The street parade through Broken Hill was something else, what a sight to behold. What the locals saw was something extraordinary, there was about 64 International vehicles, of various makes and models. There was a 1909 Auto Buggy, Farmall "A" tractor and a 1921 "S" model truck, 31 Travelers, 15 Traveltops, 8 Terras, 2 Series 80s and L, C and D models and finally an R190 prime mover, rumbling through the township. You don't get to see this everyday. Most of us gathered at the caravan park, the others met up with us on the road and we all made our way through Broken Hill out to Silverton, where the show was to be held. The vehicles stopped just on the outskirts of Broken Hill for a photo shoot. Lined up four abreast the menagerie of Scouts and other Inters was an awesome sight. Never before in Australia had there been so many Scouts together in one spot.

With video cameras and still cameras whirring and clicking away it was time to move off. It took somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes for the vehicles to get going again continuing on to Silverton. After a bumpy 40 minute drive along Silverton Road we finally arrived at the area for the show. It took a little while for the vehicles to line up ready for the show and judging. The categories for the vehicles were: Best Traveler, Best Traveltop, Best Terra, Best 80 Series, Best Other International Truck and Best Other International Product.

The Travelers accounted for almost half of the total vehicles, so naturally this was the toughest section for the judging. It came down to six possibles and then finally two. One having a very straight, neat and clean body, fresh light bronze metallic paint and in the process of having a new interior fitted. The other was also painted bronze and very clean. This one won due to the fact of having a better overall job done with the paint work and a neat and clean undercarriage. Over much deliberation, this one was finally chosen as the best. The Traveltop were the next largest group, again it came down to two. One being a very nice tidy near original Traveltop, the other being a highly modified Traveltop. The modifications were pretty numerous. There was never a Scout II ute sold in Australia so this one had the Traveltop roof removed and a Terra top fitted. It had an enormous lift with 35" tyres and the top of the bonnet stood five feet off the ground. And was adorned with aluminium checker plate throughout the cabin and the tray.

There was really no competition for the best Terra. The winner looked as though it had just come from the showroom. Out of the two Series 80s the competition was pretty fierce (especially for the Roughest Scout award). As for the Best IH Truck, the1921 model was the winner, albeit marginally. Follow the link below for pics of the winners in each category (where available).

Come Sunday it was time for either cruisin' or bruisin'. Some people, particularly the ones with only road going vehicles, opted for a tour of the Broken Hill township. The rest of us with four wheelers went out bush (metaphorically speaking of course, there ain't much bush out at Broken Hill). We were led by the local 4WD club out through the Poolamacca sheep station. The going was pretty easy (most of us had a bloody long way to go home), although it was quite rocky in places. If you only had two ply tyres on your vehicle venturing off the track would have proved hazardous, for the rocks which strewn the countryside were damn sharp.

We travelled, at an easy pace, across the 125 000 acre property which contained 15 000 head of sheep, stopping at the sheering shed for lunch and then heading out towards the Strzleki desert. We travelled along the edge of the desert making our way back home, which was a reasonably smooth drive compared to what we just came off, along a dirt road which lead back to Silverton. Unfortunately I ran out of film to be able to take some excellent photos.

click on the logo for the pics or follow the Broken Hill link to learn more about this fascinating place

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Updated 29 Aug 02