Fri, 14th Nov, 2014 Bass Valley Campground to Phillip Island V8 Supercar Campground

Hot night 24 degrees at 7am, got up and headed to Phillip Island. We passed lots of lovely green pastures. This farmer supports Jamie. 

The Western Port which is the other side of Mornington Peninsula. It is very windy and the sky is grey with heavy clouds. 

The bridge to cross over to Phillip Island. 

Crossing over and looking back to where the Bay meets the Bass Strait. 

John said there was a Chocolate Factory on Phillip Island – will have to check that out! 

First sight of the track. 

The birds that usually stop the V8s from driving down the track as they wander onto the track were waiting as we drove in. 

Got our tickets into the track and drove down to our camp area in Zone 2. The chap at the gate said to park next to the fence to get a good view. We drove in and some people said they had been told not to block people’s view!! It is a first in first served campground so we found a spot next to the fence and set up. Great view over the 1^st turn and back straight of the track called “Siberia” as it is next to the Bass Strait. At the end of our van we can see the start line and some of the rest of the track as it winds around. 

There is a big TV screen in front of us but we can sit in the caravan and watch the TV if the weather gets miserable. 

V8s going round Turn 4 during practice.

 Looking from the van to the Start and over the support teams pit area.

Wandered down to check everything out. Found a peacock and Robbo the cockatoo. Len Lukey owned the cockatoo and brought him to Phillip Island in the 1960s. He was very friendly and a good talker and dancer. Len Lukey set up the Museum here years ago. We came here back in 1985 and saw the Museum and the penguins.

  

They even have a huge slot car track.

 Top poster of how the track disappears and looks like it goes in the ocean.

This is where we are camped. Top picture of the track. 

Peered in the window at the Museum area. 

Down to the track and the overpass to the pit area is over the start line. 

Looking down from the start to the first corner and the Bass Strait. 

Thought this was the chap we met in Townsville with the huge coat but it seems they are all the rage here as we saw a lot of them. 

The Pits. 

Support vehicles pits. Aussie Race Cars, Sports GTs and Touring Car Masters.

Jamie & Craig’s pits – bit cramped compared to Bathurst. Got a new poster of them. 

Spotted some drivers – David Reynolds, has a great poster. 

Chez Mostert. 

Team owner, Brad Jones. 

Steve wanted a photo of the Nissan engine. Maybe we could drop in the truck!! 

 And steering wheel.

Stone Brothers Racing – Ross Stone now working with Erebus. 

On top of the pits is a flat area and we can go up and view the races from there and look down on pit lane. 

Merchandising is on the other side of track. 

The speed camera men. 

Looking over the big rigs from the top of the pits area. 

Watched the Touring Car Masters practice. Took a photo of a Charger to send to Tracy Pink as she used to have one. 

 They don’t give these guys much room to get their cards into their bays with those big concrete blocks.

V8s practice session, not much room to get into the bays etc. 

 Little hornets on the side of James Moffat’s car.

Back on the other side and the sun is poking out. 

Had lunch then went to walk around the outside of the track. There is a gocart track here too. 

Great gocart for dad and son. 

Ugly pine tree, its pines and what it should look like. 

Down at the Southern Loop looking back to where our van is parked on the hill behind the Museum. 

Across to Phillip Island houses.

Another V8 practice – here comes Jamie. 

So close to the ocean – wind getting a bit cooler, glad we grabbed our big coats. Rugged coastline/

  

Kept walking around the outside of the track. Will come back to the mound at the corner called "Siberia".

You can see lots of the track from a lot of different spots on the track. Looking to the back of the pit area. 

The flies like Steve. 

Back to the start - what a view - looks like they drive off into the ocean.

Headed back as a few drops of rain fell. Back to our van with the best view. 

Ford Performance had a great poster too so we put them both on the fridge. 

Steve wandered and chatted with other campers while I worked on all the photos and videos of today and did a few uploads onto the blog. There are 500 campers here - 100 up on last year.

Wind getting colder. Rang Erica & Terry for a chat. Both are well and had a great trip recently. They are enjoying following our blog though they are still travelling a bit themselves in their caravan. Hopefully next year they will get to do the source to the mouth of the Murray River that they have been trying to do for a few years. Sue and Charles rang for a chat. Then we rang Louis. The temperature outside has dropped to 12 degrees though we are snug at 20 degrees inside. Ran the generator for a while as everyone else is and we need to use up the fuel before we get to the ferry to Tasmania.