A Fabulous 391 Km Group Drive.
If there is one thing that epitomises the best in driving, it is to gather a bunch of like minded sports car buffs and their classic cars together for a long day drive through the magnificent Australian alpine country… beautiful scenery, fantastic roads, great company, on the perfect Autumn day, it cant get much better than that, can it?
The Mitta Loop Route Map.
The Tour Cars:
Three Lotus elan – One X S2 – Two X S4 elan.
Two – Healey 3000's
One – MGB.
It takes a fair bit of pre-planing and effort to make a drive day like this a success. The first thing is to lock in the event date, then coerce, bend arms etc to get people to actually commit to the event… but to be honest, when people realised where the drive was going, we soon had about six people put up their hands straight away, which was great, as we needed to know numbers in order to organise lunch and coffee stops at various facilities along the way…. this particular route is quite a long and challenging one day drive.
Then of course we had the big unknown with the weather, heavy rain is not something a classic sports car driver would enjoy, especially driving on slippery, twisting and winding alpine roads… but this particular event was organised on the proviso that it could be called off at the last minute if the weather Gods turned on the worst… thankfully, for once, they behaved themselves, and the day turned out to be absolutely perfect day for top off sports car driving…. it was overcast, not too hot, with a gentle cool breeze blowing, all of the lotus elan drivers were quick to drop the tops… and it was so fantastic to breath in the alpine fresh air while driving along the magnificent alpine roads.
The day (Friday) began with everyone arriving at the pre arranged meeting place at a local park ready to leave at 8.30AM, the previous ETD time was to be 8.00AM, but the chap in the MGB had a fair distance to drive that morning, so he was appreciative of the extra time to get to the departure point on time.
With the meet and greet session over, it was time to buckle ourselves in, fire up the sporty engines, and be on our way. The first 50 odd Kilometres were a bit on the boring side, having to cruise up the Ovens Valley on the Great Alpine Road in North East Victoria to arrive at the foothills of alpine country.
Once we arrived at Ovens, noted for the old historic hotel on the side of the road, plus a few houses close by, we peeled left onto the Happy Valley – Rose-white gap road… now the driving fun begins, the road consists of very large right and left hand sweepers, with rises and falls following the topography of the picture post card Happy Valley… early morning can present some stunning views, but we have many kilometres to cover, so press on we must.
The absolute best part of the Happy Valley would have to be the run up and over the Rose white Gap… this is where the not so good handling cars are quickly separated from the slick handling Lotus elan's of Peter, Colin and Ian. The elan was designed to be a drivers car and they are a absolute delight to drive in this terrain.
Once over the gap, we join the Kiewa Highway, and soon arrive at Mt Beauty, a quaint little sub alpine village, and a great place to stop for morning coffee… well some of us arrived at the coffee shop… but two didn't.
We heard one of the Healey's and the MGB as they took the road up to Falls Creek…. we tried to text them… but to no avail, and it was pointless to try to catch them as there are very few turn around points… never mind.
Falls Creek was one of the re-group points, so after coffee and a spirited drive, we would catch up with them at Falls Creek Village… and that is where we found them on our arrival… sitting in the Falls Creek lower car park sporting big grins, with a hint of embarrassment on having missed out on the morning coffee, which occurred when the tail enders lost contact with the main group at the front.
While on tour, It is very important to keep everyone within sight contact, something we will be more aware of next time.
After a short rest stop at Falls Creek village, we headed out over the Rocky Valley Reservoir and onto the Bogong High Plains Road, or the white road as it's called. The convoy of 1960's classic sports cars attracted much attention where ever they were parked, people are drawn to them like bees to a honey pot… and that is understandable as they are not a common sight on the road these days, accept for when they are involved in classic rallies… I guess this event could be classified in that regard… but the difference is that it was non competitive, but I can guarantee that our rally was a huge amount of driving fun… and the only cost for the day is fuel, food, one nights accommodation for the people who had to travel to the start point, and taking the time off to have some driving fun with like minded people.
The Victorian Bogong High Plains are unique, the area has an amazing alpine ecology, there are rustic old cattleman's huts to visit and amazing walks (If you have the time and energy) and the views… well, you'll really have to visit this unique alpine country to see and enjoy it for your self… bring your camera to capture the scenery.
The Bogong High Plains road twists and winds it way across the alpine environment, the descent off the plains road takes quite a while as the road drops steeply for about 9 kilometres before it suddenly hits the valley floor at Glen Wills… this is where just about every car suffered from cooked brakes, so a rest stop was required.
One of the elan S4s developed gear selection problems… being fitted with a Gemini five speeder, it is just a bit different to the elan four speed box, the box eventually righted itself so we decided to push on towards Mitta… this is the sector of road that everyone was looking forward to, (more than sixty Kilometres of drivers roads) some had driven this road previously, but others had not.
To describe it as an exhilarating drive is an understatement – this is the writers third trip around the Mitta loop, its a total blast.. and it wont be the last, but next time it will be in the reverse direction.
No one could deny that The Omeo Highway is a totally engaging drive in a Lotus, because it is a drivers road-period. An almost endless corners straights that go for kilometre after kilometre… fantastic bends, and fast short straights, the writer considers this road to be one of the best in Australia, and there are many motor cycle riders who would agree also.
But listening to the comments from the Big Healey drivers, gave one the impression that they were over the huge number of tight corners by the time we arrived at Mitta… Comments like; it was like trying to throw a truck around the corners… a bit difficult. But, having said that, there is now one Healey driver who is very keen to buy and park a lotus elan beside the Healey in his garage.
There was a quick re-group stop at Mitta, then we drove a few more kilometres down the road to the little village of Eskdale, where, after sincere apologies were made to the publican concerning our very late arrival ( 1.45PM) which was way after lunch time, we settled for the pub "special" of bangers and mash washed down with a cold beer… by which time we were all starving hungry.
So with lunch out of the way it was time to head off again…well two of us did…noticed that no one was following, we waited down the road… not realizing that the Healey 3000 had decided to lock the brakes on solid… it wasn't going anywhere soon.
A quick turn around, found us back at the pub to join the roadside experts to help solve the Healey's brake problem's… and you have to love the blokey banter in moments like these… it's serious, but made funny in typical Aussie fashion by taking the piss out of someone…. No PC crap allowed on these drives.
The hard drive along the Omeo highway had added to the woe of cooked brakes, so some quick remedial action was required… with the car jacked up and the front wheel removed a bush mechanic brake bleed was done… yes, rough, but what else could be done on the side of the road.
Classic car guys are quite used to looking after small mechanical problems, there is always a work around, or solution to a problem, you just have to use your common sense.
With the Healey brake problem fixed – Well, sort off fixed, there was enough pedal pressure to get home on … by driving carefully.
The best of the driving was over by the time we reached Yackandandah, for some reason not all cars were accounted for… so the decision was made to continue on to Beechworth, then park and wait for everyone to catch up, which occurred about twenty or thirty minutes later.
By the time the others had arrived at Beechworth, the drive was starting to wind down. It was only a short run back to Wangaratta, so that was the choice.
Continue back to the writers place for a freshen up, coffee and a chat before everyone headed for home.
This drive would have to be one of the best drives ever – even though there were a few mechanical problems, it all turned out great in the end.
The discussion then turned to when is the next drive? Well there will be for sure, it is just a matter of selecting a suitable date for everyone, work out another excellent drive route, then confirm the details, and it will be ready to roll.
Watch This Space As They Say.