Chapter chatter ...Run to Jingellic ...16/6/12 | Western <strong>Victoria</strong> ■ Words: Noellene GleesonIt’s Saturday, 16 June,and a few <strong>of</strong> we WesternChapter members havegot together to go and playwith our Northern friends.Seven shiny cars assembled outside ourplace all excited and rearing to go. JeffWoolf had even come to the start togo as far as Kyneton with us as he wasunable to get time <strong>of</strong>f from work. Karenand Ian left on Friday and were staying inBeechworth and meeting us in Wodongaon Sunday for the start <strong>of</strong> the run.Almost time to go and we notice a nicered NC coming from the Melbournedirection. It’s Bronwyn and Ge<strong>of</strong>f Roachwho had travelled up to start with usinstead <strong>of</strong> heading up the boring Hume.How good is that?!Off we go, with no pressure; we are justgoing to take our time and enjoy the day,as dinner was not until 7pm.We head through Daylesford and onto Kyneton for a c<strong>of</strong>fee break. This isalways a good drive and <strong>of</strong> course all topswere down. I could not believe the goodweather after what we had been having.Get the <strong>MX</strong>-5 out and the sun shines! Poorold Jeff leaves us at Kyneton to head backhome. We all feel so sorry for him as hewould have loved this weekend.We take our time and have a c<strong>of</strong>fee and alook around the Piper Street shops.About 45 minutes later and it’s backon the road towards Heathcote andNagambie. Great roads, plenty <strong>of</strong> bush,bends and turns – totally enjoyable! Whatelse could you possibly want to do on aSaturday afternoon? At Nagambie we pullin and have a picnic lunch and a greatchat. We have two prospective memberson this run and it’s a great chance for allto get to know each other.Another hour gone and <strong>of</strong>f we go again.Out with the map and head to VioletTown. Turn left on to the Dookie-VioletTown Road. Great drive. Then ... oops!Where are we??Patrice gets out her tablet ... no luck.Another look at the map; we missed aturn. Off to Goorambat, then to Thoona.What lovely quaint old towns – wellworth a second look.Next it is over the Warby Ranges andinto Wangaratta. Great road andbeautiful bush. Time for a toilet stopand it is decided, as it is getting late, tohead into Wodonga along the highway.After we settle into our cabins at theBlazing Stump Motel we walk to thebistro at the hotel just metres awayto have dinner and a great night withsome <strong>of</strong> our Northern hosts.––––––––––––––Sunday is the run and it’s fantastic.Stuart report (page 16) will fill you inon that.We stay at Beechworth on Sundaynight. The Trivia Night is on at the hotelagain so once again we have a terrificnight with lots <strong>of</strong> laughter and someprizes won.After breakfast at the BeechworthBakery and some shopping we headfor home about 10am. Calling into theCheese Factory at Milawa and BrownBrothers Winery, we all had treats totake home. Yum yum!!Last time up this way we loved theWhitfield-Mansfield Road so we justhad to do it again. The weather is not askind this time – a bit damp and foggyin parts – so we can’t enjoy the view. Itdoesn’t matter though ... it’s still a greatdrive.We arrive home at about 6.30 pm.Everyone is thrilled with our weekendand all had a wonderful time.If you have never been on a NorthernChapter run, we highly recommendit. They have the best <strong>MX</strong>-5 roads,wonderful scenery, lakes and riversincluding the mighty Murray, and themost hospitable and friendly group <strong>of</strong>people you could ever wish to be with.Thank you to Ron and Marg and the rest<strong>of</strong> your group once again. We’ll be back!!Zoom Zoom ■Run to DECA ...23/6/12 | Western <strong>Victoria</strong>■ Words & photos: Lockie StoryWell … it’s that time again.Time to head to Sheppartonand play on the track andskidpan at DECA.Because <strong>of</strong> the distances involved I set myalarm for Saturday morning and, withmy recently-acquired second NA “Rose” (awhite 1990 NA6), headed north and west.The idea was to meet up with the rest <strong>of</strong>the Western Chapter contingent at thebakery in Elmore at 11.30. I was an hourearly and they were 45 minutes late! Nota problem ... I sat in the bakery surfing thenet and watching the world go by. I haveto say that, for a small town, that bakerysure is busy!When John and Noellene and Laurieand Vergie arrived, we had lunch thereand headed on to Shepparton wherewe visited the new Shepaprton MotorMuseum.This is one cool place, where they have aconstantly rotating collection <strong>of</strong> privatelyownedcars on display. I was particularlypleased that the current theme wasJaguar (Ed: Lockie is a former president<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Victoria</strong>n Jaguar <strong>Club</strong>) and therewere 10 Jaguars on display ranging froma 1947 Mk IV Drop Head Coup, XK 120,140 and 150 DHC to one <strong>of</strong> the best earlyE Types I have ever seen. There was evenan HQ Ute with a Jaguar power plant.(WHY??)There were also cars like an early Minerva,a Maxwell, Ford Customline, Alvis DHCand many many others. The collectionalso included vintage bicycles, includingtwo Penny Farthings, and a very eclecticcollection <strong>of</strong> old and new motorcyclesincluding a 900cc Ducati, a BroughSuperior and a Harley Davidson motorscooter. (I can just picture turning up at aHarley rally on a 50cc scooter!!)After that we went for a wine tastingand a visit to the Chocolate Factory. Thenon to our motel for drinks then dinner. Ithad been a big day and we had anotherplanned for Sunday so we were <strong>of</strong>f to bedat a very respectable hour.Next morning we were up and ready togo by 8am, so we headed out to DECA t<strong>of</strong>ind that we were amongst the first toarrive. When all had gathered, we had18
our drivers’ briefing and were split intothree groups for the three different trialsand <strong>of</strong>f we went. We had the <strong>of</strong>f-camberback track (very tricky if you get it wrong),and two skid pan circuits going at onetime. There were a total <strong>of</strong> six circuits onthe skid pan for the day. This is coveredelsewhere (page 20) so I won’t go intodetails other than to say we had a steadytrickle <strong>of</strong> visitors from the WesternChapter passing through and even Ronand Marg from the North-East dropped infor a lookylou.After completing all the circuits I headed<strong>of</strong>f for my five-hour drive home, arrivingsafely home just in time to fall asleep.Total distance for my trip: 927 kilometres.I must say a big thank you to RobertDownes and the <strong>Club</strong>’s Motor Sport Crewwho gave up their time to organise,staff and run the event. Without them itwould not happen.Anybody who decided not to come, youmissed one <strong>of</strong> the best dates on thecalendar. ■Some <strong>of</strong> the delightsat the SheppartonMotor Museum›That 50ccHarley scooter!›“Rose” shines on a dark day19
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