Give me a second to do a little thinking here… Oh okay, there was the pig racing, the three-legged races, that sideshow game where you stick balls in a clown’s mouth to win stuffed toys, bobbing for apples, those potatoes on a stick that look like the world’s yummiest fried tornados, what else? What else? No, I reckon that’s all I can think to name.
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See, I was going to list all the activities that were on hand at the latest running of the bi-annual Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day out. Then I realised it would be easier on me just to focus on what wasn’t at the show. That list seems to be getting shorter with every running of this hugely popular Queensland event, where the list of activities available seems to be rising — almost as rapidly as the truck numbers themselves.
In 2022, when the biennial event last ran, there were just over 150 trucks. This year’s tally surpassed the big 200. It is not hard to see why. The success of this unique show is in its name, “Truckies’ Day Out”. It is more than just a truck show, and although its germination stemmed from the most tragic of circumstances, its success is built on the backs of a team of hard-working and passionate volunteers, eager to raise money for a great cause and provide an epic Truckies’ Day Out for all those involved.
We can’t get into the amazing adventure of the day without taking a quiet moment to appreciate the motivation behind it. Tragedy is often found at the core of some of the most charitable events and Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day Out is no exception.
On October 8, 2011, Dan and Kristine Hillcoat lost their second-born son Matty to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Matty was just shy of four months old when he passed. It is an experience no-one would want to go through, and many of us will never understand the pain that comes along with such tragedy. SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants between the ages of one month and one year. There are thousands of lives lost to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome every year and yet still not enough money is pumped into the right places to allow for more research.
This need for more research, more awareness and more support was the driving force for the establishment of Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day Out. The idea for a truck show that would raise money for SIDS research stemmed from Dan and Kristine who have their own family trucking company up in Gympie, Queensland. Servicing the local area with tippers and multipurpose trucks, the family has been entrenched in the industry for decades. It’s what they know and it seemed an obvious path when it came to a fundraising event.
Since the tragic loss of Matty in 2011, Dan and Kristine had aligned themselves with another worthy cause, River’s Gift – Australia’s leading solely SIDS-focused charity. The organisation was founded by Alexandra Hamilton and Karl Waddell, who lost their young son River. River was almost the same age as Matty, and he passed away a few weeks after him. Since its inception, River’s Gift has become a globally recognised cause dedicated to funding research into SIDS, as well as providing safe sleep education and offering support to families affected by this devasting syndrome.
River’s Gift was established in 2011 and Dan and Kris had been involved in previous fundraising events. In 2017 though, they decided to start their own and went with what they knew best — trucks. However, the family didn’t just want a show ‘n’ shine – they wanted to ensure that their truck show would be a full-on family day, for everyone to get out and have some fun.
As I mentioned, the inaugural show took place in 2017. There was a touch over 50 trucks, and around $22,000 raised. It was an impressive debut. The show ran annually for a few years, before Covid took down all our fun events and with its return in 2022, it was decided the event would become a biennial experience.
I can tell you that the official number of entrants this year was 201 trucks – the best turnout yet. Along with an increase in numbers came an increase in quality. You could have thrown a blanket over the top trucks vying for King Rig. I swear the judges would have had to count the dollops of grease on the grease nipples to distinguish a winner. In the end though, the deserved King Rig went to the immaculate 909 tow truck of Anywhere Truck & Machinery Heavy Towing. Not only did this truck look outstanding, but it also even had a license plate that took the words off your lips — PHAT AYE.
Along with the King Rig award, there were over 20 other categories on offer, including an award for ‘Too Busy to Buff’. Even that category was steeped in competition. I could go on about the sheer stress of judging a competition with such high calibre contestants, but that seems to be an across-the-board issue at most Australian shows these days, and Matty Hillcoat’s kept that bar high. Although the majority of truck show entrants will happily certify that, “I’m not here for a trophy, I just want to support the cause,” which is absolutely true, it is also true that Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day Out would be one of those shows where you really do want to win a trophy. Have you looked at the photos? These custom-made trophies are, to quote the King Rig, PHAT AYE.
As difficult as life was for the judges, for us spectators looking for a day in the sun you really couldn’t ask for more than what was on offer at the Gympie Showgrounds.
Finding the event is never difficult. There are not that many places in Gympie where you can hide a massive big top tent or a gluttony of carnival rides and which is exactly what you will find at this event. Inside the big top, you will find the stage, the bar, the merchandise tent, the bar and the stage for the auction.
Yes, I mentioned the bar twice. Next to the ice-cream van, it was one of my favourite rest stops. There were also kids’ entertainment shows running throughout the day inside the tent. It was a great place to come when you had overdosed on sunshine and sugar outside — you could sit in the shade for a bit, rehydrate and let the kids watch a show.
For the tractor lovers, the SEQ Tractor Pullers were up and pulling all day long. I must admit it was a bit intriguing, and I wouldn’t have minded having a go myself. It seems just a case of, to quote Scotty McLaughlin “Pluck it in first, give it some jandal and ….” However, when I spoke to a couple of the pros, there really is an art to it.
It helps that the tractors bring with them copious amounts of black smoke and enough noise to wake the dead. For those chasing an only slightly quieter experience, there were several vintage machinery displays.
It’s always humbling to see how far we have come. If you were keen to be reminded how unfit you are, you could pop over and watch the woodchoppers competing. Those guys know how to throw an axe, repeatedly and at pace. I had to go back to the bar just to catch my breath after watching a couple of heats.
But wait, there’s more. The Fraser Coast Lawnmower Racing club were putting on a display as well. Although their first outing wasn’t a vrooming success. They were doing laps inside the showgrounds and as fun as those souped-up lawnmowers were, the dust they caused was not appreciated by the truckies when the wind turned. Thankfully a quick switch out to a grass track for their subsequent displays and it was back to lunatics on lawnmowers for high-speed entertainment.
A very unique part of Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day Out is the truck parade. By definition a parade is a large number of people or vehicles, all going in the same direction, usually from point A to point B. The Matty Hillcoat truck parade, however, involves every truck that wants to participate doing laps of the track inside the grounds. Once the outside of the track is full, the trucks start forming smaller and smaller concentric circles. As you can see from the images, it is quite a sight to behold.
As I leave you to go and pursue the menagerie of images I gathered over the sun-drenched day, I will admit I still managed to miss a fair bit of the festivities. I did manage to restock my Jax Wax cleaning cupboard, I replenished my truckers’ hats supply and I even indulged is some damn fine tasting nachos. I didn’t have time to visit the on-site barber, nor order an amazing wooden truck replica. I didn’t have near enough time to appreciate the man doing live wood carvings. Such is the excess of entertainment on hand at Matty Hillcoat’s Truckies’ Day Out.
It is a big day put on by all the volunteers, encouraged by the hundreds of truckies and supported by the thousands of families. I hope they smashed their goal of raising $100,000 and I can’t wait to get back in 2026 for the next Truckies’ Day Out.
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