Comboyne via Wauchope
13 August 2018
Mid North Coast Chapter MX-5 Club run to Comboyne.
Tuesday 7 August was the type of day that inspired songs! The sun was out, the sky was blue with not a cloud to spoil the view. Oliver’s at the Port Macquarie Service Centre a.k.a ‘The Donut’ was the meeting place for the Mid North Coast MX-5 Club mid-week run to Comboyne. Members soon rolled in, Greg with his grey MX-5 GT RF limited edition, Cathy and Wayne with their lovingly prepared burgundy NB, as seen on the inside cover of the last ‘Torque’ magazine, Pam and Allen with their highly polished red ND, also featured in the last month’s ‘Torque’, Peter with his original black NB, John in his Galaxy Grey NC and Graham with his immaculate Blue BMW-MX-5.
Greg, the run leader for the day, led us off for our first inner fuel stop at the Watermark Café in Wauchope. We were able to observe firsthand the extent of the massive roadworks along Oxley Highway on the way into Wauchope. The Watermark Café lived up to its reputation for fine food as the photographs on the MX-5 Mid North Coast Facebook page show. Some members were wondering how it was going to be possible to even fit in lunch. Fortified with good food and talk we left for the trip up to the Comboyne Plateau. Greg passed over the duties of ride leader to Cathy and Wayne so that they could see how their suspension modifications worked on the windy road up the plateau. Before we could turn off and enjoy the road up the mountains we had to navigate another amount of massive roadworks on the other side of Wauchope. After crawling along admiring the countryside and the big roadworks toys we came to the wanted turn off where we could open up the cars to the posted limit. Quite a swift trip along the valley floor until we came to the pass up the mountains. Where of course there were roadworks and Stop/Go people!
Fortunately, the roadworks were confined to the lower parts of the climb and soon we were able to enjoy the very tight corners that make up the road into Comboyne. Care has to be taken with this road as many of the corners have suspension testing bumps in the road surface and one has come to expect the odd rockfall with attendant debris along the road. We quickly found that an essential piece of kit for the climb was the heater control as the temperature dropped remarkably on the way up. In a very short time we reached our destination The Udder Cow Café at Comboyne.
A warm welcome awaited us at tables out of the wind where we could see magnificent citrus trees and glimpses of the vibrant countryside. The food was excellent and some of us regretted an overindulgence at the morning tea spot. In fact, it was generally agreed that the large pies served were some of the best tasting around. We lingered over lunch whilst planning future runs as the sunshine was warming and there was a reluctance to go out to face the cold!
Eventually we said our farewells which seemed to take as long as lunch and with some extra photographs we departed, some for the immediate thrill of going downhill through the corners, with the cars considerably heavier after lunch than before, and others to explore part of the plateau before heading home.
All in all a most enjoyable mid-week run ably led by our run leaders Greg and Wayne and organised by the club’s Convenor Graham.
Text: John Hansen
Photos: Graham Rochester
