The first day of action at the track. We awoke to bird noise again, after being serenaded by generators into the night. I hate generators. The gennies had been silenced sometime during the night.

We had a proper camping breakfast - hand squeezed juice of navel and blood oranges, follwed by lamb loin chops (cheap, big and delicious from a country butcher) with a fried egg and finished up with plunger coffee. We know how to live in style in our little campervan.

First up today was the Formula Fords at 8am for practice session number one.

There was some local drama as a person fainted in the motorhome park, and fell awkwardly onto the bitumen road of the old drive-in. Someone called 000 and a course car turned up followed by six ambulances.

Yes, you read that right. 6 ambulances for one faint. I assume this was being used as a warm up exercise to make sure the crews were ready for anything. I hope that was not the sum total of ambulances at the venue and that nobody else required assistance for the next half hour or so.

Brett and I wandered off towards the National Motor Racing Museum which is on site here at Mount Panorama. As we were a bit early we stopped and watched the Touring Car Masters in their first practice session.

The museum is a must see. I didn't like it as much as some of the other museums we have visited this trip, they seem to be trying to cram too much in to the space available which makes it difficult to see everything properly. The reason you have to go here is because there are things here you will never see anywhere else. I love motor racing, so many of the exhibits are really special to me. There were also some unexpected sights.

The first car I saw on entry was a Wolseley. That might not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me. My parents had a Wolseley when I was small and so I have a soft spot for them. Ours was a 6/80, but the one on display was a 24/80. One of my uncles had owned a 24/80 in the 1970s.

Next car we noticed was one that had been driven by Bob Blacklaw (The Streak). He was a speedway champion. Brett was really excited to see this car, because Bob Blacklaw also had driven the sprint car that Brett now owns. Long before Brett owned it of course. But, you know - six degrees of separation and everything. It was a special link for Brett, like the way the Wolseley was a special link for me.

Brett is a Ford man, he was so excited to see the hardtops which finished 1 - 2 in the great race in 1977. Brett firmly believes that this was the greatest moment in motor racing history ever. Anywhere.

Even though there are "look but don't touch" signs everywhere, and we were also reminded by the ladies on the counter not to touch ANYTHING, Brett touched both these cars. He now feels connected to the actual event. Oh, Brett.

There are also a bunch of fantastic motorcycles on display - Mount Panorama was also traditionally a bike track although the last bike meeting there was in 1988. Mick Doohan won some races that year, and it was also the last time Brett and I went to a race meeting at the Mountain.

There is an historical film shown at the museum, Brett and I sat through it but, honestly, I wouldn't recommend it. Except maybe the first 5 or so minutes of really old footage. The movie had a very narrow focus after that on V8s and on Holden, and went into great detail about some races while not even mentioning others.

We met up with Val and Steve after making a couple of souvenir purchases in the museum shop. We then had a walk around the retail area at the race track entrance. It reminded me of being at a country show, except with a different focus.

We crossed the bridge into the paddock area and checked out the garages. The V8s were now having their first practice session so we got to see some of the drivers as well as some of the crews working on cars. I also got to take some much better pictures of the team transporters. There were no crowds to block the view, and I was pretty happy with what I got.

Next up was the support category pits, including Porches, Dunlop series (which is a bit like junior V8 Supercars) and the Touring Car Car Masters. We ignored the Formula Fords and the Utes. Maybe we will have a look at them another time.

We went back to the van for lunch. Steve was very surprised to surprise a snake on the way back. The snake was not identified, but it is a reminder that we are in the country and it is springtime. Snakes are on the move.

After lunch we wandered over to the track just up the hill a bit from our campsite. Here we are just behind the concrete wall, just before the entrance to the Chase. The cars go by here very very fast - makes it difficult to get a good photo, but I tried.

Just as we were leaving this great spot, I look over towards the east and saw a formation of small red planes - hey! Look over there! It's the Roulettes! The Roulettes come to Bathurst each year to impress the crowds with their formation flying. They didn't come near the track today, instead they did a couple of fancy turns and then landed at Bathurst airport which is across the valley from Mount Panorama. No doubt we will see more of them in the next few days.

It was much noisier tonight. Not just generators this time but also the sounds of fireworks, partying, sirens, late into the night. We are really here now.