Event date: 2-12 June 2023
Packed the day before to prepare for an early start to Mt Gambier. Collected Adrian. Whoa!
Adrian had knee replacement surgery 3 and a half weeks ago and is meant to be on sticks for six weeks. "Don't worry", he says, tossing the sticks into the boot (where they would remain). Okee-dokee, off we headed at the respectable time of 10.30am. "The doctor says he can go, but has to stop every hours for exercises".
"Hmmm". The rest of the BMWDCM crew had left hours ago, and we were on a mission to catch them. With the assistance of some motivational music (eg. Bat out of Hell) and one only coffee break, we got to Mt Gambier 5 minutes behind the main crew. Need i say, "Don't mention this to Adrian's surgeon".
At Mt Gambier we checked out some seriously large sinkholes, like i mean huge. Jo found the possums particularly friendly, if you have pieces of apple in your hand.
Off we scooted, on the magnificent South Australian (SA) roads, more on this later, with a pleasant 110km speed limit even on two-way carriage ways with only a painted line to seperate them. (Hear that Mr Vic Premier).
Approx an hour into SA, the roads became decideadly rippled and bouncy, with occassional 100km/hr sections, for no other reason than they perhaps had run out of 110km/h signs. Just as abruptly they would return to 110km/h signs.
We noticed that BP themed service stations were branded OTR. Apparently this acronym stood for On The Run, so we still supported them.
Arriving in Glenelg (that's SA, about 20 minute south of Adelaide, along the Anzac Highway, and adjacent to beaches in the St Vincent Gulf). Pretty posh. We would eat dinner in fine style at fresh Seafood restaurants, Italian, Thai, and the less convincing Ottoman Grill, who slighty torched our food as though we were Greek spartans. More on spartans later.
Our first dinner in Glenelg was with the amazing, entertaining, and welcoming group of BMW enthusiasts from SA. BMWDCSA (i suspect you can work that one out). Several members joined us on a midweek drive. Michael (Mike) and Susan also joined us on a trip to Victor Harbor (no British nonsense about the 'our' in harbor, this is how the SAians spell it). Mike also lead our group to Murray River where it meets the ocean. We then returned to the other Michael's house in Woolwa, and were entertained by Michael and partner Jillian, with an elaborate bbq and great conversation, overlooking Snake River and Murray River, with Pelicans and a myriad of other birds trilling and crooning by the moonlit evening. The serenity and tranquillity, making it ‘The Castle’ of our destinations.
Over quintuples of dinners we discussed many topics, though i was particularly impressed with John C's description of Spartans. Greek warriors trained to protect their King and peoples at all costs, including their own death. These warriors were tough. More on this later. ps. John and Allison had travelled all the way from Sydney to join us. This was a National link up, and we were all enriched from the interstate linkups.
After a few early starts (9.30 am), Jo bought me a sympathetic insulated coffee mug, filled it with fresh coffee from the breakfast which i always slept through, and which Adrian delivered to my room, 10 minutes prior to my expected 'be in the drivers seat' time. Bliss.
This was amazing team work, and got me to the meeting site (had to walk to lift, press button from level 1 to ground level, and walk 15m to carpark), to get there just on time.
As usual, Peter had mapped out great destinations, and indirect routes along twisty back roads. Cruise control on Anzac Highway, and then we came alive. Briskly diving into corners, swiftly changing direction, and inadvertantly banging Adrian's knee against the passenger door. I didn't notice, so i kept doing it. At the end or the day, Adrian had a distinct limp. "Oh", i would say, "still recovering from surgery?"
Same thing next day. The day after that he travelled with Jo and Graeme. "Hmmm", i summised. Maybe he had been in pain, but did not want to complain, as a happy companion on the trip. That's when it occured to me. Spartans don't simply belong to the pre-Roman era, they still exist now. Adrian considered my enjoyment of the trip to be just as important as his. He toughened up, and to my embarassment, i have to thank him. Anyhow, back to me.
We, actually Adrian and me, used our free day to visit Mt Barker, and planned to head to Port Adelaide, and maybe Adelaide itself. We got as far as Mt Stirling Hotel (like 20 minutes away), and never got any further. Adelaide Hills can be like that. Pretty one minute, absorbing the next, and then you simply want to stay and relax. We had a great meal in front of a fire, enjoyed some live music (Nic Hutton), and i began an affair with Hahndorf Hill - Gru Gruner Veltliner (vibrant layers of citrus/ ruby grapefruit, spice, crushed thyme, juicy acidity and a delicious core of yellow stone fruit, with a hint of black pepper).
After a few days of pretty countryside and spectacular views, Peter replicated this experience further south, where we got to cross the Murray River a few times, without crossing a border (as most Victorians do when entering NSW). We even did one crossing with our hands off the steering wheel. Don't worry, it was on a ferry.
Ahhh. Tailem Bend for a bit of racing. Royce (16yo on E30 pole) slipped on take off, chasing the lead for several laps, prodding, dancing, until the lead made the tiniest of errors, and Royce sprinted away. He got to within 0.3 seconds of lap record in an exciting race.
Next day, we returned. Royce had already whittled his lap time down by another tenth of a second. He trailed to the first corner, and then sprang into the lead. Faster, faster, slight slide on the corner opposite the main viewing tower. Perfect turn into the straight. Another tenth of a second faster. He gapped the following cars, getting further ahead, stopped apexing the tightest corner, and knocked more time off his laps, and broke the E30 lap record. Slowing down for a couple of laps with over-heated tyres, Royce blitzed the final lap, taking an amazing 0.5 seconds of the lap record. Watch this guy, big things ahead.
Proud as punch, a few of us headed off to the Kelleske winery (Barossa) to celebrate.
Funfilled journey, with lots of different experiences. Big thankyou to BMWDCM for organising such an amazing trip, thanks Jo, Graeme, Peter, and of course the behind the scenes endeavours of Lawrence and Shaaron. A big thankyou to BMWDCSA who also hosted and shared our SA experience with us. Hope to return your generosity soon.
John Shreeve | Member #579
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
