Aaaaaaawesome vids, my friends!

 

Get to the back of the line.

Me and my boys have first dibs at it.

 

A big THANK YOU to all the organisers. It was a brilliant day of cruising and thanks for making the weather perfect. It was nice to get together with like vehicled people and to meet the faces behind the usernames. A great bunch of people to spend a Saturday with.

My friends from the UK had a great time too and were surprised that they were going down to PI in a convoy and in style.

Check out my pickies.

 

After lunch, there was a dude checking out our line up.

 

Hi everyone.

No time to surf the forum this morning - I'm due on a boat in 30 mins - but I had to drop in and say a big thank you to all the Mexicans for making Len and I so welcome at your cruise on Saturday.

Especial thanks to Kall, Andrew, Taka and any other organisers; Stu and Danielle for putting us up on Friday night; and of course Len for helping me get the car down and back and keeping me amused with tall tales and true.

I'll drop by tomorrow for a proper look through the piccies, etc.

 

They'll probably have their driving licences by the time I've finished with it!

 

yeah right.....
i have heard that with other make/model clubs before and it will never happen

 

We'll wait thanks.

 

Looks like all had a great time.

Sorry i had pull out last minute. I was annoyed about it driving down to meet you in the morning, I was more annoyed pulling up and seing all the 8s lined up and ready to go and now I am farking pissed off after seeing the pix.

Mrs Jormatom had her eyes tested and spent most of the day walking around the house like a blind bat bumping into things. Missed the cruise, but earnt some much needed brownie points at home.

Dave and Len, good to see you got home safe and sound.

Cheers

Greg

 

oh... how sweet....

 

Why did I know that you would be the first to comment?

 

Oops

 

For my video... no one comment about the end bit.

Listen carefully - turn the audio up. It has been cut so it is not what she actually said.

It sounded very silly.

 

great meetup guys nice pics and video i love end of the video

 

I stopped looking after I clicked past 2,200kms and also lost count of the number of fuel stops.

 

Great pics, etc peeps. Love the vids Kall and Taka.

Way too hard to remember everything that went on but here's a thumbnail sketch of lots of driving!

Left home at 5.30am on Friday morning still trying to wake up. I ended up washing the R/mobile the arvo before so naturally it was raining when I left.

Had the fastest run into and out of the city in history (I know where ALL the cameras are ) and got to Len's place by 6ish. Then the long run down the Hume. I drove to Goulburn where I had the only Macca's of the trip for brekky (just about a world record for any road trip in Oz methinks). Len then did the stint to Holbrook (that's one damn big submarine!).

I was back behind the wheel for the last stint to Melbourne but we stopped in Albury for more petrol (this became a recurring theme - the mileage ****'s would have had a field day).

Crossed the border into Mexico and all the stories of zero tolerance for speeding had me instantly doing 10-12kms less than in NSW. Vic is noticeably drier than NSW and the countryside became browner and more routine. Lots of smoke up around Wangaratta still and by this time we just wanted to be there.

What is it with large ugly things on the side of the road coming into Melbourne? Wonky walls and blue poles. WTF?

Pulled into Stu's place shortly after 3pm to see him about to wash Tubby. I was cactus by this time so put my head down for an hour. Awoke to witness the chamois still wet from the wash Len and Stu gave to the R/mobile. What great guys huh? lol

Dinner down at Docklands with Stu and Danielle. Stu made damn sure his steak was dead. Those familiar with Cockle Bay in Sydney would recognise Docklands and I now know exactly where Eric and Kall shoot their cars to get that city lighting backdrop.

Up bright and early the next morning. A magical mystery tour behind Tubby to the meetup point. More zigging and zagging than a Pacman convention and I simply cannot believe Stu does that 10 times a week! I'd be nuts by now. Hmm, hang on a moment... lol

Quite a few cars there already when we turned up and great to see some old faces from the last two Nats and meet some more Vics. The organisation of the run was top notch and I was making a few mental notes for Sydney cruises.

Arrived PI, parked the cars, met up with Julia and Bruce (that's one dead sexy Alfa btw ) and of course talked more crap for a while. Lunch was fabulous, looking out over the water with good company and good food. KK's seemed to be a big hit and my personalised 'Revolver' cap will be making more appearances (thanks Kall ). I ensured Will will always have a spare pair of sunnies (looking at his car with the naked eye is too dangerous) and even found some with yellow lenses. All you need now is some yellow contacts Will.

We dropped into the circuit for a look and saw some bikes going around. Unfortunately, the tourist gougers have taken over the joint and even the viewing platform had a fee ( ) so most of us went after a quick look around the over-priced gift shop.

Pretty average drive back into Melbourne and I'll never hear a Vic criticising Sydney traffic again. WTF? Does every Mexican get in their cars on sunday afternoon or what?

Quick coffee stop with the inner core near Kall's place and then it was sayonara to all the great people who made us feel so welcome during our short visit.

Len and I decided we couldn't face another 8-9 hours behind the wheel the next day, so we made plans to drive back to Wangaratta that evening. Stopped by Winton in fading light to have a quick look and then found some digs for the night in '****'. Sure slept well. lol

Dropped into Milawa next morning for some cheese from the cheese factory (well worth it) and then it was back in the saddle.

I ended up driving to Goulburn with just the one fuel stop north of Albury and finally saw a highway patrol car. I think our count was two for the whole trip. Visible policing - not! Len then took over for the trip to his place. The final hop home was a bit surreal. Had to force myself to acknowledge fatigue and abstain from the usual Sydney cut and thrust. Never has the car been driven so conservatively over the roads I know so well. lol

Was glad to pull into the driveway and even gladder to be swimming with the mini-terrorists 5 mins later.

If anyone's still awake, thanks again for a great excuse to stretch the car's legs a little. It went like a dream and the new suspension was fine over a long distance. Not a ride problem at all. Other than a few extra stone chips ( ), the car returned home as good as when it left (albeit with 50 million bugs on it ).

Looking forward to the Tassie trip next year. However, I think 'er indoors and I might fly down and hire something in Launceston!!!

 

Damn mate that must have taken as long to type as it did to drive down.

Happy to hear us Mexicans were able to put on an enjoyable event to make all that driving worthwhile!

 

Actually, the drive down and back wasn't that hard. Certainly sharing it out made the whole thing much easier and we had quite a few laughs along the way. It helps when you're with someone who can do sarcasm as well as you do! At times it was drier in the car than the farmland outside it.

Thanks again for giving us a bed for the night Stu. Very kind of Danielle and yourself.

 

Well what can I say. We had a ball meeting you all. We were blown away by how many cars and people came down as well as what a great bunch you all are!! We really enjoyed meeting you and finding out about your cars. Saw some nice mods that I will have to invest in!

Kall, thanks for everything, putting this all together and making it such a great day. The choice of eatery was superb and the company even better!

Thank you to my anonymous KK, your attention to detail with the box and the RX8 pictures etc. on it was fantastic. I am closely guarding the chocolate from Bruce! He knows it's all mine! Love the key rings and have changed the normal boring ones for the house and the shed to my lovely new ones. A great reminder of the day.

We got some good shots but nothing to rival the ones already posted! Some good cameras there! The videos are great, I have sent the link to my Dad for him to watch, he'll get a kick out of them too!

Well the (sexy Alfa, thanks Dave for such a flattering tag) barrelled around Philip Island all day, with the two of us thrashing it's guts out. The interesting part is I was only 2 sec slower than Bruce, he tells me cause he wasn't really trying but we have it on video. More crunched gears on his laps and some very shiny teeth in that there gearbox!! My best time 2.06 something, his 2.04 something!!!! There was a timing aberation that awarded me a 1.56.0 but that is not right, however a guy in a 350z said I should claim it. I smiled ruefully and pointed to the remainder of my times which were all around the 2.06 mark and said politely no....I went quick enough for my liking! Funny when you are caning the car we got better fuel and oil economy than on the road! We only got told off once for racing type moves but the other guys loved it! One guy was amazed that after 6 laps of full on dicing he found he was being rounded up by a girl and that was only the practice. It was on like Donky Kong every time we went out after that!

Drive home was tedious and hot...car went well cause we took the back roads and had a fang...better economy the faster we went! Left Philip Island at 8am and got to Sorrento to have a break and got the ferry at 10am, then got home last night just before 9pm with something about to give way in the drive train of the car....we got an ominous...clunk clunk as the wheels went round which got louder......poor car it needs a break we did over 2,000kms in 4 days and then the competition kms....we did about 45 laps of the track at full tilt!!!

Was glad to get back in the 8 this morning.. no fumes, air con and lovely seats....and no noise!

Will post some video of our laps FY interest when I get the right software and a fire wire cable.

Congratulations to the new committee and well done. We look forward to becoming SA members of Oz renesis and proudly putting the sticker on the car!!

Once again it was lovely to meet you all and put names to faces, Dave lovely to catch up and introduce you to Bruce, your car looks great got some picks of your wheels they look great.

Cheers guys.

Julia and Bruce

 

Glad to see you had a blast and such a pleasure to meet you at last. Bruce looks more handsome than I imagine (nice catch) .

I so want to watch you go around. Home duty bounded.

Looking forward to your vid Will learn a thing or 2.

 

Hey thanks Taka!! I will get the vid organised this weekend....it's a good watch.....although my line through turn 2 leaves a lot to be desired!! Too much speed in = poor line with lots of fun!!

It's such a good circuit. Am sad to be at home in front of PC with 12 months wait before the next one!

 

Not that there is anything wrong with Taka lusting after Bruce , however do you think we should tell his wife