August 28 Sunday drive to West Gippsland

[Doug Gould]

August EMR - Sunday August 28 – From Rolling Hills to Rolling Surf.

The August EMR will go a bit further afield than recent drives, hopefully to some roads you either haven't driven – or haven't driven in a while, but we expect to be at the Kilcunda hotel for lunch before 12:30 which should still have most home before 4pm.

We will meet at 8:30am at the outbound BP service centre on the M1 near officer, then drive through the low rolling hills of the Woorayl shire and finish along the rugged surf coast at Kilcunda. This part of South Gippsland was initially settled in 1845 with clearing of Mountain Ash trees for dairy farming in  the 1880's, hence the characteristic cleared hills which provide the views to the coast. Now, it's a tourist  / wine & food region which creates a whole new dimension of interest.

I run a business conducting public road durability testing for car manufacturers in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand and I list the road from Warragul to Korumburra as one of my favourite roads - above the Gt Ocean road! It is a relatively fast flowing winding road with some stunning glimpses to the coast across the steep cleared dairy country toward Wilson's Prom. Depending on weather there will be some photo opportunities along the way.

From Korumburra we will avoid the major roads and meander to Kilcunda via Outtrim, Kongwak Almurta & Archies Creek. Sunday is market day in Kongwak and I defy anyone to not buy something there! Its one of the cutest most eclectic markets I've seen.

Lunch will be at the Kilcunda Hotel overlooking the surf. The carpark opposite can have a beautiful surf backdrop for photos. If the weather is nice, its stunning. If the weather is not nice, the view of wild surf from the warmth of the hotel has its own charm.

The Kilcunda Hotel is noted for its calamari & parma's and have a number of local beers & wines. You can consider the menu here: http://kilcundaoceanviewhotel.com.au/. The owner Mark, used to own an Alfa 33 and the pub frequently hosts car & bike clubs.

After lunch it's a straight run home along the Sth Gippsland Highway. Or you can stay a while & walk the beach. 

The route is easy and less than 150km from start to finish. There are few turns at intersections compared with drives closer to Melbourne. The navigation is easy apart from 3 or 4 turns, its basically all "follow main road".

We need confirmed numbers for the hotel a week out by about Sunday August 21. Contact Doug Gould on 0419 346 853 or doug@gould.net.au

[Doug Gould]

My wife and I drove the route today to check the route charts. We had great luck with the weather and the views were stunning. My wife drove while I corrected the charts, and she kept stopping to look at the view.

Sunday is market day at Kongwak. We are planning time to stop at the market. If you don't find something to buy there, then you lack the soul to own an Alfa!! Its a very odd, cute market. There was live music and we had a stunning locally made falafel. We came away with clothes, books & a CD. Although I did pass on buying a copy of the book " 50 Relatives Worse than Yours" and also "Scouts in bondage". If you want a distinctive hand knitted beanie, then this is the place!

Without giving too much away, the route includes such memorable sights as the recently de-commissioned Wonthaggi Air Navigation aid. I've had so many simulated engine failures above that in the twin engine aircraft, it was interesting to see the ground underneath. Its in a dairy paddock.

The Kilcunda pub had a large bike group when we got there and it seemed to handle the numbers easily. We didn't leave home until 11am and we got to the pub shortly after the SPAM closed at 2:30. So we had a really great home made sausage roll next door at the general store - which also sells a lot of local produce. This includes Fish Creek Olive Oil. Who knew? On the day, I hope we'll arrive between 12 & 12:30.

If the day is anywhere near as nice as today, I guarantee a great drive. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if more than a couple of people go home and look up properties in the area for sale.

[Evan Bottcher]

Planning to be there Doug, sounds great.  Will bring the 'new' Mito QV, which I am learning to enjoy very much.

[pasey25]

tempted for this. will discuss with the better half

[As the day goes]

Looks great!

[Doug Gould]

Just finishing the route charts. Here is my introduction:

This is my first Early Morning Run. However, I used to be a Rally Director for Victorian & Australian Rally Championship events. You'll see some of that past in my notes. I actually thought about pace noting the Warragul to Korumburra section, but decided that was going overboard. There are very few turns off the main road. There are no gravel roads. If in doubt, follow the main road. I hope you'll enjoy the road. There is no-one out with flags, but the route charts are very easy to follow. We have driven the route 4 times with different cars and drivers. I think you'll see some country and roads that you either never dreamt existed, or haven't seen in a long time. My wife and I have enjoyed driving the route in the planning stage. The faster cars will get through this quickly and have time to buy lots of stuff at Kongwak or get to Kilcunda early and get a spot with a good view of the surf to start drinking early. There is a deadline time listed at Kongwak to leave for lunch. There is one section of road that has patches on top of patches and is a bit rough. There are some roads that have sharp bitumen edges to the gravel. And there are some roads where you really don't want to go off the side! But treat it as a sprited drive and not a race and you should have one of the nicest drives in a long while.

[Doug Gould]

Believe it or not, I FLEW some of the course last Sunday. We drive past a recently decommissioned navigation aid and I needed to take the aeroplane for a run, so I thought I'd have a look. I used to do a lot of instrument flying practice work based on this aid, but it was always in cloud or with a hood on. It was really interesting to actually look at the ground. The foothills are very beautiful and the hills are a verdant green more like England than Australia. In fact, we were doing brake tests at Leongatha a week or so back and drove the route to come home. I had a young engineer with me. Young mechanical engineers are not noted for their appreciation of the beauty of nature. But even he commented that the roads were spectacular.

[kaleuclint]

Wonthaggi NDB???

[Doug Gould]

Sorry, NDB stands for non-directional beacon. Its an ground based aviation navigation aid.

For those who remember Ross Holder, I am sitting in the shade by the pool at his house in shorts and a T-shirt about 30 minutes inland of Pattaya in Thailand. Ross has a 105 GTV and I spent some of Sunday touring some classic car workshops looking at partly restored Alfa'a Porsche's Rolls, Aston Martin and even a Gull Wing Mercedes. I may post some photos another day. But the rarity of the really good restoration guys means that they tend to be kept as a closely guarded secret by the owners who use them. I have been taken to more than one place indirectly so I cannot recall how we got there and been asked not to photograph some cars. My favorite is a guy in Bangkok who nearly exclusively does Guilia & 105 GTV work. There are 2 Guilia Supers, 2 105 GTV's and a Spider undergoing restoration now. His work creating new panels from a sheet of steel with a hammer and wooden block is breathtaking.

But the point of this note is to say I am starting to get quite a number of acceptances for the EMR on August 28. I struggle to respond to them while I'm here, but will do so after I get back on Sunday.

[Doug Gould]

The weather for Sunday looks fine. The consumer forecasts are still showing some chance of rain, however, I find the predictive charts much more accuratehttp://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml. This shows no hint of rain for Sunday.

The recent rain will have the hills looking very green. The views will be spectacular on a fine day. 

Lunch is at the Kilcunda Hotel and is individually ordered from the menu. Check out the menu here http://kilcundaoceanviewhotel.com.au/. I promised the owner (Mark) an indication of numbers today so he can reserve tables.

If you have interest in coming, please feel free. drop me a note to doug@gould.net.au or message me on 0419 346 853.

We have car numbers in the mid teens indicating that they are coming so far.

My wife, Sally,  goes to hospital for a shoulder operation today. At this stage I expect that she will come, but we will be in the softer riding VW Touareg. Look for a dark Blue VW Touareg TDI R-Line.

[Doug Gould]

Route instructions front cover

[Doug Gould]

Here is the Kongwak market Facebook page. I don't especially like markets. But this one is really cool. You should get 30 min or so to stop.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kongwak-Market/196117203753033

[As the day goes]

Should be there but in my "other" Alfa 

[Doug Gould]

Route notes

[colcol]

Thanks a lot to Doug for organising such a great Sunday run, the roads were winding and challenging, just the sort of roads Alfa Romeo's like, with the 'HORROR ROAD TOLL' at an all time high, [it isn't], some of the roads like this, around Melbourne, have now got 60-80 kilometre $peed limits for $afety, but some of the roads we drove today still had 100klm speed limits, [but don't tell the revenue department].
I managed to not find the start point, due to the fact i had an old Melways, without the new BP service centre at Officer, but most set of from there to Kelly's Bakery somewhere for a morning coffee break, from there is was onto Kongwak Market, but for those lost or running late it was straight on the the Kilkunda Hotel, where the Alfa Romeo club filled the Bistro to the brim, the pub meals where great, and didn't have to wait until the Chef killed the chook to cook it.
After lunch i drove back to the Kongwak Market for a search for some tools to help fix wayward cars, but couldn't find any, but Ella found a dress at one of the stalls, great place for books, records, cassettes, DVD's, for quite a good price.
Doug had downloaded the route instructions, 'rally style' which made it clear which way to go, arrows pointing to which way to go, he has raised the bar for Sunday runs, well done Doug, Colin.