Rob's 5 Day Run
03 November 2025 / Story by Denise Birrell, Barry Luttrell, Lilo Bonus & Robert Emmett, Photos by Wendy Mulholland
Day 1 - Denise Birrell.
We all met at Riverside Park at 7.30 for an 8.00 start, 8 cars in all, due to a few late cancellations. Departing we headed up the highway onto Buckets Way for a morning tea break in Gloucester, where we met a great group of bikies on a ride to Tweed Heads raising money for Black Dog, (awareness of depression and suicide). Today was quite special as it was Kerry’s 80th Birthday we were all in good spirits helping him celebrate with lots of happy snaps being taken by Wendy. Back on the road we headed up Thunderbolts Way to our lunch stop in Walcha.
Lunch over we set up the Oxley Highway for our first night’s stay in Port Macquarie, our Motel on the water surrounded with spectacular views. We enjoyed happy hour in the Motels garden area and presented Kerry with a gift voucher for his Birthday. We then walked to a local Hotel for dinner and afterward a cake for Kerry to end a very enjoyable first day.
Day 2 - Barry Luttrell
Port Macquarie to Glen Inness
An early morning for breakfast and a beautiful day. Repack MX-5 which is always tricky, and ready to go. Fill up on Hastings River Drive and join run at River Mark Café. On to M1 and then up to Macksville for comfort stop and watch Pelicans being fed on the river. Out of Macksville and back on the M1 to Bellingen for morning tea. Parking found on the back streets, and we dispersed to available cafes for morning tea. Reassembled on the back streets and commenced our run up Waterfall Way, hopefully a clear run. Roadworks just past Thora Bridge stopped on a red light with other cars but thankfully no trucks or buses. Opportunity while waiting to check out the local scenery. Green light so continued at a reasonable pace up waterfall way through multiple roadworks and across the Dorrigo Plateau with great scenery and through to Dorrigo town. No stopping here so progressed along Waterfall Way to Ebor village. Lunch at a local delightful whistle stop, Fusspot Café.
Lunch over, progressed through Ebor and then onto Guyra Road and through to Guyra township for a comfort stop. Onto the New England Highway and up to Glen Inness passing through scenic New England High Country arriving at the New England Motor Lodge. Dinner tonight at the renowned Yin Thai 98 Restaurant in the New England Club, which was enjoyed by all. Walked back to the Motel for a good night’s sleep after a great day of mountain driving.
Day 3 - by Lilo Bonus
We all awoke to a beautiful sunny morning at our motel in Glen Innes looking forward to day three. After our debriefing we departed at 8.30 on the New England Hwy to Tenterfield for morning tea, Casino for lunch then onto Grafton to stay the night. With tops down we had a lovely run with great scenery to Tenterfield where we all parked behind the Main Street.
Most of us opted for the bakery with yummy pies cakes, slices and coffee to choose from. We took this across the road to a lovely little park with shade and toilets as temperatures were already rising. Leaving Tenterfield on the Bruxner Hwy we drove past the Tenterfield Saddler Shop looking forward to our windy section around the mountain. Most drivers were courteous and allowed us to pass so we had a spirited zoom zoom drive to Casino. Rob had picked out a great spot for us all to park with just a short stroll to "Kibbles Bakery" who were expecting us. By this time the temperature was already around 33 dg. We met the owner who is an inspirational 90 yr old and still working in the business, and also was a hot rod racer in his younger days. His pies pasties and freshly made sandwiches were just what we needed. There was even a modern digital single toilet across the road. Lucky we were all smart enough to operate it . Leaving Casino, we all decided to leave tops up as temperatures were still rising. We travelled along Summerland Way and arrived in Grafton to a spectacular display of blooming Jacaranda Trees. Such a pretty site. We drove around trying to find spots for photo shoots but decide it was too busy and would leave earlier in the morning. The Abbey Motel was in a fantastic spot with shopping centre opposite where some of us girls went for a look. We also booked a table for breakie for those that wanted to dine out as we had been having our own breakfasts. The motel was lovely and clean with a great covered area for happy hour which a rest we all enjoyed. As usual lots of happy chatter and laughter. Dinner had been booked at the Clocktower Hotel which had lots of character, was spacious and cool and the menu divine. After a great dinner we all managed to slowly head back to our rooms, taking in all the beautiful lit up tree and main St. Grafton certainly was the highlight of the trip so far. Sooo pretty
Day 4 - by Rob Emmett
A late departure today allowing for a leisurely breakfast and some Group photos of cars and participants. Although I must say the Three previous days had us driving on some twisting and winding roads today was expected to be the road with the tightest twists and bends of all. The road from South Grafton to Ebor is known as the Corkscrew and is apply named. The road not in its best condition but still in a drivable condition. Some rough patches and some potholes but with full attention on the road could still provide some exuberant fun driving, the sort of road MX-5’s are built for. Those out in front took full advantage of the road whilst the rear runners a little more relaxed approach. At Tyringham a Left turn took us to the park at Bostobrick where we had our first comfort stop and a few minutes to unwind after an exuberant drive. Thirteen Kilometres on to Dorrigo through some very picturesque scenery and as we drew close to Dorrigo past the world’s largest private Railway collection. We circled the village of Dorrigo to orient ourselves with the town facilities before proceeding to Danger Falls a short distance from town for a look at what proved a pretty sight. From here it was back to town for lunch where the group split, some opting to eat at cafe's others at the Pub which is often advertised on Hunter local TV as a fine provider of food. Re assembly after lunch and re-join The Waterfall Road to Ebor Falls for another short stop and then on to Armidale for the night. Tonight’s Motel proved to be a Let Down after thee three previous night’s accommodation, but I guess you get what you pay for this being the least expensive venue we stayed in. (Half the cost of Mid Pacific at Port Macquarie) . This motel has been used on other Memorable occasions by Hunter MX5 but that was in the past and even the members of the club are showing their age since our last visit. Try somewhere different next time.
The Day One to Day Four driving on this trip should be done at least once by every MX5 driver. Such Fun, hard work but Fun.
Day 5 – Rob Emmett
After a few grumbles regarding our night’s accommodation members headed for home. Prior to our departure on the first day there had been three couples drop out of the trip just before departure date (Health Reasons) and one couple on the wait list taking up a position. 8 vehicles and 14 Members participated. This morning One couple departed home early to complete some work on a family car started before the trip, another couple headed to Southwest Rocks for a few days, another couple headed back to Glen Inness to spend time with family. A fourth couple headed straight for home to celebrate a son’s birthday and a fifth couple who had not visited northern NSW before made their own way to explore a little more. This left one couple and the two singles to form a convoy for the home journey. The run down the New England highway apart from the scenery is not the most exciting but the company and the chat on the two-way radios helped the journey to pass pleasantly. The planed itinerary was abandoned and we made our way with comfort stops as necessary. Our last stop/lunch and final farewell was at the Crown Hotel Muswellbrook a satisfying finish to a wonderful five days of driving, company, laughs and good scenery.
Someone should be planning the next trip by now.
Well, I hope!
