School visitation | Wahroonga NSW

Friday: 14 March 8am – 12pm 

School visitation | Wahroonga NSW

Seeing we were dealing with Sydney rush hour traffic, we decided to leave a little earlier to travel to Wahroonga in case of any delays along the way.  However, we had a good run-through and arrived at the school around 8.00 am and Justin Boyd, the school chaplain, met us in the carpark and drop-off area and opened the gate up to the artificial grassed area.  We carried the bollards and gazebo up to the area set aside for “Bubsie”, and then Justin got in the car with Kevin, and they drove up to the area where it would be displayed.  Craig Young, the school’s principal, also came to meet us, and we set up the gazebo and resources. Kevin went to the Fox Valley facility to load the presentation for the morning chapels. 

The children who were already at school were excited to see the car arrive and there were quite a few questions about the car before school commenced.  We were also very grateful for some of the parents who helped us carry the boxes up to the car from the carpark.  Thank you!  

As the junior school chapel commenced, one of the Year 12 Design and Tech classes came with their teacher, Mr McPhee, to view the car and learn about its specifications and the materials used in the construction and restoration.  It was great to answer their questions, and we hope it gave a little information that was helpful to the subject they were studying.  Many of the young men would have liked to have tried to crank the car, but seeing we were without our main driver at the time, we had to put that on hold.  

Several classes came to view the car, ask questions, and take class photos with it.  

The senior school chapel was held after that, and Glen and Glenda stayed on duty with the car and gave out books to the staff and some parents who came by to view the car. The ladies from the school office also enjoyed having a seat in the car and examining the internal features of the car.  

During the break following chapel quite a few classes came to look at the car and ask questions and to also collect some of the QR code cards of programs that are on our Incredible Journey YouTube channel.  We were also able to promote the children’s book to the school library and to give them a copy of “The Overlander” along with the new condensed version of the book that Nevill sold. This has been written by Allen Sonter and is entitled “God’s Rescue Plan and Today in the Light of Prophecy.”  It is available from our TIJ store for $5.  

We were also able to look at where we will set up on Saturday morning at the Church and chat with Pr David McKibben on the plans for the next morning.

We very much appreciated the cool water and snacks that the school brought us from their canteen as the sun rose higher in the sky and the temperature climbed. After the lunch break, we packed up, and the students were happy to see Bubsie start, her horn tooting a goodbye, to see them wave goodbye from the various levels of the school.  

The principal, Craig Young, was also invited to ride in the car as it exited down the ramp and out of the gates to be loaded back into the covered trailer for its trip back to our Galston base.  

On the way back, we stopped to fuel up for the weekend and get some supplies for keeping “Bubsie” in good shape and looking good.  The afternoon was spent in giving her a good wash, blacking the tyres, airing and drying out the covered trailer seeing it was a very warm afternoon, and the previous week had seen some rather damp weather.  It has been a great day, and we are always amazed at how the story of this little car and her drivers, catches the attention of the children and elicits an emotional response to this piece of Australian history.

It was great to hear some of the younger children call out their goodbyes as we left – 

“Good-bye little Bubsie – we love you!”