Cobra Nationals 2018

Cobra Nationals 2018

Christmas Party Dec. 2020 Kooralbyn Valley Resort

Christmas Party 2020 at Kooralbyn Valley Resort

What a Scorcher! The weekend started off hot and kept getting hotter.  In fact it was so hot that the planned extended run had to be cancelled,  About a dozen of us met up at in Beaudesert at the old historic museum.  We had about 8 Cobras and a number of hard tops including Ronnie’s rather nice little red Porker. Paul noticed a rather severe knock / rattle develop in  his Pace 427 Cobra as he neared the Beaudesert meeting place.  After taking a good look at the suspension and all its joints, nothing loose could be found.  But just as Paul was closing up the boot he noticed the latch that holds it closed had come loose, so loose in fact that once he touched it, the whole mechanism came off. 

It turned out to be a simple fix, two M4 nuts had worked loose, the catch was reattached and the nuts attached and tightened – problem fixed.  Well almost.   
Paul, is not the luckiest guy in the world and when he went to start the car, the battery in the immobiliser had decided to pick that exact moment to give up.  Another couple minutes spent changing the  battery.  All fixed.

The bulk of us  drove the shortest route to the resort whilst a couple of others decided to have early lunch in Beaudesert or fill up with fuel first.  Arrival check  in was smooth if not a little slow, but it was nice to be in the air conditioned lobby.

After checking in and dumping gear off at the rooms a number of us took the walk to the tavern.  We learned that the Kooralbyn colloquial ‘Just over there at the end of the  building’ actually means a 10 minute walk across fields dodging  multiple wallabies and iguanas in sauna like temperatures with no shade.  Still, I suppose if you’re using Kooralbyn to Beaudesert as a reference point, just over there it is.

The first couple of coldies slipped down a treat, as did more that followed, however, I do need to work on my accent,  I asked for a Corona and asked what was on tap, the poor girl staring blankly at the fridge replied, only what we have in here, gesturing to the fridge.  I tried again, “what do you have on draft?”  same response.  I changed tack, and pointed at the beer taps and said, what do you have in those?  That worked.

As more members arrived we slotted more tables together until we had almost half the tables in the room joined in to a single row. The drinks and the chat flowed with equal enjoyment until it was time to go and ready ourselves for the main event.

As we sauntered back across the heat soaked fields from ‘just over there’  we noticed that the kind ladies at the resort had decided to give us an extra hour of drinks and nibbles time.  Originally we had been offered the kangaroo – Buggy tour, but due to a golf booking of 120 golfers, they took all the buggies!  so the resorts events coordinator, Crystal gave us an upgraded drinks and nibbles package and took it upon herself to start it an hour earlier at 5pm, which was an excellent idea as there was already a number of members congregating.

The nibbles consisted of a couple of very large platters of hot finger food and a really well stocked cheese platter, and they served beer and wine, Ball Realty shouted a few bottles of bubbles for girls as well as paying for the band.  The club tipped in $400 bucks towards the bar, which meant we had an open bar right up until 10pm.

We took our seats for dinner at about 7pm ish with the band welcoming us with a little number that they use to do a sound check.  The band couldn’t have picked better songs to play.  They really hit the spot for the demographic they were playing for, they were all brilliant and very talented.

They brought out our starters, a beautiful Morton bay bug, Scallops, Oysters and a king prawn on a bed of salad garnish, fresh, succulent and full of flavour.

The band played as we tucked in and we had a photo slideshow projected on to the big screen behind them.  Over a thousand photographs taken over the last 18 months of breakfast meetups and the 2018 Cooma Car run.  It was fun trying to eat and watch the screen to see when your car came up.

 

Dinner was a selection of various meats, one I’m told was Pork, that looked like Turkey and tasted like chicken and various vegetables, all of which were cooked perfectly (in my humble opinion).

The band played on and the wine and the beer flowed and I had to endure lots of comments: “did I dress myself” and “why are you wearing your Christmas pyjamas?” , I’m not sure what was going on with that.

By the time dessert was served the band had won the hearts of pretty much everyone in the room and soon after the dance floor started to fill.  We have a couple of good dancers in the club, you know who you are!

The band played its last song at about 10.15pm and I got dragged up for a slow dance, as did many of the men folk. We hate it externally, but if we were to be honest we all wished our better halves would do it sooner and not take our feeble excuses as real.  

Don’t tell anyone, but I actually adore my woman more than these words could ever convey.

Lake View Mountain Run

Lakeview Restaurant - Clear View Mountain 8th Nov 2020

We had a great day today and managed to avoid getting rained on.   The skys looked like they were going to drop bucket loads, but, no, they didn’t, phew!

We met up at the Loganholme Maccas at a leisurely 10.30 am with ample time to grab a coffee before setting off up the highway to the Shell Servo at Nudgee where we Met up with Grant Young in the second Cobra.

The run up to Lakeview was a nice easy drive, although I think we had every red light between Nudgee and the Restaurant!

After we parked up at the Restaurant we all had the customary chit chat and I must say, the 56 Corvette is just absolutely stunning!  a real credit to the painstaking amount of work that’s gone in to restoring it. The photos really do not do it justice.

Once up in the restaurant the view outside was well worth the wait.  Even with the overcast sky it still looked good.  If you;re looking to for destination then this place is worth a visit.

Broadwater Parklands to Tambourine Picnic run

Picnic Run Bradwater to Tamborine

What a great morning! Thanks to all that came along. We met up at the Parklands Cafe car park. The first lady was ready early this morning, so we arrived ahead of schedule with only Helen and Trevor there already.
Whilst we waited for the others to arrive we moseid over to the cafe for some starter fuel (Coffee).
 
At departure time we only had 5 out of the 10 cars that booked, with 3 cancellations and 2 no shows.
We left the parkland and made our way down the Smith Street motorway on to the M1 towards Brisbane. We turned off at J57 and headed towards tamborine.
We went straight on at the John Muntz bridge towards Canungra before going on to Lower Beechmont.
 
We were lucky with the traffic and had a great run. The roads are all in good condition and we were able to stay together as a group.
 
Some of the views as you go up and over the hills are amazing, especially on days like today when its clear sky’s, you can see all the way to the horizon.
There were a few other clubs out on the roads and it’s nice to get the friendly waves from the bike and car clubs as we pass in opposite directions. We saw a few classic mustangs and a gaggle of yank tanks, a Harley club and several sports bike clubs.
 
On one of the twisty bits there was a rather quick super motad bike coming the other way, engine on full chat hitting the rev limiter and hanging off the bike as he manhandled it round the bend. It looked and sounded impressive, but maybe behaviour better suited to the race track where you don’t have cars coming the other way, or huge drop off’s if you miss the corner.
 
With the recent rain, the fields and wooded areas are vibrant shades of green, which, a one point along the trip, we saw a heard of goats happily munching on the lush grass next to the road, near an open gate! Slowly past them, we rumbled, but they didn’t even look up, too busy enjoying a naughty feed before they got rounded up and ushered back in to their paddock.
 
At another Junction, waiting for a gap in the traffic so we could pull out ad a single group, an older couple pulled up behind us on a Harley, “what are they? She asks loudly to her beau, “Cobras !, AC Cobras, not real ones though, they’re about half a mill, they’re plastic copies with V8’s, they’re ok though” he replied. They pulled out just behind us, but a small squirt of the right pedal left them in a cloud of fuel vapours. Their two wheeled tractor no match match for a bit of plastic…
 
As we rolled through North Tambourine we had the usual waves and people taking photos that the Cobras always attract, Tina heard one father say to his son, “wow, look at that red one” which goes to show you can have an infinitely better built, newer and higher quality cobra and still the uninitiated judge you on colour and chose the oldest, slowest and cheapest one over yours just because its red!
 
We arrived to an empty car park, and an empty seating area, so we set up under the lovely cover and enjoyed our cut lunches, some of us brought wine and beers, while others brought their very smick espresso maker.
 
After a good old chin wag and nosh up, we packed up said our good byes and headed our different ways.
A fabulous morning run!

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