Spend two minutes in a foreign land and you quickly how helpless you can feel without your modern day communications.

Well this is sort of how my first five minutes following touchdown in Brisbane felt. Grab my Blackberry and there is no service. You’re handed documents on the plane and instructed to fill them out. You walk up to the agent at the desk, present your documentation and passport, and then if all is well, you pass to customs inspection where they ask about the “stuff” in your bag.

For me, I brought along my native snacksjust in case a Vegemite sandwich was not to my liking. There were Mountain Dews galore packed between the shirts and trousers.

But before I could get to this point, I had to pass the lady at the first checkpoint.

Remember, the paper I needed to fill out? One of the questions was my destination once I left the airport and where I planned to stay during my trip. This created a problem. I had no idea. All I knew was my host Victor Bray had it covered.

PART 1 - COMPETITIONPLUS.COM HEADS TO AUSTRALIA

Spend two minutes in a foreign land and you quickly how helpless you can feel without your modern day communications.

Well this is sort of how my first five minutes following touchdown in Brisbane felt. Grab my Blackberry and there is no service. You’re handed documents on the plane and instructed to fill them out. You walk up to the agent at the desk, present your documentation and passport, and then if all is well, you pass to customs inspection where they ask about the “stuff” in your bag.

For me, I brought along my native snacks just in case a Vegemite sandwich was not to my liking. There were Mountain Dews galore packed between the shirts and trousers.

But before I could get to this point, I had to pass the lady at the first checkpoint.

Remember, the paper I needed to fill out? One of the questions was my destination once I left the airport and where I planned to stay during my trip. This created a problem. I had no idea. All I knew was my host Victor Bray had it covered.

The only issue was, with no way to contact Victor I was pretty much in the dark and at the mercy of the government agent.

She was a nice lady, much nicer than the female border agents I’ve encountered in Canada over the years.

I handed her the sheet hoping she would overlook the section I failed to fill out. Then she asked, “Where are you going to be at?”

Nervously I tried to explain how I was in town to report on the drag racing. She then smiled and said, “Oh really? At Willowbank?”

Then I realized how much clout Victor Bray has in Australia.

I opened my Blackberry, and showed her the email from Victor Bray to which she responded, “I know Victor, have a nice day and enjoy your time here.”

Yes … that’s how Victor rolls.

Once I met up with Victor, it was as if every person in the airport and the country who was Australian, knew who he was. Strangers would yell out, “Victor!”

Victor confided with me he was once in a foreign country, could have been someone in Europe or Southeastern Asia, and a stranger walked up to him and said, “You’re Victor Bray!”

Victor has clout in Australia, well beyond his six ANDRA series championships. His family was a fixture in the tomato growing community dating back to the 1890s.

Take a ride with me in our Holden Monaro rental car as we visit the Bray farm and ride around Brisbane before headed to the track.

 

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