Sunday, March 6, 2011

MX-5 Club's President's Run to Donna Buang

Mazda MX-5's are a special car and so it is not surprising that there is an owner's club. We joined the Mazda MX-5 Club of Victoria at the beginning of the year and today we went on the our first outing with them. The idea of driving around in a convoy of MX-5's didn't necessarily appeal but the prospect of opening up a new social circle meant that it was worth a try.

Today's run was the annual President's Run and the destination was Donna Buang. The starting point was the car park of the Manningham Council offices in Doncaster. By kick off time there were 42 MX-5's of various models and colours. It was a lovely sunny day so "tops down" was most definitely the only way to go. Off we went down Doncaster Road to Blackburn Road and then into Andersons Creek Road. Not surprisingly, with all the traffic lights we were now starting to get rather spread out. The obvious challenge with planning a run is to choose a big enough, easily found car park on the edge of Melbourne - Manningham Council wasn't the best choice...

Anyway, back to the drive. We made our way to Warrandyte, over the Yarra River and on towards Kangaroo Ground. Somehow a group of about 10 cars managed to get in front of the lead car. We were second car in our pack and when the leading car was looking rather lost at Kangaroo Ground trying to get to the Yarra Glen Road, we took over. After all we were in our "own backyard" and I didn't need map to tell me how to get there.

One of the "rules" of driving in convoy is to wait when we make turns to make sure the car following has made the turn too. Thinking we were still some way behind to car in front, we set off towards Yarra Glen in order to catch up. After a while I began to suspect that we had somehow got in front so a call to the President was in order. "I think we have got in front of you" I said ... "No, that couldn't have happened" ... "Are you sure?" I said ... "Yes, where are you?" ... "A fair way along the Eltham - Yarra Glen Road" I said ... "So are we, you must be behind us" ... and then the phone dropped out. Not convinced, we kept on towards Yarra Glen, mostly because there was nowhere for 10 cars to pull over.

Winding down the hill into Yarra Glen it was time to try the phones again. "Are you in Yarra Glen yet?" I said ... "No, we are still on our way" ... "Well, we are! I will pull the group over to wait for you" I said ... After about 5 minutes the President breezed past to take up his rightful position at the head of the convoy. We headed out of Yarra Glen on the Yea road as far as the top of the Great Dividing Range. There we turned right to head off through Toolangi and down the Myers Creek Road - a Club favourite - to Healesville for morning tea.

After an ice cream for morning tea, it was time to press on towards Donna Buang. Although the route was originally planned to go via Don Road, this was changed to Dalry Road to avoid 4 km of dirt road. So, with a little difficulty, the convoy of 42 MX-5's picked its way through the heart of Healesville on a sunny Sunday morning. Not the most easily done but we manged without causing too much chaos. Once clear of Healesville, we headed down the Worri Yallock road and then via Dalry Road to join Don Road at Don Vally. Turning right, it was a pleasant drive down the valley to join the Warburton Highway at Launching Place. A left turn had us heading through Warburton with all the "Sunday drivers" on our way to Donna Buang. We haven't been to Warburton for a long time so it is another place to go back to one day.

It would have been nice to say we had a spirited run up Donna Buang but alas, a Toyota Corolla put an end to that - you shouldn't expect anything else on a Sunday... The Summit car park was full so it was back down to the lower car park for a picnic lunch. Lunch was the end of the arrangements for the day so people started drifting off making their own way home. Like a number of others, we first of all went back to the Summit and climbed the look-out tower. After a look around, it was time to choose how to get home. Although unmade, Healesville road off Donna Buang beckoned. If it was sealed it would have been a perfect MX-5 road - driving through a forest withs lots of twists and turns. However, with no spare tyre and only a puncture repair kit (standard for the NC model), dirt roads are something driven with great care.

Eventually the road reached a T-intersection with Don Road where it was time for another decision. We went left and along the 4 km of dirt road that had been in the original plan. It was a well made, smooth road that was easy to drive but it would have been intolerable for those at the back of a 42 car convoy. We made our way back onto the Warburton Highway at Worri Yallock and headed to Lilydale. Even though it was still quite early in the afternoon, Lilydale was congested so an early turn saw us going around the back of Lilydale and Chirnside Park. From there we made our way home through Wonga Park, Warrandyte and Research, thus making the day a rather lopsided figure of 8.

It was a really great day out and a great introduction to the MX-5 Club. Driving in convoy wasn't as bad as I thought it might be and the people are great to mix with. Some more club runs are definitely on the agenda...

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