MX5's at Hardy-Gras
06 March 2022 / Written: John Purcell, Chris Cameron. Photos John Purcell, Wendy Mulholland, Kerry Redfern
In late January, Hunter chapter received an enquiry from the LGBTQIA community at the Central Coast asking if would we would like to provide cars for a small parade to run in conjunction with the Sydney Mardi-Gras. The parade was to run on quiet residential streets through the secluded communities of Killcare, Hardys Bay, Pretty Beach and Wagstaffe, strictly within all road rules. An enthusiastic group of Hunter members volunteered their cars & drivers and eagerly anticipated this unusual social event on our run calendar.
With a month of almost constant rain on the east coast it was a huge relief that the weather gods gave Hardys Bay and us a break, with Saturday being the only day in over a week when it didn’t rain. Our run started from Swansea with 13 cars and 22 members meeting up at McDonald’s. Brian (Bracken) led us down the Pacific Hwy, exiting onto Elizabeth Bay drive and proceeding along the scenic coastal route through the Entrance to Foresters Beach. Here we took an enjoyable detour through some really interesting Central Coast back roads such as The Ridgeway and Cutrock Road before returning to Terrigal and continuing our journey to Hardys Bay. A prior concern that the group might get split up and lost on these roads didn’t happen, but the vagaries of Central Coast traffic did separate the group on the final run to Hardys Bay with half of the convoy heading east to Copacabana instead of south to Killcare. Quick calls on the radio had them turned around and everyone finally arrived at our destination in smaller groups. A special mention should go to new member Sandra on her first run, and without a navigator for coping well with the quite complicated route, the traffic and being initiated into getting lost on a run!
The parade cars dropped off their passengers on the Hardys Bay foreshore and did a quick turnaround back to the assembly area. We arrived to find an excited group of paraders wearing all sorts of costumes & bright colours plus a trike and motorbike all decked out with brightly coloured decorations to lead the parade. A spectacular 1932 red open-top Ford Phaeton was to go next and our MX-5s made up the main part of the parade. Several of our MX-5 members also adorned their cars with streams, butterflies & balloons, so we made quite a spectacle! Their organisers, Anita & Jane, allocated the paraders to our cars and we loaded up ready to go. Most of the paraders were carrying big rainbow flags which looked great streaming out behind us as we drove down to start the procession.
What a hoot! Anita & Jane had done a Facebook promo, put up banners around the 3 suburbs and done a letterbox drop – so we had people at almost every house waving and cheering – lots with canine companions sporting rainbow bandanas and little kids dressed in colourful attire. Even some of the adults had dressed up! Many had picnic tables, snacks & drinks and gave it all a real party feel. We only encountered a couple of local cars on the roads and they were all happy to wait and allow our procession to pass by, which meant it all went incredibly smoothly. At less than 10km per hour, we safely navigated the circuitous route through the 3 suburbs, carefully planned to give as many people as possible the opportunity to see us go by.
The waterfront was just amazing with people packing the footpaths, cafes and park areas and cheering every car. Sadly (but sensibly), no one offered us a beer or a glass of their wine though. As the paraders were all locals, they knew many people in the crowd and each car made an occasional brief stop to allow a photo or chat with a friend. I also had to stop at one point to allow 2 ducks to waddle across the road!
At Wagstaffe – the end of the parade route - we turned around and went back along the waterfront to do it all again, then took our paraders back to the assembly point to drop them off. Our new friends organised a group photo, then with lots of hugs and thankyous and a lovely bottle of wine for each driver, we un-decorated our cars and returned to waterfront to pick up our passengers and drive over to the Empire Bay Tavern for dinner. When we drove back along the waterfront, our cars got lots more cheers and waves from the locals, which was really nice.
The consensus from our volunteer drivers was that they had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our outing. Our parade friends were over the moon with the huge support they received from their local community and profusely thanked us for helping.
My passenger was Bill – a ‘78’er – who was part of the very first Sydney Mardi Gras parade. It was a pleasure and a privilege to chat with him along the way, and I know from our other drivers that they too thoroughly enjoyed the time with their passengers.
Our little parade brought a lot of smiles to a lot of faces and we were very happy to have helped to make it possible.
