As far as action packed months go, October is definitely a medal winner. There is always so much going on in October, from the AFL Grand Final to the NRLW Grand Final, plus of course the NRL Grand Final. Then there is the mighty mountain trek for the Bathurst 1000, and the month finishes with the start of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. It also contains one of the most significant weekends for the transport industry with the Lights on the Hill Memorial Convoy weekend.
The two-day event sees hundreds of dedicated truckies and trucking families converging on Gatton Showgrounds on the Saturday, with events and activities running well into the night and then on the Sunday the touching memorial service takes place at the truckies’ wall. Regretfully I was unable to attend the memorial service this year, but I did fill in Saturday racking up some kilometres in the ute and some steps in the Nikes capturing plenty of the day. So, sit back, pour a cup of tea and enjoy the pictorial wrap up and my walkthrough from this year’s event.
Sorry, that was very inappropriate of me. Obviously if you aren’t from Brisbane you will have to sit back and enjoy a saucer of tea, seeing as after the AFL, NRLW and NRL, Brisbane has got all the cups. I promise that’s my only dig.
Sporting bravado aside, this year’s Lights on the Hill Convoy was another roaring success. I headed off at what I thought was an extremely early hour to catch the first trucks rolling into the Brisbane staging area on Mica Street, Carole Park. I arrived just before 6am and found the line-up to the local café for coffee and bacon and egg rolls was almost as long as the gathering of trucks that had already endowed Mica Street.
The weather was already starting to play its part for the day – nothing but blue skies and a gentle breeze as I did a quick walkthrough to snap some shots and catch up with some folks. Banners of all sizes and shapes were getting adhered to the cavalcade of commercial vehicles. MC to HC, HR to MR, the Lights on the Hill convoy is the epitome of inclusion. Everyone is there to celebrate and recognise a fellow fallen colleague.
Walking among the hundreds of trucks awaiting release from Brisbane, there was an almost lifted sense of pride this year. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the quality of trucks that were rolling in, but for an industry often divided, it was nice to see such strength in numbers.
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In the interest of inclusion, I limited my time at the Mica Street staging area and hit the highway to squeeze in a bit of preparation photography at the beginning of the other half of the convoy.
Just in case you are new to the Lights on the Hill Convoy concept, I guess I should point out, ‘Lights on the Hill Convoy’ is technically ‘Lights on the Hill Convoys’ plural. One convoy forms up in the streets of Carole Park in Brisbane. At 9.30am, with the convoy several hundred trucks deep, the convoy heads out on to the Ipswich Motorway, then the Warrego Highway and ends up at the Gatton Showgrounds. Meanwhile, up at Brown and Hurley in Toowoomba, several hundred more trucks are congregating. Synced in with Brisbane, at 9.30am they proceed from Brown and Hurley along Boundary Road and join onto the Toowoomba Bypass, which they follow all the way down to the Gatton Showgrounds as well.
It may seem a bit excessive for me to try and catch both ends of the convoy, but the truth is, the hour and a bit drive between locations allows me to experience one of the more moving aspects of the convoy – the public support.
As I bolted along the highway I get to see hundreds, if not thousands of people setting up their possies. There were tailgates down, eskies topped up, gazebos being erected and sun umbrellas galore all along the highway. Exiting Brisbane on the Warrego, there was a constant stream of flags and banners, all arriving early for the best vantage point to support the industry we know and love.
The Toowoomba side was a little more difficult. There were no stopping points up or down the new bypass, but the streets that led away from Brown and Hurley, as well as the Warrego Highway eastbound at the bottom of the bypass, were all jam packed. Most were getting in a good couple of hours of sunbaking before the trucks even began to roll.
I did manage to make it to Toowoomba just in time for the drivers briefing up there – close cooperation between the Queensland Police Service and the Lights on the Hill Committee means a well-worked traffic management plan was in place at both ends – something vital for an event of this size. I had just enough time to appreciate the volume of trucks squeezed into the Brown and Hurley yard, as well as dozens more at the likes of Followmont’s yard nearby. I snapped some shots then headed off to see where I could squeeze in among the roadside fans for some photos.
Sunshine and happiness greeted the convoy participants from both ends as nearly a thousand trucks made their way into the Gatton Showgrounds. I am still waiting to hear the exact number, but I can attest that the quality of the vehicles on display was absolutely incredible. You could appreciate the hours and hours of prep work that had gone into every vehicle. Parking up in the Showgrounds took a while, as you would expect. The queue from the Warrego into Gatton was great for the spectators, but not so much the trucks that were still at work and trying to get into Gatton. For such a worthy cause, however, no-one seemed to mind.
Whoever was in charge of the parking plan earned themselves a nice cold beer, as all entrants were parked up before 2pm this year, a feat that is only appreciated when you witness the enormity of the convoy. I myself found my way to the stage and managed to enjoy performances by Smokie Pete, Billy Bridge and Bec Le Nye before I ventured back out to see the dual convoys in their entirety.
With the melodious tones of hundreds of icepacks and cooling systems all singing the songs of the roadside parking bays, I wandered around to appreciate the machines on show. From state-of-the-art new school style to classically tough old school cool, there was a truck for everyone to enjoy. Much like the entertainment the team puts on each year, where there is something for everyone on the main stage.
This year, with a big thank you to major sponsor Land Transport, all the kids rides at this year’s events were free. And yes, they put an actual age limit on the term ‘kids’, not just a maturity level. There were plenty of market stalls, from the likes of Campbells Transport, Ringers Western and One By Mel. There were food trucks galore, as well as the local clubs putting on a damn fine sausage sizzle.
Travis Sinclair returned this year to once again get the crowds up and about, with Josie, Hayley Jensen and Jeremy Turner closing out the night after some fantastic fireworks. Unfortunately, I also missed that this year – my card-carrying Kiwi status meant I had to be home to watch the rugby first.
What I love the most about the Lights on the Hill is the inspiration and motivation that drags everyone out for this event. We have all been touched by accidents or incidents within our industry and the Lights on the Hill Convoy is a fantastic acknowledgement of all those people we have lost, as well as the importance and significance they have had within our lives.
This year, another 70 names were added to the Gatton Memorial Wall at Lake Apex Park. It’s a sobering salute to the trucking world we all love. The turnout and support that events like the Lights on the Hill Memorial weekend encourage cannot be understated.
Hence a big thank you, a massive applause and a hearty handshake to all those that put this event together, as well as a shout-out to the hundreds of people that drove, cleaned, honked and high fived the hot day away.
As I write this summary, in between reapplications of aloe vera on the self-inflicted sunburn, I look forward to doing it all again next October.
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