December Day Run
Story and photos by Cris Johansen.
John Barram did a great job of organising our final Sunday run for our unprecedented 2020, and it turned out to be a super and hot event.
With about 15 Lotus arriving at Esk for a coffee or breakfast before heading off at 10am it was not at all surprising that we were not joined by any cubbies, early Elans or S1 Elises as it was simply way too hot for a car without decent air-conditioning.
It was great to see some of the Club members who have only recently joined the ranks of Lotus ownership and everyone had the chance to get to meet and get to know some new folk.
We headed off after coffee on one of the great pieces of road going south west from Esk toward Crows Nest and for the first 25km or so were caught up in a convoy of semi trailers and / or grey nomads, so were a bit frustrated to miss out on some great Lotus roads. However we turned off and went across past Lake Perseverance and over to the New England Highway and this provided an opportunity for us to stretch our legs and enjoy a few moments of traffic free driving.
The group managed to get split up due to a couple of missed turns however arrived to a warm reception at The Barn and Scotty’s Garage at Upper Flagstone just before noon.
The venue is a treasure trove of old motoring memorabilia and for the older members of the group brought back memories of our earlier days of motoring in the county. Despite the venue having lost all internet connection and thus being unable to make use of eftpos we all managed to purchase lunch and a lovely cold drink before succumbing to the heat and making our way home.
We saw 44 degrees at one point driving through Gatton and were thinking of Andrew and Bridie in their S2 Exige that was suffering alternator troubles so drove home sans air-con! Fortunately they arrived and avoided the need to wait by the road in the heat be collected by the RACQ.
For the fortunate owners of cool Lotus cars it was a great way to avoid the heat, see some great back roads in and around the Lockyer Valley, catch up with old friends and make some new ones. Thanks John for putting the day together.
