Mid-year Magical Monsoonal Mystery Tour

26 July 2020 / Words by Ian Leyton-Grant, photos by Rod Nicholas

Saturday 11 July 2020

The morning in in Canberra dawned cold and overcast but that didn’t deter the participants who had signed up for the run. There were sixteen eager members in seven MX-5s and one CX-30 (MX-5 in the workshop) assembled in the carpark in front of Russell Offices in Canberra.

At the allotted time the cars were dispatched at two-minute intervals. The passengers were handed a run sheet upon leaving, containing detailed directions to the destination and, importantly, a series of questions to be answered from their observations along the way.

As might be expected the rain started shortly after the last car left the carpark and continued for the remainder of run. While the organisers headed directly to the destination the other eight cars meandered (albeit rather quickly) through the inner and outer suburbs of Canberra and then through some very rural parts to the destination, the picnic ground below the Cotter Dam. Around sixty kilometres and an average of one and a half hours driving later the cars arrived individually and minutes apart.

As the cars arrived the run sheets were handed in and the responses to the questions checked. There emerged a clear winning team, Rod and Maryanne Nicholas in their CX-30. Obviously, a better choice for an observation run in the rain than an MX-5 with the roof up.

All the participants then enjoyed a somewhat damp, but nevertheless agreeable lunch in the picnic ground gazebo, which offered some shelter from the persistent rain.

Despite the cold and rain an enjoyable time was had by all amid great company.