Magical Mystery Tour II
01 September 2013 / Words & photos by David Lawler
Click here for a complete album of photos from the tour.
The Magical Mystery Tour II was run on Saturday 31st August, with 52 club members or partners/guests plus 2 helpers in 27 cars participating on a glorious day for the end of winter.
The tour took the form of an observation rally over 3 stages, with the first stage starting at Parklea at 8am. There were stops at Pie-in-the sky at Cowan and at North Richmond, before reaching the final destination in Leura, the "Waldorf - Leura Garden B&B Resort".
At the start of each of the 3 stages, each team of 2 people was given a sheet of questions and directions, which they needed to follow to reach the check point at the end of the stage. Speed was not important, unlike observation and deduction which were necessary to find the answers to the often crypic questions.
Missing an observation could mean loosing points, but missing a turn could be worse, as Bob & Senia discovered when they drove past the turnoff to Mt Vistoria from Bells Line of Road, and ended making a visit to Lithgow! However, there are certainly much worse things to do on a pleasant Saturday than making an unplanned detour over interesting roads in an MX-5 with the top down.
There was some friendly collaboration between teams at the various stops, but there were 2 teams who went even further with a continual banter over CB radio as they navigated the route, and they were very bashful when they were observed by one of the organisers. I'm looking at you Ray & Pam and Greg & Lesa!
Teams started arriving at Leura from 2:30pm, and soon people gathered in the lounge to socialise over drinks and nibbles. By 4pm there were only 2 cars that had not arrived. With growing concern the organisers made a call and discovered that they had made a detour to Aldi to buy goodies. They arrived soon after to cheers and jeers from the crowd.
Dinner was hosted in the resort function room by Basil, Sybil, Polly, Manuel and Mrs Richards.
Bryan & Fiona were the last to arrive, and made the big mistake of being conspicuously late. Basil refused them entry and ejected them from the room, before tossing out a handful of breakfast condiments for their dinner. On being informed that Bryan is the club president, which Basil may have misheard as "The President", he became most apologetic and obsequious when he invited them to enter, and then carried Bryan to his table.
The Fawlty Towers crew continued to entertain during the 3 course buffet dinner, with many people singled out for attenion. We even learned that amoungst us were celebrities such as Nana Mouskouri, Rolf Harris and Kenny Rodgers!
Between courses, Ian & Gaynor, sorry that should be Queen Gaynor, performed the presentation cermony. There were 3 teams tied on points for first place based on their answers, with the final decision then being based on the shorted distance they had travelled.
1st Place went to Keith & Sue Monaghan, with Bob & Senia Gaunson taking the "directionaly challenged" award courtesy of their detour to Lithgow.
Everyone reported having a great day, and a fantastic night.
Note: I will upload a list of prize winners as soon as the list turns up :-)
Click here for a complete album of photos from the tour.
