The best moments happen when they are unplanned. 

Hence, on a whim, I decided to go on a roadtrip in a 1963 Chevy Impala wagon, with my best friend.  We wanted to abandon the chilly winter weather of Victoria and head all the way up the east coast of Australia to sunny Queensland, especially to attend the GreazeFest Kustom Kulture Festival.

That’s approximately 1800km and about 19 hours of driving, only one way. Then add that again to get back home.  Nevertheless, I thought that it was now or never to follow my heart and I hoped to share the exciting journey with y’all. So I aspired to make a video and take a heap of photos too!

After two long days of freeway, freeway and more freeway, we finally made it to our friend’s place in Queensland.

We caught up with some mates, had an awesome night out in Surfers Paradise with plenty of delicious cocktails.  The next morning, we finally arrived at GreazeFest!

It was there that many beautiful vehicles and artworks graced our eyeballs whilst we enjoyed some killer live rockabilly music. I loved that you could even enjoy the bands whilst browsing the trade stalls and numerous rows of bikes, trucks, hotrods, ratrods, muscle and classic cars.

One thing that I really loved about this festival was how it also embraced art. Not only was there a dedicated art exhibition tent, but also many talented Aussie artists had individual stalls to sell their work.  Wolfman Cam, a Melbourne pinstripe, lowbrow and resinhead artist, had loads of one-off pieces, including vintage hand-painted soda-siphons, handsaws, ceramic fuel tanks, plaques and panels.  These were all displayed on top of a cheerfully coloured Mexican blanket inside his stall.

There were also some incredible extraterrestrial illustrations and retro painting corrections from Giles Kilham AKA ‘Fat Ankle’ and a whole heap of other radness at the No Guts, No Glory, Australia stall.

When it came to the ceramic tikis though, I certainly did not resist the urge to adopt a collection of them from Tiki Dylan’s Idol Hands, Wayne Hoareau’s Wild tHing Creations and Danielle Mann’s Black Lagoon Designs.  After all, you can never have too many tiki mugs on your bar, especially when purchasing them supports awesome Aussie artists.

Much alike tiki mugs, a girl can never have too many hair flowers either.  Hence, when my friend and I were checking out Miz Smitten Kitten’s stall, one of her vibrant floral arrangements featuring a little resin tiki caught my eye and I simply could not leave it behind.  I also bought some sparkly resin cactus and tiki earrings, since I forgot to pack some pretty earrings in my rush to leave.

I truly enjoyed browsing all of the fabulous stalls from Aussie Kustom Kulture businesses that were trading at the festival. Although I couldn’t possibly buy everything at every stall, as much as I wanted to, it was really nice to have a bo peep and catch up with all the lovely people there.

A massive highlight at GreazeFest was certainly winning the King Kroozer award, because I have never won a trophy at a car show before.  I also really enjoyed making new friends and chatting to them about their classics or custom builds and of course catching up with long-time friends too.  I felt incredibly inspired by all the amazing cars, bikes, trucks, music, people and art.  I am so grateful to Lori Lee and all the team at Robot Productions for all of their hard work in creating this wonderful festival that celebrates our Kustom Kulture.

On the days following the festival, we spent time with some more friends and visited a superlative treasure trove called 20^thCentury Antiques and Collectables in Coolangatta.  It was there that we also saw Danielle Mann from Black Lagoon Designs.

We were having so much fun in Queensland, but unfortunately our time in this sunny paradise had to come to an end, so we headed to the highway. Whilst we were driving, we spotted a bright pink FX Holden perched on top of a verandah of this cute old house, so naturally we had to stop to take a closer look and a hella lot of photos.  This place was Gold Coast Wreckers.

We spent the rest of that day and the next driving, but did manage to briefly stop off for a few photos at some iconic landmarks in New South Wales.  These included the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour and the Big Marino in Golbourn.

Eventually, we made it back to Melbourne and back to its chilly winter.  Although this remarkable trip had to come to an end, I will forever keep the wonderful memories that we created.

I know that it has felt like forever since I have last shared anything with y’all on my blog.  For a long time, I have wanted to bring this and everything that I love to a whole new medium, but it has been quite a challenge with a lot to learn and a lot of work.  I may also be guilty of adopting a couple more cars that have required much of my attention and spare time in the garage.

This is just the start of a new journey where I bring my blog to a whole new level with videos. I know that my film is far from perfect, but I am proud of myself for giving it a go.  It’s better than having regrets of opportunities that I never took. I just wish I did this years ago but hey, better late than never.

Go for your dreams and always follow your heart.  Life should be about memories.  Don’t wait for them, create them.

♥ Mallory Holley  xoxox
HIGH HEELS & WHITEWALL WHEELS

P.S. If you would like to see my future videos, please subscribe to my new YouTube channel and tap the bell to receive notifications.  I am also grateful for your likes, as well as sharing your thoughts in the comment section.

Also, please feel free to let me know what you would like to see me create future videos about. I appreciate your thoughts and support immensely.

Here is a list of links that I thought you might like to check out…

Websites to check out:
GreazeFest: https://www.greazefest.com
No Guts, No Glory Australia: https://nogutsnogloryaustralia.bigcartel.com
Tiki Dylan’s Idol Hands: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/tikidylan
Black Lagoon Designs: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackLagoonDesigns

Instagram accounts to follow:
Wolfman Cam Designs: @wolfmancam
Fat Ankle: @fatankle
No Guts, No Glory Australia: @ngngaustralia
Tiki Dylan’s Idol Hands: @tikidylan
Black Lagoon Designs: @blacklagoondesigns
Wild tHing Creations: @wildthingcreations
20^thCentury Antiques & Collectables: @20thcenturyantiquescoolangatta
GreazeFest Kustom Kulture Festival: @greazefest