managers of the Kookaburra Caravan Park, were treated to a special visit last week.
A horde of retirees – the youngest was 60, while the eldest had celebrated his 82nd birthday – filled the caravan park in a convoy of white Maui campervans.
The group was part of the International Caravaning Association (ICA) and included members from England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, America and Holland.
They had been travelling together since September 17 and had made their way from Darwin to Broome, down through Karratha, Exmouth, Kalbarri, Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Albany and everything in between. They returned to Perth where they parted ways.
Doris Pritchard, chairperson of the group and Joan Kelhan, publicity officer, said the trip had been an amazing experience for everyone involved.
According to Ms Pritchard and Ms Kelhan, who hail from England, the group “got along tremendously,” with none of the problems that can occur within large groups of people spending so much time together.
While the trips are very organised with stops arranged and accommodation booked, the group doesn’t actually travel together. They part ways during the day – unless there’s a combined activity planned – and do their own thing before meeting up at the allocated time and place.
Due to the broad cultural diversity within the group, they decided to hold evenings in order to introduce others to their individual cultures.
The Dutch people held a night of wine and cheese; the Americans held a hot-dog supper with ice-cream; the Welsh made soup, sandwiches and cakes and sang their national anthem and folk songs; the Australians put on a true blue barbecue, told stories, read poetry and sang songs; the English made a traditional meal of bangers and mash with apple pie and cream with a program of entertainment; a Maori roast was on the menu of the New Zealanders, who then surprised everyone with fish and chips, before performing the haka and demonstrated their poi skills and played games; and the Swiss membersbrought chocolate, yodelled and discussed why they put chocolate before sex.
Future trips include South Africa, Canada and the USA.
Those interested in joining the ICA should checkout the website at www.icacaravanning.org or call Gerry and Margaret Kerrigan on 0427 330 473.