Five Hills 2023

29 January 2023 / Words and photos by Norm & Roz Barker. Additional photos by Rod Nicholas

The Five Hills Run is our traditional first run for the year. The weather was threatening and a few phone calls from other parts of Canberra said it was hailing at their suburb. A quick look at the radar showed that the storms were very local and looked like missing central Canberra. In the end, 13 MX-5s lined up in front of the Russell offices.

Norm scans the skies for unwelcome rain clouds

Erring on the side of caution with the roofs up, we set off for a cruise around Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, going up and down five of the surrounding hills.

Undeterred by a brief shower with a little bit of hail, which soon cleared, we climbed the first hill, Mt Pleasant in the grounds of Duntroon/ADFA. There was quite a lot of debris on the road and it was looking a little overgrown on the sides due to the unusual amount of spring and summer rain.

Next was up Mt Ainslie, which involved a steep climb on a winding road. A short stop was made to take in the view and look at the storm clouds around the outskirts of the city.

Wilko photographed anything in sight

After descending Mt Ainslie, the convoy drove past the Australian War Memorial (in disarray due to the massive extension) and down Anzac Parade. At the bottom of Anzac Parade the group turned right and followed the lake along to Black Mountain. This is another steep and winding road and at the top we circled the car park. There is some discussion about the fate of the tower on the top of this mountain and it is currently closed indefinitely, but hopefully it will be restored. The lookout needs some attention and not in good condition for visitors.

At the bottom of Black Mountain, we headed west to the National Arboretum and up to the top of Dairy Farmers Hill. Still no sun but no rain and we took it slowly to enable all to admire the view at the top and on the way down.

Heading down Dairy Famers Hill at the Arboretum

Leaving the National Arboretum, we followed the route past the Canberra Zoo and across the top of Scrivener Dam, through Curtin and Deakin and up Red Hill. At the top the convoy formed up in the car park for some photos.

Once all the photos had been taken, we proceeded to Lennox Gardens for a picnic by the lake. People spread out on the lawns and chatted. Everyone had an enjoyable drive and time together over the picnic. As we packed up to return home, many of the group couldn’t believe how we managed to complete the run and have the picnic free of rain.

The final hill

The final photos at the final hill

There are a stack more photos by Rob Wilkins on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/mx5canberra) and you can view the Rob’s Relive drive of the Five Hills at https://www.relive.cc/view/vDqge5k9mGO.