COLLECTORS old and new flocked to the Bendigo showgrounds for the Bendigo National Swap Meet this weekend.And if you didn’t find what you were looking for, perhaps you weren’t looking hard enough.Melbourne couple Ann and Robin Wicks couldn’t find a Morris Minor steering wheel on the first day of the swap, so they decided to return the next day as well and found not one but two.“I just bought (a Morris Minor) I’m trying to do up,” Mr Wicks said. Underestimating the popularity of the event, the first-time swap meeters tried to book accommodation last month but found Bendigo to be almost entirely booked out.“We couldn’t get anything close,” Mrs Wicks said. “We tried in early October but it was gone.”Fellow treasure hunter Lorraine Welch had no such problem. The self-described ‘gypsy’ and her companion, rainbow lorikeet Punky, stayed with friends while they attended the weekend event.Ms Welch was searching for an old Seagull outboard motor.The 66-year old has travelled the country for many years and enjoyed dropping by the Bendigo swap meet for hard-to-find pieces.Swap Meet Committee chairman Merv Rushton said the annual event was a good time for people to re-acquaint.“One of the big highlights is the camaraderie between site holders and patrons,” he said. Next year the showgrounds would have a new exhibition building to set up in, but Mr Rushton said the evolving showgrounds added to the event.“It’s one of those swaps where it’s not just a flat paddock,” he said.