On Saturday 22 May Fred and I had a very good run to Pakenham, thanks to the East Link Freeway, and arrived on time at 9.00am, not bad considering we slept in! When Ron and Laraine arrived and it was time for a coffee and a chat. 

From there we started our journey on back roads to Maffra   It was very foggy in the morning and cleared to an absolutely perfect day.   

 

After leaving Pakenham our first stop was Nar Nar Goon to look at the fantastic wall murals on the fire station, garage and several other buildings. Laraine spotted an Op Shop and disappeared!  After about an hour we pressed on to Tynong, Garfield with the railway line on our left.  Suddenly there was an almighty roar and we wondered what it was so I checked the rear vision mirrors, but it was a freight train having the cheek to pass our A30.  The landscape is beautiful along this stretch of road and on we went to Longwarry, Drouin to Warragul where we stopped to stretch our legs.  Warragul is a regional centre for dairying and supplies most of Melbourne’s daily milk.

 

We drove on to Yarragon and stopped at the Saturday Market.  The quality, quantity and variety of the local produce, art and craft was fantastic.   We bumped into Brian and Pauline who were travelling to Sale to visit Pauline’s aunt and uncle.   We had some pumpkin soup and locally made organic rye bread for lunch before moving on. Then onto Moe and to Yallourn North where we drove past the gigantic cooling towers of the power station.  We followed the fence line of the open cut mine and through the vegetation caught glimpses of the huge open cut brown coal mine. The power stations in the valley are very dominating.    We followed the C105 road from Tyers, Glengarry where we stopped for afternoon tea. Then on through Toongabbie, Cowwarr, Heyfield, Tinamba and Maffra on the Macalister River.

 

This is a beautiful scenic route. We had a continuous backdrop of the Australian Alps as we drove through the Central Gippsland Plains.  This is one of the richest dairying districts in Australia with rich fertile prime pasture lands irrigated from the Glenmaggie and Cowwarr Weirs. 

 

As we arrived at the Maffra Motel we met Les Warburton, club member from Foster, who joined us for the weekend, and Pauline and Brian arrived. 

In the evening we went to the Tinamba Hotel which Pauline discovered following extensive and exhaustive research on the Internet. The Tinamba Hotel now features a fantastic restaurant with an excellent reputation for great food and atmosphere. The meal, the decor and the staff’s friendliness were excellent.  Our small group had a great dinner, lively conversation and told stories of our trips abroad and around Australia.  A30 stories abounded of course!

On Sunday we departed the Motel and went to the Maffra Motor Museum.  We put our three cars on display and then proceeded inside.  The collection of cars and motorbikes was outstanding. XK120 Jaguar, Mk IV Jaguar, straight eight Packhards, a Cord, numerous motor bikes, memorabilia and even an old garage set back in time complete with a sleeping mechanic under the display car! (I kicked his feet and he didn’t move).  The photos only tell part of the story.  We spent about three enjoyable hours looking at the exhibits and consuming the free tea, coffee and biscuits.

 

The museum is totally staffed by volunteers from surrounding car clubs.  They are a great bunch of people and deserve to do well.  The museum is housed in an old WW2 fruit drying shed which is an excellent venue for vehicle display with high timber beams and plenty of natural light.  The displays are regularly changed and virtually all the cars are on loan on three month rotation.  Everybody interested in cars should visit this museum.  As we were all approximately the same young we had great delight in remembering the gear on display in the garage (I can even remember using some of it).

 

Following the museum visit we had lunch in the Working Men’s Club in Maffra and then proceeded through Briagalong, Cowarr, Heyfield along pleasant back roads finally viewing the old open cut coal mine at Yallourn North.

Summing up: the weekend was terrific shared with fellow club members having a good time.

 

Annette Brauneis       Brian Brooks