Lotus Club Queensland
Dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Lotus experience
Login
Register
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Membership
    • Member Login
  • Events
    • Calendar
  • Motorsport
    • Lakeside DTC Timed Laps
    • LAKESIDE DTC RESULTS
  • Magazine
  • For Sale
    • Merchandise
    • Classifieds
  • Posts
  • Galleries
  • Directory
    • Suppliers & Parts
    • Advertisers
  • Archives
Lotus display in the street

Jumpers, Jazz & Jalopies

Story by Vyvyan Black, photos by Gloria Wade. Additional photos by Vyvyan & Curtis Black.


“Was that a rabbit or a small wallaby?” I said.
“Huh?” he replied absently.
“The roadkill just then.”
“Dunno,” he admitted, “I was looking at the cows.”

This was a typical conversation in our newly acquired Elan Plus 2 as we skimmed our way, both conversationally and automotively towards Warwick, in Queensland’s Southern Darling Downs, for an annual festival of frivolity they call “Jumpers & Jazz”.

I say ‘skimmed’ because that’s how it feels in the Elan. It burbles and hums along fast roads superbly, with a confident air and a sure-footed, solid presence. Quieter than my previous two-seater Elan and certainly more luxurious with its spacious (for a Lotus) interior, multiple dials, superb woodgrain finish and, omg… air vents!

Back to the cows though. My son, Curtis has suddenly begun to like all things farming due to his very recent time ‘woofing’ in Norway. Woofing, or ‘working on an organic farm’ gave him an appreciation for good, honest work and the natural way of life.

“Some nice land out this way,” I said.

And there was. As well as beautiful weather, and some very nice driving, on our slightly odd long weekend away. He’s not what you’d call a talkative type, my son, but lovely company just the same. And there was more great company up ahead, as we pulled into the meeting point at Peak Crossing.

The company:
Peter & Norma Upham – Elise S2
Clive & Gloria Wade – Elise S1
Craig & Carolyn Wilson – Elan
Collin & Robyn McKay – Elan
Vyvyan & Curtis Black – Elan+2
Martin O’Brien & Suzanne de Kleyn – Elise S3 Supercharged (joined us on Saturday night)
Adrian & Joan Bulcock – BMW M3
Trevor & Cathy – Range Rover Sport
Steve Lennox & Maryanne – Europa S

After a bit of a natter we pulled out for the next leg – a short meander taking in lunch at Flavours Cafe in Boonah before we ventured on to more interesting country, which involved stumbling over numerous cattle grids and causeways on the way up the mountains, eventually arriving at the Spring Creek Mountain Cafe for some coffee and fabulous views. Then before you knew it we were in Warwick.

Not normally known for its jazz, this eccentric little town was in the beginnings of a 10 day influx of crazy guerrilla knitting – where telegraph poles and street signs become entwined with wool and fabulous folk art and almost every bar, club and nook hosted someone blasting out “Aint Misbehavin’” or some-such.

In fairness the jazz was pretty good in most instances, especially when we had dinner at Joie de Vivre, a wonderful little French joint where the host, Deeny Kohler-Caporale, is also the chanteuse, aided and abetted by a delightful trio. It was here Craig Wilson was honoured for his newly acquired status of official old person. Not sure I’ll be celebrating that day! Anyway that was quite fun with Craig’s sparkling beanie and bottle of rum, and we happily toasted the great day.

This was in stark contrast to the night before when, after making camp at Yve Stocks’s Pitstop Lodge, we’d walked to the Stockyard Hotel down the road for a classic old country pub dinner. My wife, Karen, is quite the foodie and I don’t think she would have approved of the hearty rissoles, sausages or mixed grill washed down with a VB (short for Vyvyan Black) but at least it was great value for money! After this we toddled up to the Warwick RSL Club for some jazz and our first taste of incongruity. Another great day!

Earlier, on the Saturday morning we had been treated to a slap-up breakfast prepared for us by Yve and Chris on the Pitstop’s generous back deck. Afterwards, some took a side trip to Stanthorpe while the rest of us wandered around town, stopping to drink coffee and gawk at the woollen creations, mostly ending up at the Art Gallery or immersing ourselves in some live jazz. My niece happened to be with one of the Qld Conservatorium jazz groups ‘The Con Artists’ and that gave Curtis the opportunity to talk to someone his own age for a while.

After Joie de Vivre he and I poked into the Criterion Hotel where we met some locals and listened to some definitely not jazz. That night could be a whole new story!

Early Sunday we parked our cars for the main street auto display and, after a simple breakfast, wandered among the various makes and models for some ooh-ahhing and pontification. There were vintage motorcycles, Model Ts, MGs V8s, Americana and Italian supercars. Yve and partner Chris had two great cars on show – her lovely red Cobra and his very fast-looking Lola track car.

I could spend all day looking at machines like this but alas we needed to move on. We drove back to the Pitstop to get our things and say our goodbyes. What a lovely weekend!

What I haven’t really talked about here is the thing that really makes an event like this so good… I don’t mean the great cars, the music or even the food. I mean the company of some wonderful people. Thank you all, for being part of this excellent club!

woolly-tree
Main street car display
Robyn-Norma-Carolyn-Gloria
vintage-harley
vintage-royal-enfield-and-sidecar
Vintage car display
Strolling entertainers, Memphis Movers
Saturday breakfast with Norma, Steve & Mary-Anne
Lotus display in the street
model-t-hotrod
see-that-cow
admiring-old-things
Friday drivers\'s briefing
farm-life
Dressed tree in the main street
Dinner jazz band
Lotuses in the main street
The three drips
Sunday breakfast at the Belle Vue Cafe
worked-fj-holden

[Show slideshow]
1 2 3 ►
HRCC Winter Noosa Hillclimb 2016 Meeting at ZCars

Related Posts

mp-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Morgan Park Sprints R4

gold-rush-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022

leyburn-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Leyburn 2022

Random images

IMG_7024 9-Resting-on-the-mountain 3-MItch-Clive-Martin.jpg The-Recliners MG_8961 IMG_0023 IMG_3903 121_2193_IMG IMG_4410 Vyvyans-Elan-2 IMG_6943 IMG_6819 IMG_6797 IMG_6742 image_176 image_091 IMG_7405 14e elises-2 IMG_6188 unnamed-2 Daryl-had-a-blinder-of-a-day-smashing-his-PB Type-79 20180916_072319 Tow truck Garage-3 Mt-Cotton-Hillclimb-Sep17-04 P1020868 20170422_190514 Mark A and Martin Sunday breakfast at the Belle Vue Cafe Simon with Peter One good belting 20160522_103515 Ormiston-9 ICC Trophy - 2015 LCQ 3462 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0087 Through-the-wide-open-countryside- Mountain-Cafe-at-OReillys main-1a Lotus_leads_field_David IMG_4860 P1010432 P1010430 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0113 IMG_2608 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0051 IMG_0222_1 P1060098 Ploughman's Lunch Ploughman's Lunch Allan Saunderson and Cortina img_1093 img_1050 main-28 P1020798 P8310114 IMG_3903 IMG_3936 Club_Lotus_Dec_08_028 IMG_1340 P1020731 BDR_on_the_prowl IMG_0918 P1060544 DSC03862 0070 P9190091c1 IMG_0029 Jan-main-25 Fire-in-the-Sky Packed and Ready LCQ Hillclimb Team 2000-crowd-scene-spot-the-young-Murphys DSC_4135 IMG_8843 Jon IMG_1816 img_2028 DSC_4130 geoffs new splitter _MG_9582 as Smart Object-1 Col and Greg Catching up Evan-ready-to-run View-from-Blair-Athol-1 Heading-for-Mt-Mee-gw Aussie Elises decal Peter-Drane-tries-the-English-Wheel-by-Craig-Wilson Dick and Dick img_2018 Parked at Qld Transport Museum 1 IMG_6153 on the deck IMG_6165 170730 SMM Dyno Chart tin-sign-2 Cool cats rat-rod Jason and Zaid

Recent Articles

  • Morgan Park Sprints R4
  • Kev’s Big Day Out
  • Duratec Elise – better late than never
  • Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022
  • Marburg Pub Run – 4 Sept 2022
  • Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane
  • Leyburn 2022
  • August 2022 DTC

Latest Gallery Images

20220220_093834 20220220_093818 20220220_093827 20220220_093743 20220220_093812 20220220_093730

Search articles by category

Archived articles

Lotus Club Queensland
© Lotus Club Queensland   |   Site by Black Eye Studios