Images thanks to Janet Franzen, Ellie Hamilton and Wayne Proud
Catch up with our friends in Western Australia and recap this month’s Perth Hills Meander in the latest edition of Quokka Talk thanks to Steve Pretzel.
WA 01 Quokka Talk – Perth Hills Meander
by: Steve Pretzel
photos: Janet Franzen, Ellie Hamilton and Wayne Proud
It was a rare ‘roof on’ day for our April early morning run, with grey clouds in the morning looking just threatening enough to preclude open-air motoring.
This month’s EMR was coordinated and guided by Mike and Ellie Hamilton. Their last EMR, in October, had been one of the wettest we’d experienced, so they figured by moving to April there would be a much better chance of dry conditions. Ah well.
As it turned out we only had a couple of brief showers during the morning, which did nothing to spoil a thoroughly enjoyable run through a tight-knit maze of twisty bits up into the Perth hills.
A good turn-out of six Elises, two Exiges, an Elan and an Alfa was present, and Mike’s route was part familiar, part new, and all fun!
After ascending the hill into Kalamunda, descending into Roleystone and ascending once again past Armadale, we peeled left into McNess Rd towards Canning Dam. This road is quite narrow, a bit rough at first, and then presents a series of bends with a gentle roller coaster feel to them.
A stop at Canning Dam for photos and we were back on the road again. Mike had discovered a new estate with an interesting looking ring road, but we were delayed when one of the group went into auto-pilot and turned off McNess Road at a point where we often do turn, but hadn’t today. The hilly country meant the following drivers were well out of two-way range by the time we realised they weren’t with us, and the mobile coverage was patchy at best. The result was that we lost quite a bit of time trying to locate ‘group 2’ and arrange the re-connection.
Eventually, we all joined up again for the final stage before brunch. The last few clicks took in the orchard lands of Pickering Brook, Carmel and Walliston then leading back into Kalamunda where a long bench at the Embers restaurant awaited us.
