PNGCars

Article by Priscilla Jonathan, Meri MilneBay in Australia

I am not into cars, maybe it’s because the typical woman’s perspective is that they’re merely a mode of transport. But the experience at the V8 Supercars was fantastic, it gives me a new sense of appreciation, even awe at the fact watching a car speed past you or even crash can be heart wrenching yet spectacular.

And it was one of those lazy Sunday’s that a wantok rocked up to the apartment I was staying at in Darwin to flash the two tickets she had got us to go. Absolutely normal when you meet a fellow Papua New Guinean overseas and want to spend time with a wantok, but I found myself mastering up all kinds of excuses to avoid going with this lady. You see, she works in an escort agency here and despite her good intensions; I could not get past this fact. Anyways, as much as I tried, when I heard the tickets were $55 dollars each(about K130), I felt obliged to go because that was no small amount. And bless her heart I did.
We took the bus service which are free for any big events here. We were still a mile away from the Hidden Valley race tracks and already you could hear the roar of engines and the burn outs. Oh the burn outs.

Never have I seen people go mad over the wheels of a vehicle getting burn out, literally. They just rev their

engines and create a lot of smoke and make donuts and a lot of noise and when they’re done and the smoke subsides, you see tyre pieces everywhere on the tracks, lots of skid marks and a car standing literally on its rims. And the crowd goes wild!!...You can’t help but get caught up in the atmosphere. It’s exhilarating.

This year, Darwin played host to the V8s Supercars Championship Series, it’s 13th time to do so. There were a host of races involving the hot laps, the karts and various entertainment from motorbike stuntmen, parachuters to a ‘Race and Rock’ concert. The Northern Territory’s Chief Minister Paul ‘Hendo’ Henderson announced on the last day (20 June 2010)that his government had just signed a deal to keep the V8s in the territory up to 2018, which will be a mega boost to their local economy. Apparently, hosting the V8s brings in close to $8million dollars annually for the Top End because of it’s crowds of up to 40,000 that attend per day. Of course where there’s loud noise and music, there’ll be lost of eating and drinking. The spending fuelled by the atmosphere to have a good time at the tracks.

A word of advice if you’re at the right place at the right time, make an effort to attend but if you’re planning to attend one, book way in advance. The V8s attract crowds to its venue from all over Australia and overseas. It’s an experience I will not trade. And I’m proud to say I owe it to this lady who had time to show me this side of Darwin during my stay here.

Cheers!

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