Mazda MX-5 Club of Queensland, Inc. - MX5 Club Qld

... and now for something completely different:
IT’S
NatMeet X
Story: Peter Phillips.
Pictures: M/S Tait Fair B. Phillips K. Sivyers, K. Barnes (throughout Magazine)
It reminded me of the “Canterbury
Tales”. A group met early one morning
to set out on a biennial pilgrimage,
preparing to tell stories ... No, on
second thoughts, six MX-5s starting
from the BP at Aratula at six thirty
in the morning on a two-day Run
through New South Wales with John
Tait in command is nothing like the
‘Canterbury Tales’. Let’s start all that
again.
The first day - Inglewood, Texas,
Warialda, Tamworth, Muswellbrook -
was simple. The second day - Wybong
Road, Sandy Hollow, the stunning
Bylong Valley road, Kandos, Jenolan
Caves, very quick road to Taralga
and Goulburn and so to Canberra -
was stunning! If you haven’t been on
this drive, just take my word for it.
The section through the sandstonerimmed
Bylong valley to Kandos made
whatever followed over the weekend
seem pretty ordinary.
So what did happen?
In theory, the biennial meeting of the
MX-5 Clubs from across the nation
is a chance to meet old acquaintances,
make new friends and to represent
both your own talents and your
State in a series of light-hearted but
competitive activities. The national
capital, although famously cold, was
marked by sunshine, autumnal leaf-fall
and quiet streets as the politicians and
Public Servants all went somewhere
else for Easter. The setting was lovely
and JBT’s arrival time on Thursday
gave us all plenty of time to start the
cleaning process for the Saturday
morning Concours d’Elegance. That’s
the NatMeet theory.
Some dedicated MX-5 owners started
cleaning before they left home, some
brought the car on a trailer to avoid the
dust of travel and one left his at home.
For a Concours trophy, everything is
possible, you see.
By Friday afternoon the 129 registrants
had checked in, handed over their
“show and tell” photos for judging
later (this is a feature of NatMeet, this
judging stuff ) and were firing up for
the informal but beautifully-catered
buffet dinner. There was, I believe, a
moment of surprise when the photo
winner was announced because we
had been directed to bring a 6x4 cm.
picture but noticed that the winner had
presented an A4 size. But the colour
was outstanding, so that’s alright Lots
of catching up, especially with the ex-
President from the west, Simon, who
had driven for six days to be present
and the two couples from Victoria.
There was no need to ‘catch up’.with
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