Shannon's Wheels Enlightenment
13 March 2015 / Written by Jan Gibson, Photos: Brendan Barr & Tony Heathwood
Haywards Bay, 9:30 Saturday morning, overcast skies and 12 superbly turned out MX-5s and 24 members eager to hit the road. A weekend away in Canberra, let the fun begin!
With tops down we were off, a quick dash down the highway towards a favourite stretch of road, along the Illawarra Highway (a few drops of rain didn’t slow us down), and up the steep and twisty Macquarie Pass (where a couple of weekend drivers did). As we emerged through overhanging trees at the top of the pass and into Robertson, the sun broke through. Winding country roads via Moss Vale and Exeter brought us to our first stop in Bundanoon where another two cars / four members joined us for the next part of our journey.
On the road again, we turned left and travelled through Wingello and Tallong before joining the M31 for a quick 5km zoom-zoom exiting at the overpass and onto Jerrara Road. The long and winding road through Windellama, was perfect for our little cars, as was Sandy Point Road. We had just begun to pick up speed when, from the paddock on our right, two large kangaroos bounded across in front of us, a quick look in the rear view mirror to see a 3rd which Peter Feutrill nearly pick up as a passenger. A little added excitement to the trip! Checking our little convoy was intact we continued on, ever watchful for native fauna, arriving in Tarago for much need refreshments, to quench our thirst and calm the nerves, enjoy a great meal and chat about our run so far.
Time to leave "The Loaded Dog" for the final leg of our journey and head down to Bungendore. Turning right through the wine country we reached Sutton Road and turned left toward the A.C.T. Our destination wasn't far now. We managed to stay together through the traffic and reached our accommodation, booked in, unpacked the cars then met on the balcony for "cheese o’clock". Brendan’s room was near a group of very loud bike type persons, who may have been of Russian ancestry. "When in Canberra!" he thought and stormed off to "shirtfront" the offending people. Fortunately discretion turned out to be the better part of valour, and he bravely hid behind the hotel staff as she delivered the "shirt fronting."
We decided 6pm would be a good time to head over for "Enlightenment" and taste the delights of the noodle markets before dark. We regrouped to watch the light show and some live entertainment. Knowing we had a long walk back several weary travellers headed home. Our table and chairs still on the balcony waiting our return. We were just settling in for the night when we were asked to "take it inside". So we came to the end of a long day.
An early rise on Sunday morning, cars washed, we headed off to Kings Park for the Shannons Wheels Expo. What a fantastic display of vehicles, from vintage to modern, Holdens, Fords, Valiants, Porsche, Morgans, Minis, Austins too many to name. Memories of our youth came flooding back, especially for Brendan when he saw a 1963 Holden panel van.
Prime position and best display belonged to our fantastic little MX-5s. Eight cars joined with Canberra, NAs NBs and NCs of all colours, parked in the prime position shining in the Canberra sun with a group of enthusiastic MX-5ers checking out each other's cars. Fiona & Alex commandeered an extremely powerful four wheel leg drive and motored up and down the path through the expo.
As the day drew to a close we hopped in our cars and headed home. What a weekend. Great drive, a great day at the Expo and as always great company. Thank you to the Canberra Chapter for hosting our visit and putting on an excellent sausage sizzle!
To view Brendan's photos, click here.
To view Tony's photos, click here.
