Maleny, Woodford, Dayboro

Story by Steve Lennox. Photos by Justin and Samantha Goosen.

This great run, held on the 23rd February all in the wet, was the first of the year. Kindly hosted and run by Justin and Samantha Goosen, returning to the Club after a short time with a Porsche.

We started at the Old Fernvale Bakery Café, travelled through some very green and lush countryside past Wivenhoe dam through Kilcoy to the Maple 3 Café in Maleny for morning tea. Then onto Woodford to the Pitstop Café for lunch. These are some of our best touring roads within easy reach of Brisbane and always a rewarding drive.

The rains have really changed the scenery around South East Queensland and everything is looking sub-tropical again (as it should); seems the summer rains were a bit late this year. It was overcast and drizzling most of the run, with a couple of solid showers on the way making for some very delicate throttle applications in the Europa S (no traction control here… we spin off the road like real men).

We had a great turnout with 24 members turning up in 13 cars, with a great selection of waterproof Lotus (all modern). The nice surprise was Gary Wren and his newly acquired red Europa S, it’s a great looking car in that colour. We had quite a few new members on their first run with the club, these being: Patrick Zimmerman (Red Elise), Cossette Woolley (Elise 250 Bathurst Edition), Alan & Gerry Kenn (Smart 2 4 as the Elite wipers weren’t working), as well as Gary Wren. I trust you all enjoyed the drive, your car and the company of other club members.

These touring/day run events are always well attended and enjoyed by members, so keep in touch via the website and our calendar, Facebook and monthly meetings to hear about the next run.

I find that I meet members that I haven’t seen in a while at these events and it is always an opportunity to catch up and keep the friendships going. In fact, I bumped into Alister Rees (a founding member) as I was leaving the Pitstop Café. He was coincidently enjoying the back roads and lunch with a friend.

We are always looking for members to share their favourite driving roads, so please volunteer to organise one of these great events.