Breakout! – With (some) Added Henry
05 July 2022 / Words; Peter Feutril, Photos; Senia Gaunson
Saturday saw 6 Mx5’s an Audi and a BMW assemble at Hungry Jacks at Haywards Bay. A crisp but fine morning greeted the 15 brave souls some who intended to take their roofs down. An angle grinder was suggested for the Audi and BMW roofs – politely declined. Keith Monaghan had a late partner encouraged to accompany him and voila! “Paulini” Byers attended after some gentle persuasion the night before. The sleeping arrangements to be fined tuned…..
So off we went up Macquarie Pass – always a joy – and onto morning tea at Wingello General store where the coffee and fire were appreciated. Pretty windy and cold so those last brave souls decided to top up for the run to Crookwell. Just out of Marulan we had a ‘hiccup’ with the radio directions and some went off to the Bungonia Road and some straight ahead towards Goulburn. Not a problem for our fearless leaderwhoexecuted a perfect U-turn (no 1) and took off down the Hume in search of the errant travellers with the rest of the crew following. This detour proved to be very fortunate because we were later informed that the Bungonia Road was full of potholes!
So, there was a bit of the ‘boring’ highway until the other side of Goulburn where we diverted onto Cullerin road and travelled towards Gunning on what used to be the main highway – interesting to see the conditions and the well-remembered section where you could overtake a semi back in the days. We made our way to the Criterion Hotel in Crookwell where a hearty feast was had by all. Following lunch, we took off along the Boorowa Road but what’s this? – One member of our party was still browsing the shops so the BMW driver played catchup. Enjoyable no doubt. Into Cowra we cruised after successfully negotiating the many, many potholes and checked into the Services Club Motel – most accommodating. Later in the afternoon, an intense Jill Feutrill style trivia was held with many laughs and not many appeals until we sorted out some winners and then we proceeded to dinner at the Services Club.
Saturday morning was crisp and fine and the first cruise saw us visit Iandra Castle Open day. A spectacular homestead and recommended. A short run to Grenfell and we visited the Henry Lawson Festival.
Now the term ‘festival’ has to be loosely read as there was a disappointing array of market stalls and activities. If it wasn’t for the car show with about 40 cars on display it would have been a complete fizzer. In addition, when you have booked for lunch at a pub but are told when you arrive that there will be a 1 – 1 1/2 hour wait for your meal it is also disappointing. Anyway our company was still excellent. By the look of the photographs on social media the Henry Lawson Festival at Gulgong that same weekend was much better.
Sunday evening we ambled down the street to Masala Library by Sid for an Indian feast. Some people even ventured into unknown gastronomic territory with meals like goat curry. Another great get together and tall tales and true were shared as usual. We always know how to have a good time!
Monday morning was crisp but fine. Our group had thinned down to 5 cars as some had departed for other engagements. Anyway, our leader was certain there would be no dirt roads, so to achieve this a number of perfect u-turns were executed to avoid the dirt as we traversed the back roads from Cowra to Young where morning tea was held and then off to Cootamundra and Jugiong for lunch at the Sir George Tavern. We were fortunate to have booked because the tavern was buzzing with people.
After lunch we made our separate ways home and no more u-turns were necessary. All in all, it was a great weekend away, with excellent company, great cars and great scenic roads.
