Wyangala Wandering
12 March 2020 / Words and pictures by Rod Nicholas
Monday 9 March 2020
‘We have to get up early’ I said to my Navigator (aka Mrs Run Leader). ‘The Run leader has to be there to welcome everybody.’
Up before the crack of dawn.* Mad scramble to gulp down coffee.** Rush to get to the meet point before anyone else.*** Arrive moments before the first car. Chat amiably for a few minutes and watch, out of the corner of my eye, as car after car after car rolls up.
It was an imposing sight—twenty MX-5s of various hues all standing ready to run.**** And in the middle … a non-descript Toyota Something-or-other. The driver quickly realised he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and scurried away with his wishy-washy grey Whatever.
At the appointed time we made a break for it. Have you ever tried to get a convoy of twenty cars to head off together? Don’t bother, it is impossible. Regardless, we all made it on to the Barton Highway and headed off to Boorowa for a coffee/tea/whatever break. By the time we reached the Lachlan Valley Way we were all pretty much together and marvelled at how green the countryside looked after the recent rains. Interrupted only by a lone car that leap-frogged along our long line, only to turn off unexpectedly just before Boorowa, it was a nice drive.
From Boorowa to Cowra for lunch was a short and peaceful trip. At least, it was peaceful for me out in front of everybody (which is a bonus for the run leader). The folks at the Rose Garden Coffee House in Cowra did a fantastic job feeding us all. No one went away hungry, especially those game souls who ordered the ‘Bad Boy Burger’ (it was bigger than my head!).*****
The short blat from Cowra to Wyangala Dam was a hoot. It’s a great bit of road and from my recollection we had it to ourselves. The sight of a kilometre and half of MX-5s must be a treat for anyone with a heart.
Wyangala Dam is not quite the lake it used to be. At only 12.8% full, it is looking somewhat forlorn, and there was no sign of the water-sports activity that features in many of the photos on the ‘net. Still, it is an impressive sight—the original (1935) mass concrete gravity dam of 58.8 metres is dwarfed by the newer (1971) rock-fill embankment dam that reaches a further 23.5 metres, complete with a road bridge over the spillway (now closed to the public, unfortunately). Wyangala Dam’s storage capacity of 1,217,000 megalitres is more than twice the volume of Sydney Harbour, and at its best covers 54 square kilometres—it wasn’t quite so impressive when we visited. (The original dam wall can only be seen when the water level falls below 30 percent.) The catchment is 8,300 square km, but the recent rains certainly haven’t flooded the place.
After an extended photo shoot, we headed back to Boorowa along the Frogmore Road. It was a very nice drive, with generally sound road surface (the roadworks at Frogmore were recent, and decidedly unexpected), and the culverts that appeared along the way made for an interesting stomach lurch. This may have been the best leg of the run (there’s a mixed metaphor or pun or something cleverish in there)—a charming country road, almost no traffic for 70 kilometres bar MX-5s, an ideal top-down day … oh yeah!
It was homeward bound from Boorowa following the same route we used to get there, although a few took the opportunity to recaffeinate.
The outcome? A 400-kilometre trip, fantastic weather, good open roads, good tucker, great company. A thoroughly successful day out, and a whole lotta fun.*****
(PS If you haven’t put your hand up to lead a run, I urge you to give it a go. The organisational aspects are not onerous, and the opportunity to be at the pointy end of a convoy is well worth the effort. And twenty cars! OMG!)
Rod Nicholas (Apprentice Run Leader, and loving it!)
* It wasn’t that early (Navigator)
** You always rush your coffee (Navigator)
*** Don’t fib. You had plenty of time (Navigator)
**** Soul red NDs are taking over - there were six or seven of them in this group (RN)
***** And you have got a big head (Navigator)
****** Yep (Navigator)
