Christmas Party at Little River Wines – 10/12/22 (Steve O’Pray)
Chris and Phil hosted us once again so we could enjoy the final event of the year on the lovely grounds at Little River. The combined efforts of the Committee and a small group of volunteers resulted in a great event and even the weather cooperated with an idyllic day after recent relentless grey skies and rain.
Seventy members enjoyed the BBQ lunch on the lawn with some Little River Wines, followed by sweets bought along by members. Rod took a break from BBQ wrangling to extend thanks to Chris and Phil for hosting the event (and also the Committee meetings during the year). He also made a presentation to Steve for his past Secretary work and made sure everyone was introduce to Lynne Barkley, our new Secretary.
Below are a few pics from the day. Have a great Christmas and New Year and we hope to see you when club events start up again in February.
Lobley Wines – 20/11/22 (Leanne McReady)
Today was about a great group of people doing what they love, avoiding rain, dodging potholes, eating yummy pizza, having a wine and then on the way home, getting lost and rescuing a tortoise! But more about that latter.
We met at the usual location, the Rotary Park in Alexandra. We then took the long way to Yea, avoiding the recently flood affected Whanregarwen Road.
The morning tea break was at Marmalades and then we lined up and headed towards Kinglake with heavy rain coming down. The sun decided to come out and we drove on to Philip Lobley’s Winery driving through the beautiful Kinglake National Park.
On the drive there, yes, we complained about the potholes due to the recent rain, but it brought it home to us how some of the townships and homes have been devastated by the recent floods in the Murrindindi Shire. We are a resilient community, and it was great to see the CFA at Flowerdale having a Market with lots of people in attendance.
There were 17 members who enjoyed the lunch at Philip Lobley Wines for delicious homemade pizzas and of course a tipple or two.
We then dispersed and made our way homeward bound independently and those who chose Glenburn to Yea, were delayed with the road works – one lane and a traffic light that didn’t seem to be working for drivers.
As the driver, stupidly, I decided to take a short cut via Murrindindi and ended up on a SEC dirt track with HUGE potholes and then a tree down and water over the road. Yep, I had missed the turn onto Murrindindi Road but the drive was very scenic and we saw the floods from a different perspective.
We decided to risk Whanregarwen Road and Allan became a temporary wildlife rescuer picking up a tortoise from the middle of the road. The tortoise had obviously been drinking beer for days as it decided to ‘let go’ but as it wasn’t Allan’s ‘first rodeo’ rescuing a tortoise, it was picked up with outstretched arms and placed well off the road.
We arrived home safely and it started to rain again!
Rods Garage Run – 2/11/22 (Leanne McCready with later edits for names)
Today we met at the usual location, the beautiful Rotary Park in Alexandra with a male dominated contingency. Three ladies made up the 25 people that enjoyed a little different car club run.
No morning tea break, but we made our way out of Alexandra to our first stop and everyone immediately went to look at the flooded flats in view. Water was running very quickly through the paddocks. We then went to the ‘shed’ with an impressive entrance that housed our host’s collection including their first car. This was amongst other very well-presented cars.
At the second stop we saw the new shed and hoist that he recently installed by our host and his son. The truck. a 1976 Bedford smelt of fresh paint as it has recently had a spray job as part of its restoration.
At our third stop we could see the passion for his Holdens. No Ford in sight! We had a beautiful lunch provided by our hosts with sausages and hamburgers flying off the table on to people’s plates which was thoroughly enjoyed. The catering was appreciated by all in attendance including the yummy lemon slice and hot and cold drinks. Thank you for the delicious lunch.
The final visit was to a garage where not only you could see our hosts love for Datsun’s including two early model Princes. An immaculate workshop was adorned with memorabilia and small model cars and plane collections which provided a snap shot of his entire life. There was also a superb collection of vinyl records from 50’s and 60’s which was cranked up for the guests. Afternoon tea was provided.
Thank you to all that opened their doors to their car collection and those that attended. A great day, and I can understand why there was a waiting list. Next year, get in early to book as I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Not the Chrismont lunch – 14/10/22 (Steve O’Pray)
With days of torrential, apocalyptic, unprecedented, tipping point rain in NE Victoria we were once again reminded that we live in a land of droughts and flooding rains. With rivers rising and roads closing, plans for the run to Chrismont looked shakey at best. Eventually it was decided to pull the plug on the event and just have an impromptu lunch at the Corner Hotel which hopefully most could get to. The drive in to Alex revealed an inland sea on the Acheron flats with many cars at the lookout taking pics of the flooding around Alex. Lunch was enjoyed by the group with the usual high levels of chat drowning out attempts by the wait staff to tell us what was going on. Below are some pics of the day showing some of the reasons we ended up in Alex and not Cheshunt.
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Tungamah Pub and Silo Art – 5/10/22 (Sandra O’Pray)
Earlyish on a rainy, grey day 23 brave souls ventured out from Rotary Park. After a fortifying coffee & muffin at Dindi Naturals we headed onto Tungamah. Apart from a pesky right hand turn at Swanpool the trip to Tungamah was mostly uneventful.
Once at the Tungamah Hotel we all enjoyed a hearty country pub lunch. Then it was off to see the Silos which were all on the left except for the ones that were on the right. After much oohing and aahing it was time to head for home. Leaving that most existential of questions (posed at lunch) unanswered….”What is Time”. Many Thanks to Ken & Barb Davies for organizing this most excellent day out.
Silos at Gorombat
Euroa 7 Creeks Hotel Run – 19/9/22 (Anthea Forbes)
On Sunday 18th of September 26 happy club member set off for the day trip, on a freezing Spring day from Rotary Park. We then set off to Yea, for a delicious morning tea at Marmalades restaurant, most members enjoyed the “fluffy”scones or hot jam donuts with their hot coffee, perfect for the cold day.
After morning tea we set off on the Highlands route to Euroa, enjoying the amazing scenery of massive volcanic rock formations. Google states these formations can go back 420 millions years! About an hour later we arrived at the Seven Creeks Hotel in Euroa.
We then enjoyed lunch in the very warm indoor / outdoor room of the hotel, resulting in layers of clothing being removed, we then enjoyed a good laugh catching up on the latest local rumours over lunch.
Murrindindi Historic Vehicle Register Inc 