Cooma '98 (2)

Grand Parade

Assembly for the Grand Parade started at 8am Sunday, on streets gratiously closed by the authorities of Cooma. Land Rovers were marshalled by type and age: series-1 80" 86" 88" 107", series-2, series-2A, series-3, LWB and SWB, stage-1, series-2B and 101 forward controls, 110, Defender, Range Rover (classic), new Range Rover and Freelander.

A final count is not known, but if numbers equalled the 530 of the Cavalcade, then allowing for 3 metres per vehicle and a 7 metre gap, the parade would have stretched for 5.3 kilometres. In fact it ran up the main street and then into the Cooma show-grounds where those being judged for the various awards were directed to park around the oval.

Cavalcade

On the Sunday afternoon an attempt was made to assemble the massed Land Rovers in one place - a field a few kilometres west of Cooma.

Being Easter Sunday, it was appropriate that the Reverend Neil Flower of the Land Rover Owners Club of Sydney should hold a short service from the back of the 6x6 to celebrate Easter and also to ask for a safe event and return home. Rev. Neil Flower drives a well prepared 1949 series-1 hard-top which rejoices in the name of Old Lazarus, because..., well you can guess why. After all, he could hardly call it the Anti-Christ as in the film The Gods Must Be Crazy.

At this time a count of the vehicles was made, with the final tally being 530 Land Rovers. Was there another 70 at Snowtels caravan park, at the showgrounds or out on 4WD trips? Who knows.