Sun, Pies & the Nurbushring
21 November 2016 / Article: Josh Fitzgerald Photos: Lindsay Green
27 members met for lunch at Heatherbrae Pies on a rather warm November Sunday to begin the “Nurbushring Run” taking in two of the best drivers road in the Hunter Valley: Booral Rd and The Wootton Way. With its bush-lined road through a variety of sweeping and tight switchbacks, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to the real Nurburgring in Australia.
It was commented that the pies must have been lined with gold, as the queue was nearly 20 deep as we arrived! After a good hour to digest the tasty pies and have a good chat, off we went on our quest for driving nirvana. The run was being run as a hybrid convoy/way point run. The idea was to stay in convoy as usual but if the group was split or separated by traffic etc, we would continue on and regroup at our next destination at Bulahdelah.
The first hurdle was getting out of the car park. Being situated on a roundabout on the Pacific Hwy with unusually large amounts of traffic made for a slow start to the run with the group being separated immediately. Eventually we were all out heading north and managed to regroup and position ourselves in preferred travelling order for the roads ahead, with those wanting to attack the corners up the front and those who prefer a more relaxed run (or perhaps passengers that do) towards the back of the pack as we travelled along the Pacific Hwy for a few kms before taking the turn off to the Bucketts Way.
Not before long we arrived at the Booral Rd turn off. Thankfully the cattle truck that we encountered barely 500 metres down the road turned off soon after and we could enjoy this beautiful road uninhibited by slow traffic.
As quickly as it started the road came to an end, but that wasn’t going to wipe the smiles off our faces. A quick break in Bulahdelah to regroup and then head off to complete the ring on the Wootton Way.
At this point a few members took the option to pull up stumps and have afternoon tea while waiting for our return from the next leg.
Five cars stayed behind to relax feet up in the shade while 12 cars made the short trip to do the Wootton Way, another ‘must do’ road. Unlike Booral Road which is very tight, narrow and twisty, Wootton Way is far more free flowing with sweeping bends and big elevation changes all made to feel tighter than they are due to the mostly 100kph speed limit.
Patrick was invited to take the lead and led us well, all the way to the end before regrouping, turning around and doing it all again. And yes, its just as much fun in either direction, except the dry gravel pot hole filling technique the council seems to favour…
Arriving back in Bulahdelah Patrick and Merla invited us to their motel (Mount View Motel) for afternoon tea in the shade. A relaxing way to finish off the afternoon out of the heat with coffee, cake and even a cider or two amongst friends.
More of Lindsays photos: HERE
