An occasional contribution from our SA correspondent, recapping our South Australian friends’ recent run, with words and pictures by Andrew Stevens.
September Run
Our September run coincides with Father’s Day, and lots of family commitments. Unexpectedly, a few people turned up to the meeting point but were not coming on the run. Most people are keen on an easy run, so that those with lunch organized could get back home in time.
David Giles had his orange Europa present, complaining of a flat spot after changing jets, while Ian and Dave Peters met up for Father’s Day and were negotiating whether Ian was going to buy his Dad a coffee or not. It was also good to see Lee Rolph and her partner Judith along, sadly sans Elise due to a dodgy knee (Lee not the Elise).
The rest of us decided that a gentle tootle up the Angas Valley to Macclesfield was in order. Steve Clark decided to take the freeway route to Macclesfield in his Volvo estate, re-joining the Macclesfield road just ahead of the pack of Lotus. Bloody Volvo drivers!
The small pack included Andrew & Sheana in their Europa, Wayne and Carol in the S1 Elise, Aurie and his wife in the Evora, Jim and Elspeth Dover in the twin cam Europa, David and Michael Hopper in David’s 240 Cup Exige, John Carter in his yellow S1, and Tony Heard and me in my S2 Elise.
The weather was great, although a little overcast and cool for those with their roofs removed. The Angas Valley is an ideal drive, with open windy roads well suited to the Lotus handling and fast enough to be enjoyed while staying legal. Once we’d cleared the horse float and the cyclists, we were able to enjoy the road running past the Mylor Market, through Echunga, Flaxley and on to Macclesfield.
Unfortunately, the eclectic Café in the Old Garage at Macclesfield has closed down, meaning that parking out front of the old garage was a breeze. The good news, however, was that the old General Store, just across the road, has been taken over by a group of local women, fantastically refurbished and redecorated and is serving excellent meals, snacks and most importantly for us, coffee. Score one for Macclesfield. We divvied up across two large tables for delicious morning teas (or breakfast), with discussions ranging from F1 qualifying to some scary recent work health and safety incidents.
As many people had family events scheduled, we pulled up stumps early, and everyone headed off to their respective destinations. As Tony and I motored back down onto the Adelaide Plains, the sun made a welcome appearance, and justified our decision to leave the roof off.
SA Lotus owners meet up at the back of the Sikh Centre carpark at the bottom end of the SE Freeway on the first Sunday of the month.
Happy motoring,
Andrew Stevens