Catching up with our South Australian friends with thanks to Andrew Stevens // Father’s Day Gathering at Beaumont Rd

The South Australian group gets together on the first Sunday of each month, which means that every year our September get together coincides with Father’s Day. This often presents challenges, with cafés in the Adelaide Hills being booked up for family activities. 2025 saw a solid turnout at the Beaumont Rd meeting spot and by 9:00 am we had 10 cars lined up ready to roll. The weather was fine, but the bureau had predicted showers, so roofs on was the majority verdict.

After introducing the new arrivals to the old hands, we decided that coffee and morning tea at Cellars Patisserie in Stirling was a good option, being close enough to town for those with lunch appointments. With Andrew in the lead, the snake of Lotus left the Adelaide Parklands and headed up into the hills, taking some of the magnificent hill’s roads through Heathfield, Longwood, and the swooping drive from Bradbury towards Mylor, before heading back up the snaking Onkaparinga Valley road to Aldgate and our destination.

After commandeering the long table, we were careful to avoid discussion of Monza qualifying (some were yet to watch the replay), so the easier subjects were home renovations, demolitions, how quick a 430 Cup Exige goes at The Bend, the temptations of LotusWeek in October, and the latest car additions amongst the clan. As always, it was a challenge to select from the fantastic range of food on offer, so while some had brunch, others chose treats to accompany their coffee.

By the time we left, the sun had control of the sky and it was time to remove the roof for the drive home.

David Hopper tries out the track extension at Collingrove: Courtesy Andrew Stevens

A couple of weeks earlier, David Hopper and Andrew Stevens had been helping out moving tyre bundles for the track extension at Collingrove Hillclimb. David managed to sneak in a couple of exploratory tours of the new surface that Andrew captured in this suitably grainy spy pic.

Our next get together is October 5th at our usual spot off Beaumont Rd in the East Parklands.  We meet up by 9:00am.