Wednesday 31 May 2017

21st of May 2017 Run Kallista - Lilydale

*Words and photos by Ian Jordan

Today’s start point was meant to be Macca's in Lilydale, but due to recent renovations, this had to be changed at the last minute to the car park at Supercheap Auto's in Lilydale.
The meet time was 8:30 for a 9am start, and I was there in plenty of time to grab some much need coffee before the start.
People started appearing not long after I arrived, and within 15 minutes the car park was awash with MINI's. We had expected a good turn out, and it didn't disappoint, with 17 cars joining in for the ride. After 20 minutes or so of MINI related chat, it was time to round every one up for the briefing. This was my first run as lead car, so I was a little nervous, and hopeful, that everything went well and I don't get them all lost :-).
9am, and time to get things underway. We moved out of the car park and joined the Maroondah Hwy to our first obstacle, a set of lights and a right turn. Not everyone got through the lights, but a quick radio message from the tail car in the group soon let me know. We re-grouped along a 2 lane stretch of road, and we were once again back in convoy. There is something that always put a smile on my face seeing a group of MINI's all travelling together.
We headed towards Launching Place, but turned of the main road before we got there, onto Launching-Gembrooke Road, about 25Km of great twisties. After a close call with Australia's nature (about 20 ducks crossing the road), we got to our first pit stop, Gillwel Park. We stopped here for 30 minutes to allow those that needed a 'comfort' stop, and also a chance to take photos and have a chat.


Back on the road, we headed towards Gembrook, again, along some more great roads with some rather impressive Gum tree's surrounding us. As we climbed, there were some magnificent scenes to be viewed. The views were just stunning, as were all the colours. I do love Victoria in the Autumn.
After another 40 km's we approached our end point, were had pre-booked for 20 at the Kallista Tea Rooms, Kallista. A great place, with great food, so it was coffee, breakfast and chat as we all discussed the run in detail.
Total distance for today’s run was 85Km (approx 2 hours)


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