22nd March 2015.
Despite the inclement weather forecasted – 14 hardy Z ers arrived at the Hydro -Majestic Hotel in seven vehicles comprising both Z cars and pretender cars .
Two incidents enroute caused some distress. Courtney and Anthony experienced excessive vibrations in the 300ZX twin turbo and had to return home . Arthur and Melissa had a temporary breakdown outside Medlow Bath, but using his expert mechanical skills and lots of WD40 – Arthur soon had the Zed rumbling again.
After a look around at the wares on sale at the newly refurbished Hydro-Majestic Hotel – the group had a coffee break to get rid of the “trail dust”. Trail Boss, Craig (whistling “Rawhoid” ( spelt as sounded) under his breath) – got ’em up and moved ’em out to the waiting vehicles.
The destination was the OConnell Hotel about ten light years away.
On the trail apart from the excellent scenery we encountered some very picturesque wordings – such as “Magpie Hollow Rd” and “Sodwalls”. We passed by the Tarana Hotel and received a few waves and flashes of headlights from a group of Holden enthusiasts.
We then arrived at Tarana Road. This road is a solid test of Z ers and their machines.
It is a snaky road with hairpin bends , hidden curves , single lane bridges and even railway crossings. However, the one thing that is memorable is that for a substantial part of it – it is a single lane roadway posing as a double lane roadway.
In other words, there is enough room for a single vehicle with clearance for two medium size blowflies to pass (as long as they are not holding hands!).
Ultimately (with a sigh of relief) Tarana Road broadened into about one and a half car widths. Accelerators were wacked to the floor and the excellent views could be more fully appreciated.
We arrived at the OConnell Hotel which is a rather quaint but interesting establishment celebrating its 105th anniversary.
Craig had organised outside seating and we had an excellent meal at a very reasonable price.(Thanks, Craig) – and we were introduced to our newest Z Car Club member from Gilgandra..
As it approached 3.00PM – Z Car Club members started to depart for home.
However, on the way home we had a few more dramas (as we were probably the last to leave – other members may not have experienced this) – but we ran into a solid wall of fog as we approached Katoomba with visibility almost down to a few metres . Then it started raining. Traffic crawled along way below the speed limit – but the good news was that the Sat Nav ( once out of the Bathurst region) started working again in the 370Z.
It was a long journey, but I felt we shared a rewarding trip with excellent company (including five of the fairer sex) – an enjoyable day all round !