Club’s weekend away to Gatton and the Lockyer Valley - May 25th and 26th 2019
Yet another perfect weekend weather presented itself for a band of seven Austins and a Cortina which met at Cameron Park in Ipswich on Saturday morning.
Driving Austins were Ken & Desley Parker (A30), Kev and Paula Aiton (A90 Atlantic), Brian and Lorraine Wright (A40 Somerset Sedan), Doug and Lieka Benckendorff (A110 Westminster), Mike and Yvonne Wade (Austin Healey Sprite), John Elsol (Lancer), Nairn Hindhaugh (Freeway) and Will and Annetta Moses (Cortina). We had an easy run through the reasonably light Saturday morning traffic as we eased our convoy onto the Cobb and Co Tourist Drive at Leichhardt. We managed to stay together all the way through to Rosewood for morning tea, just getting the last car-parks before a goodly number of MGs descended on the park.
Leaving there for Forest Hill we spent a very pleasant half-hour or so, still in convoy going through Grandchester and Laidley, well in time for a look around Forest Hill before a pub lunch at the Lockyer Hotel. From there, it was another easy and very picturesque drive to where we were booked in at the Gatton Motel.
For those who wanted to look around, there was plenty of time, with some going to the Transport Museum before we met for Happy Hour at the motel at 5:00. We were joined by Michael and Sue Wells who came down from Toowoomba and we all went off to dinner at Cottone's Restaurant in Railway Street.
No early Sunday Morning starts for us - we were due to leave the motel at 9:30 which meant plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast and indulge in Austin-talk as we woke them up and got them ready for another easy day’s driving. Two more Austins met us; Bernie and Madonna Bianchi in their A40 Devon and James and Kaye Whyte in their blue A40 Tourer.
The Wells in the meantime had made the sensible swap from Audi to A95 Westminster. This gave us ten Austins and a Cortina to wend our way through the beautiful late-autumn scenery of this part of the Lockyer Valley. Small settlements such as Lilydale and Flagstone Creek are in idyllic locations and only make you want to come back and explore this region.
We arrived at our lunch venue, Scotty’s Barn and Museum, which is another great attraction of this district. There was some kind of movie being made which was an added attraction (or diversion). They have the most wonderful array of old vehicles spread around the buildings, while inside are old artifacts of a bygone era. Much of it was old service station equipment and signs as well as a 1930s Ford V8, Bedford ute and a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr complete with its V12 engine. This opens out to a ‘50s Rock and Roll Diner and dance hall, again with nostalgia galore. In a separate area, we sat down to another lunch, before wending our way home.
Everyone would agree that Kev and Paula gave us a great weekend - the directions were perfect and the venues also good quality. It made for a lovely relaxed two days in the best company. Heartfelt thanks to both.
For those on Face Book, there are many more photos of the 2 day event that have been posted by Annetta Moses on the club’s Face Book group. Click here to go to the Face Book group.
