Casino and Hinterland Run
31 May 2019 / Words by John Hansen, Photos by Graham Rochester
Saturday 25th May was the start of our Mid North Coast MX-5 Club’s epic weekend away to Casino and the Russ Hinze Dam in Queensland. The day was fine and quite chilly as I drove up from Port Macquarie to the official start at the Puma Service Station for the 8.45pm start with the heater on full. I thought I might be the first however found that Pam and Allen, also from Port, had already arrived.
Gradually the other members arrived until we had 8 cars ready to roll. Run leaders Cathy and Wayne in their Burgundy NB, Karla and Brett in their pillar box red NC, which used to belong to Cathy and Wayne, Ross in his red NB which also used to belong to Cathy and Wayne!, Pam and Allen in their Red ND, Jane and Greg with a grey RF GT, Jill and Peter, black NB, John grey NC and Pingky and Graham in the honorary blue BMW.
We took the Pacific Highway up to our first stop which was morning tea at the Butter Factory in Bellingen. The new highway works has taken considerable time off the trip especially as Macksville has been completely bypassed with a magnificent bridge across the Nambucca river. At Bellingen Robbie and Peter met us in their Heritage burgundy NB and Rhonda and Rob with a beautiful white NC.
The Butter Factory put on its usual good spread which satiated our hungry group. The Casino run also incorporating a ‘poker run’ and after drawing our cards, we prepared for a long drive to Lawrence via Dubbo, the Armidale Road, Grafton and the back way to Lawrence on the Clarence river. Pingky and Graham farewelled us as we set off for an interesting drive.
The road up to Dorrigo, the ‘Waterfall Way’, is always interesting with many sharp corners, views of waterfalls and steep drops off the side. It is tempting to take one’s eyes off the road to appreciate the view however the road takes ‘no prisoners’ if mistakes are made. In addition, there is usually a fair amount of traffic on the road to keep you on your toes. Dorrigo was reached safely and then we embarked on what must be one of the most exhilarating driving roads in NSW, the Armidale Road down to Grafton.
The Armidale Road snakes through dramatic countryside with corners just made for MX-5 driving. The road surface varied from smooth to bumpy with an interesting series of surface ripples that tested driving abilities, all within the posted speed limits. We were fortunate in that there was very little traffic on the road which added to the enjoyment of the drive. We had a couple of stops along the road to stretch the legs as it had been a nonstop drive from Bellingen. At one stop Brett sent up his drone to take pictures of the cars. Grafton appeared and then we headed north following the Macleay riverbank to Lawrence for a well-earned lunch.
Lunch at the ‘Lawrence Tavern’ was a welcome break before our final drive for the day to Casino. The road to Casino along the Summerland Way is relatively straight and we made short work of the stretch into Casino where a surprise awaited us. The second weekend of ‘Beef Week’ was in full force and the normally quiet town was extremely busy with people and cars everywhere, fortunately our run leaders Cathy and Wayne had prebooked the accommodation.
The Cecil Hotel was our Saturday night eating place. The place was a mass of humanity. It appeared at first that they had ‘lost’ our booking as there was no MX-5 name on any of the tables. However there was no panic, Cathy soon had extra seating for us and then it was discovered that the booking name had been put down as reserved under the name of May instead of MX-5! Big apologies and soon we were all seated at the correct table. The wait staff were working flat out serving the huge crowd and it took a while for us all to be served, except for some unexplained reason where our scribe was given his meal within a few minutes of sitting down! Anyway it was agreed that it was worth the wait and the food disappeared quickly. After some convivial conversation, despite the noise level we made our way back to motel for a good night’s sleep in readiness for a 7 am start the next morning.
Part 2 ‘Sunday so Far Away’
We seemed to be awake by what seemed first light and made our way to meeting area at 7 am on a fine and almost frosty morning where we found most of our group milling around their cars preparing for a big day of driving. Nimbin was the breakfast stop which was a good incentive to get down to business and drive. We noticed that the town was very quiet except for our exhausts this morning. The countryside between Casino and Kyogle is relatively flat with a light covering of smoke from burn offs drifting along the fields. Car heaters were cranked up to combat the chill as the sun slowly started to warm. Kyogle was reached quickly and we headed for Nimbin passing towns such as Stony Chute and Cawongle. The road up into the hinterland and then to Nimbin is quite challenging with many sharp corners as it winds down into valleys and then up again in the hinterland with spectacular scenery with pinnacles of rock jutting up into the sky. Cathy called over the two way to warn of approaching cars. This was a good safety measure as the morning sun sometimes made it difficult to see the road.
The sun had started to warm up as we entered Nimbin and shone brightly on the many brightly colored buntings around many of the shops and also into the breakfast stop, which was the Dutch and Co Cafe. Not only did the cafe provide excellent food and coffee it also introduced a new descriptive word into the lexicon of the club, ‘Beautiful’. Everything was beautiful to the wait staff. Even when it was gently pointed out that some of us may not qualify for the word beautiful especially early in the morning, we were informed that ‘everyone is beautiful in their own way’. Who would argue with this logic!
After a beautiful breakfast we explored Nimbin and some of the shops that were open, noting that opening time was quite flexible on a Sunday morning. Soon it was time to head back to our cars for the next push to the Hinze Dam. A surprise awaited us in the car park, the sound of bagpipes playing a medley. It was Rob, one of our members, who had brought his ‘pipes’ to Nimbin to serenade us. The scene was almost surreal as some of the local children turned out to see the piper and were disappointed when the music slowly fell away. With a wave to some of the assembled locals we took off on our next stage.
After retracing our steps out of Nimbin, nothing like a bit of spirited driving to settle breakfast down, we turned onto a main road into the Queensland Hinterland and then onto a link road into the Queensland hinterland. It was interesting to see the old speed signs of a black circle with a black diameter line to signify a speed deregulated section. Even with some extra traffic it was an interesting drive through towns with unusual names such as Kunghur, Chillingam and Byangum.
We stopped off for some physical exercise in the Springbrook National Park which including a round walk down to see the Natural Bridge and Glow Worm cave. The view of water running over rocks illuminated by rays of sunlight were stunning and of course beautiful!
Our final section of road was to the turn off to Advance Town and the Hinze Dam. On the way the road carved a path through the subtropical rain forests with glimpses of the dam’s lake to be seen through the trees. The Hinze Dam suddenly came into view and made a most imposing statement. The ‘View Cafe’ at the dam itself was our luncheon spot. Lunch was most enjoyable and gave us time to relax before plunging into the afternoon drive back to Casino. After lunch we took a walk along the dam when it was suggested that we started on our way back as there had been reports of a bush fire that could cause the road to be closed. We had driven through some heavy smoke from the bush fire on our way to the dam so thought that it would be wise to leave before the fire became more intense.
The run back to Casino was along challenging roads just to make sure that no one was falling asleep. After some detailed viewing of numerous road works, kindly provided by our run leaders, we made our way to the Mount Lindsay Highway to Kyogle. This section of road has many sweeping and tight corners as it swoops through the mountainous ranges back down to the plains providing many exhilarating driving opportunities.
Daylight was fading fast as we entered Kyogle for the final leg of our epic run. There is something inherently satisfying in driving along under the stars with the headlights punching through the darkness, listening to the engine almost purring under the roar of the exhaust. Casino finally appeared and we pulled in for the night after a big day’s driving and sightseeing. I think we all agreed that it had been a ‘beautiful’ day!
During the run at many of the stops, we had been drawing cards for the poker run which was won by the intrepid team of Rhonda and piper Rob with the magnificent combination of a ‘pair of twos’! Off we trooped to the ‘Tats Hotel’ for our evening meal and poker awards presentation with much laughter and good-natured banter.
The two-day run had been full of diverse driving conditions, spectacular scenery, large amounts of different foods and above all enjoyable comradeship with fellow club members. All summed up in the one word, yes, you probably have guessed it, Beautiful!
Many thanks to the club’s convenors for having the run approved and authorized and special thanks to the run leaders Cathy and Wayne for organizing the run and making sure that the weekend proceeded smoothly. Wayne has also posted more than 200 photographs of the run to the Mid North Coast’s MX-5 Facebook page and these make very interesting viewing and bring the run to life.
