GACR 2005 (The Great Australian Clubman Roundup)
I left Omeo on the Friday morning to head over the alps via Mount Hotham to Bright and the GACR. After an hour or so of good driving on a nice windy alpine road I ran out of bitumen. This was not part of the plan. A quick check showed that I had taken the wrong road. Navigation 0/10!! I retraced my steps to Omeo and found the right road and started again. The road was nice and smooth and quite picturesque. It got colder as I climbed higher and when I reached Mount Hotham I could see the remnants of the winter snow on the higher peaks.
From there it was downhill to Bright. I managed to get caught behind a car towing a boat for about 10 km, but other than that it was a good trip to the accommodation at Freeburgh about 8 km from Bright. After settling in I went into Bright and met a few other clubbie owners.
Over the past couple of days the selection of gears had been getting harder and harder. By the time I got to Bright I couldn't select either first or reverse. An inspection showed that a particular part had split and was the cause of the problem. A bit of bush mechanic work got things working again but I suspect the repair will only last a day or two. A Mazda dealer 90 km away didn't have the part in stock so I will check each Mazda dealer I pass until I find the part or will get one on arrival in Melbourne.
Next day commenced with a show and shine to show off the cars.
It was great to see some 65 clubbies gathered in the one spot.
After lunch we drove in convoy through the town and then up to the mount Buffalo chalet. This was good fun with some great twisty roads.
On the point of the rocky area is a hang glider launching ramp. I reckon the drop is at least 600 feet so it would be a real buzz launching yourself into space from there. In the evening we gathered (all 153 of us) at a hotel for dinner.
Trophies were presented and the winner of the show and shine was John Karnons' Puma from Adelaide. I managed to snaffle the longest distance traveled award (22,847 km), although one other stalwart drove his car over from Perth. The next day we drove to Mount Beauty and Falls Creek. The scenery is great and it is interesting to note how quiet all these places are when there is no snow. That evening we had a few other clubbie people around to our accommodation for a BBQ dinner that was a pleasant end to an enjoyable weekend.
Left reasonably early next day and had an uneventful trip to Bairnsdale. Stopped off at Omeo to inspect some of the old mining areas. The method used here was to sluice away the cliff face with high pressure water and then search for gold in the run off. Later Chinese miners built shafts in the base of the cliffs. Interesting!
The gears are still being selected, albeit the feel is a bit like stirring a bowl of porridge with a spoon. The Mazda dealer at Bairnsdale didn't have the part I was after either so I'll have to wait a bit longer.