Thurs, 5th Oct, 2023 Mt Panorama Volunteer Campground, Bathurst, NSW

I had set the alarm for 4.45am. BOM says it is 1 degree outside but we are comfortable with the heater ticking over all night so it was 16 degrees in the camper. We put our thermals on, jeans and official shirt then the big coat. I had dug out our gloves too! Had our quick breakfast.

Needed all the clothes and gloves as we walked over to the sign on room by 5.30am. At least it isn’t raining. Collected our breakfast box, snacks and lunch. As we are only doing half day shift we took the lunch and breakfast box back to the camper. Walked through the back of the pits in the dark using my phone as a torch. Steve is on the main gate so I left him there and headed up the road along the back of Merchandise Alley to Gate 6 which is just past the helicopter area and the access for all the campers in the Max Cameron Campground.

Met the other volunteers, Sarah, Peter, Jamie, Jason and our supervisor Bailey. Sorted out what we were doing. I decided to just stand at the end of the fence to direct people re bag search and advising them what to show as they enter - arm band or ticket etc as we only had 4 scanners and there was 5 of us. The others were all lovely but Jason, who bragged about doing this for 10 years was lazy and didn’t follow any of the Supercar protocols re using your phone, smoking, attitude etc so I didn’t want to be around where he was.

The wind was bitter so we were glad when the sun finally rose though the heat wasn’t reaching us. At 7am we could allow people to enter. Had a great time chatting with everyone. The sky cleared and we thawed out but the wind was still very cold.

Walked back to Steve at 12.30. He had had a good time too though his supervisor was more interested in chatting with others than doing her job but luckily he had other experienced people so they all just go on with it. He got to meet the drivers and crews as they came through. He said to Simona that he would cheer for her on Sunday if she brought him a cuppa as a joke and she said she would. We saw her race the last time we were here and here she is back again after that long break.

Went back to the camper for our lunch which was a chicken and salad roll which I toasted. We also got a big muffin, chocolate, fruit, museli bar and the breakfast pack which was cereal, milk, juice & a yoghurt bar, also water and powerade. We are impressed. The camper temp had dropped to 8 degrees with the heater off. We put on our other Supercar shirts, I had mine from the 50^th Anniversary in 2012 and dug out our other coats as we can’t wear our official ones when not on duty.

We walked across to mountain straight to watch one of the Supercar practices. A nice lady at the Toyota Gazoo Racing’s stand said we could come in and sit there which we did. There were TVs showing the broadcast and live timing and we could stand up on top for a great view too so I clicked away with my camera. All full up now though the lady we are sharing the site with still hasn’t turned up yet.

After it finished we headed down into the Pits or Paddock depending on what you want to call it. Lots of different Repco vehicles about as they are the major sponsor now.

Stood and look at the Shell cars for a while. Hope they go well. It would be nice for the two Davison brothers, Will & Alex, to have a win. Will had just come in (putting on cap) and Alex is on right.

As we wandered along we saw Simona de Silvestro (the only female driver) and I got a photo of her with Steve, joking again about the coffee!!

There was a display of vehicle for the 60^th Anniversary.

Across the bridge to Merchandise Alley. Another car display for the 45^th Anniversary of the Top Ten Shootout. Its also 20 years since Greg Murphy set the Lap of the Gods that we saw with our boys in 2003 too.

There seems to be more interactive things to do this year and a couple of big seating/eating areas with big screens which is great. Also a band stage which had a band playing loud music from at present.

Back to the camper for a late cuppa then across to the Toyota Gazoo stand again to watch the next Supercar practice. The wind is still blowing strong and cold so we went back to the camper and our lovely heater for drinks. According to BOM we had 42mm yesterday. Luckily it was only for one day and the forecasted rain for today didn’t happen.

Had dinner and watched a movie then early to bed for another early start tomorrow.