The Day We Won a Car!

I am a huge fan of competitions! If there is a giveaway, raffle, promotion or sweepstake I’ll give it a go – my life motto could easily be ‘you’ve got to be in it to win it!’ (It’s a constant stream of amusement to family and friends that such a staunch vegetarian gets so excited about the pub meat raffle.)

So when our local radio station – the awesome Star 102.7 – started their ‘Star on a Car’ giveway in 2016 I raced down to get involved.

Entry was simple – you just had to listen to the radio during the promotion and each day they would reveal the location of the car – a brand new Mazda 2 – and you had to go along, write your name and number on a star and stick it on to the car. The draw was to take place on a Saturday in May at Westco Mazda in Cairns and you had to be there to win.

I had my name on the car at the first opportunity! The promo ran for a few more weeks and I’d told my hubby about it but he hadn’t had chance to have a go yet (he has nowhere near as much commitment to a competition as I do!). By this point in time our dream of taking off on a roadtrip around Australia was still in it’s infancy. We had no idea when we would be leaving or what we would be travelling in. Luckily someone had told us about the caravan and camping expo at the show grounds which happens once a year, where loads of caravans and motorhomes would be on display with experts on hand to answer any novice questions. We had an absolute blast at the show and loved trying out all the caravans for size – by the time we left we pretty much had our heart set on a top of the range Regent van worth about 10 times our original budget! (Read more about our adventures in buying our mobile home here).

On our way out of the Cairns Showgrounds a twinkling caught my eye and I glanced over to see the sun sparkling on the shiny ‘Soul Red Metallic’ paint on the brand new Star 102.7 Mazda 2.

I dragged hubby across (did I mention already his lack of eagerness for competition entering?) and the lovely lad with the star stickers welcomed us over. Just as we reached the car our 2 year old’s balloon popped – all hell could have broken loose but the lovely radio man reached like a magician into the Mazda and pulled out a brand new red Star balloon – the day was saved! Hubby and the lad had a good joke about who would be the lucky person who got to remove all the stars for us when we won it – when we heard it would probably be him hubby made sure to tell him to be careful with the paintwork on our new wheels when pulling the stickers off! We all had  a good chuckle, little knowing what was to happen next…..

The day of the draw came and the Cairns weather was not being kind. It was wet, windy and the idea of taking the boys (then 10 months and just over 2 years) to a busy car yard right at the time when they should be napping didn’t seem like a very appealing idea. At one point I suggested to Paul that he stayed at home while the boys napped and I would head down to the draw – knowing that  you had to be there to win but what were the chances anyway….

Luckily hubby decided we should all go and check it out and we loaded the car with the 50 items necessary to take a short trip out with 2 kids and headed off to Westco Mazda. When we arrived there were lots of people, loads of shiny new beautiful cars and a definite buzz in the air. Someone here would be driving away in a brand new car today!

As the time for the draw approached the 2 Djs – the lovely Dave and Inkie from the breakfast show – stirred the crowd up into a frenzy of excitement! (well, as much of a frenzy as was possible with most of the crowd huddled under umbrellas against the elements!) Dave came on the microphone to explain the rules – of which there were only 2. You had to be present to win – and you had just 60 seconds to claim your prize. We had found a nice sheltered area to watch the draw and when we heard the rules hubby had a great idea. ‘If we win’, he said ‘we have to wait until it gets to 55 seconds before claiming the prize and then jump up at the last minute!’ We thought that would be hilarious! (please give us credit for the fact that we were a bit cold, damp and bored by this point!)

The time had come! The first name was pulled out of the hat – drumroll…….and the winner is…..

PAUL …

(he paused – you big tease Dave! We looked at each other, but knowing that about 75% of males in Cairns share the name we still weren’t too excited)……

…….SUMNER!

I have never before, or since, seen me and hubby move so fast in our lives! We screamed, we jumped, he ran to the stage! Any thoughts of 55 seconds well and truly forgotten!

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur! The crowd disappeared really quickly after the draw but lots of lovely people waited to come and congratulate us. The team at Westco Mazda were amazing and made us feel like superstars. The boys had absolutely no idea what was going on but got caught up in the excitement – with our oldest being more interested in all the balloons hanging off the car than the car itself!

We, on the other hand, fell instantly in love with our new wheels! The Mazda 2 is a stunning vehicle – it looks amazing and, as we learned over the next 12 months, is a dream to drive.

We are so grateful to Star and to Mazda for our win – we had no idea how to say thanks so we made cards and baked bought cakes! (my baking would definitely not be a nice thing to do to someone!)

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The whole experience was just mind blowing, life changing and so exciting! The promotion is currently running again and this year you can win one of 2 cars. Can you believe it – yesterday hubby went down and stuck his star on the other car telling the girl ‘yeah we won the Mazda last year so we’ll get the other one this time!’

Don’t worry though – he was just kidding! We’ll step aside and give someone else a chance this year. So turn the radio to Star 102.7fm, follow that car, stick your star on and remember the motto…

‘You’ve got to be in it to win it!’