Hunter Run to Charity Lunch

12 May 2016 / Story: Josh Fitzgerald Photos: Josh Fitzgerald

It was an early morning start for the Hunter Chapter, needing to be at Southern Highlands Winery, Sutton Forest by 12pm for the MX-5 Club of NSW Charity Lunch. We could have made this trip in 2.5 hours by taking the direct route straight down the Hume Highway, but that’s not why we drive these cars.
Instead a route was devised that took in as many twisty roads as possible. Unfortunately there’s no ‘fun’ way of getting through Sydney so we headed south the quick way via the M2/M7 before then taking the Narellan exit and dropping down through Razorback into Picton, as a warm up for the roads ahead of us.

After a coffee break at Picton, the jackets came off as the suns rays started to warm the air. Ahead of us were the lively roads of Mount Keira Road and Macquarie Pass, so the 19 members attending positioned themselves accordingly, with those wanting to attack the corners up front and those wanting a more leisurely drive towards the back of the pack, with pre-planned regroup spots before major turn offs so no one was left behind.
The drive down Mount Keira was free flowing however the usual beige Camry crawling along in 1st gear disrupted the run up Macquarie’s Pass. The first overtaking lane was taken advantage of and soon we were past the rolling roadblock, but excitement was short lived as we came up on a queue of stopped cars. This can’t be good.
Soon enough the traffic started moving and we could see what the problem was around the bend. A coach going up the hill was nose to nose with a double bogey dump truck heading down the hill on a very narrow section of road. Luckily the bus backed up and we were able to squeeze between the bus and truck and continue on our way.

Arriving at the Southern Highland Winery we were greeted by the other club Chapters with MX-5’s lined up on display in the vineyard. With lunch served, raffles and other fun games took place, all raising funds for the clubs charity of choice – Careflight.



After lunch was finished a few Hunter members made their own way home, while the rest of us pondered an alternative route to the mundane Hume Highway. Not before long we were making our way past Fitzroy Falls in Kangaroo Valley and tackling Jambaroo Mountain Road. Smiles all round on these amazing “made for MX-5“ roads! A short stint on the Princes Motorway got us across to Scarborough and the picturesque “Sea Cliff Bridge” and a quick blast through the National Park.
As we exited the National Park, we found ourselves in the car park that is known as Sydney traffic, a great way to travel a short distance over a very long time.

After discussions over the radio, the decision was made that since we were all having such a great time together, lets finish the day off with dinner, so we made our way to Trackside Restaurant at West Gosford. The restaurant was heaving but we were offered a table on the balcony, which worked perfectly for us. Nice and quite in the cool night air, the good food and great company was an excellent way to finish off a long but very enjoyable day with the club.

 

 

 

Josh's photos: HERE

Paige Wilson's photos: HERE