Adrian Jones tells tales of a misty early morning run in this edition of Quokka Talk, illustrated by Ellie Hamilton & Wayne Proud.
WA Quokka Talk: The June Misty Morning Run
by: Adrian Jones
photos: Ellie Hamilton & Wayne Proud
The June EMR started with a drizzly gathering of damp Lotus and their owners in the Guildford railway station car park.
The hardcore group of Elise and Exige drivers were determined not to be put off by a less than perfect forecast of heavy showers and the looming afternoon severe weather warning. However, the dedication towards the pre-run car park chat was tested by the onset of another shower. This sent owners scattering to their cars to retrieve their umbrellas from an array of novel locations in which oversized rain protection can be secreted within cars not renowned for their capacity to carry large objects.
Adrian and Lena were the nominated run leaders for the day in their red Elise 220 and led the five Lotuses on a route heading out from Guildford up to the Perth hills. The climb up towards Darlington saw the group enveloped in a low lying light mist, which was to accompany us for the majority of the run. Notwithstanding, we wound our way up to the top of Mundaring Weir for a stop at the dam wall for a quick photo call.
Onward down into Kalamunda and then across to the Zig Zag Scenic Drive in the Gooseberry Hill national park, with the normally spectacular vista of Perth and its surrounding flat plain replaced by moderately thick fog, which set owners fumbling for the location of their fog light switches that are rarely used in earnest here in Western Australia.
The decidedly dank Norfolk Broads weather system persisted until we emerged from Darlington and crossed the Great Eastern highway to enter the John’s Forrest national park access road. Slightly better conditions were starting to prevail, but the sight of the brightly coloured Lotus convoy was a much more desirable photographic target for the brave tourists stationed at the national park lookout points!
Across to the well-trodden back roads via Parkerville, Stoneville and a quick loo stop in Mount Helena, then the final charge up to Chidlow and Bailup and onto the spectacular Clenton Road switchback series. The intent of capping off the run with the ubiquitous roller-coaster was almost missed by Adrian, due to the impeding ute that curtailed the descent prior to turning onto roller-coaster, but a quick crackle of the UHF radios from the rest of the pack saw the execution of an U-turn, and back to the promised exhilaration of the roller-coaster’s hallmark stomach inversions before dropping into the Swan Valley wine region.
The very British weather scenic run was capped off by a pleasant early lunch at Lamont’s Winery and the public spectacle of a winery car park packed with rather dirty Lotus.
Happy car washing and look forward to seeing you all at next months’ run!
