When the bikers rule the town

Do you remember the scene in the 1970 movie 'Black Bikers From Hell' when the bikers take over the town and cause mayhem? You know the movie, it has that famous tageline "God forgives. The Black Angels don't!" Ok then, what about that immortal line "This time I'm gonna kill ya, Frenchie. You filthy, no good, egg-sucking, finger-licking, snot-picking scuzzy faced rat!"  .... still not ringing any bells?


Ok then, lets start over again, remember the 1954 movie, starring Marlon Brando,  The Wild One, where bikers take over the town and has the best biker dialogue ever on the silver screen  "What are you rebelling against?" "What have you got?" Priceless!

So with all those infamous scenes in mind I headed down to Newcastle, arming myself with my Sanyo S1275 for self defence to watch the 33rd annual Newcastle Bikers for Kids Toy Run. This is a charity event held to help with donations of toys, food and cash, through the Salvation Army, to assist those less fortunate in our Hunter Valley community.


This year proved to be another stunning success with thousands of bikes (some estimates were up to 4,000!) doing the pilgrimage from Sandgate Markets through to the Newcastle Foreshore. The streets of Newcastle were just a mass of colour, movement and noise, as the bikes came through bringing cheer to the assembled crowds. I even seen one thing that I thought I would never see, one of the visiting coal ships (Sincere Pisces) almost slowed to a halt to observe this great event and that in itself is a very rare event indeed ! While events of this type are not exclusive to Newcastle, it is a continuation of the many free community fun days that are bought into Newcastle to provide the city a weekend spectacle and more importantly, a chance to raise funds/awareness to those that are less fortunate in our community.

Part of the crowd along the Foreshore

If you are thinking of heading into town to capture some of the excitement and colour of one of these events, my advice is to go the early, know the route, visit a couple of vantage points and stake your claim, because the once the crowd moves in it is hard to jostle for a good photographic position. Also, plan a fallback position as well, just to get a different angle of the parade as it passes, even if it means climbing on a seat, or even bringing along a step ladder, anything that will help give you a different perspective and, most of all be patient.  


Once again Newcastle was the place to be on a Sunday to take in all the city has to offer and if you do  come to visit one of these wonderful events always remember to pack your camera (with fully charged batteries), perhaps even bring a picnic lunch, just  to make a day of it.

thanks for the effort guys!

"A picnic? Man, you are too square. I'm... I... I'll have to straighten you out. Now, listen, you don't go any one special place. That's cornball style. You just go.... " - Johnny Strabler 'The Wild One ' (1954)


- as long as it's Newcastle Johnny, as long as it's Newcastle!