The run this time was in the reverse direction to the Wisemans run we did at the end of last year with the MX5 forum, and there were a few differences in the route.
The route this time was as follows:
- Start at Rofe Park in Hornsby Heights
- Turn left out of the car park onto Galston Rd and head toward Hornsby
- Turn left onto the Pacific Hwy, heading North
- Follow the Pacific Hwy through Asquith, Mt Colah, Mt Kuringai and Berowra
- Follow the road onto the Freeway (not the Old Pacific Hwy) headed for Newcastle
- Take the Calga Interchange exit onto Peats Ridge Rd (Exit for Peats Ridge and Mangrove Mountain - this is just before the Mooney Mooney Bridge)
- Follow Peats Ridge Rd for a while
- Turn left onto George Downes Dr headed for Mangrove Mountain
- Turn left onto Wisemans Ferry Rd at Central Mangrove
- Follow Wisemans Ferry Rd through to the ferry. You can stop and Spencer for a bite to eat if so desired (this was our morning tea stop, there are toilets there if needed)
- Cross the ferry into Wisemans Ferry. Once you are off the ferry, this is Old Northern Rd
- Turn right onto River Rd (before heading up the hill out of the town, also near the Police station)
- Follow River Rd for a while passing through Leets Vale
- Turn Sharp left at Cliftonville Rd and follow to the end
- Turn right onto Wisemans Ferry Rd (different to the previous Wisemans Ferry Rd)
- Turn right onto O'Briens Rd headed toward the Riverside Oaks Golf Course
- Turn left into the Riverside Oaks. This is the lunch stop and the end of the run.
Here is a map of the route, for those who are more visual people.
It was a beautiful day. Great weather and lots of cars (about 30). Lunch at the Riverside Oaks was rather nice too. Our convoy of 30 odd cars was stopped at Berowra just before joining the freeway for random breath testing (before 10am). Obviously they couldn't test us all in the limited space they had set aside, so most got waved through and waited down the road for the others to be breath tested. Just a small disruption to the mornings drive.
Spencer, which is the "Hub of the Universe" according to the signs that are there (see link to wikipedia :-P ), is a nice place to stop. It is right on the river. There is not much there, only a general store and some toilets.
As I said in my last post about the Wisemans run, Wisemans Ferry Rd between Mangrove Mountain and Wisemans Ferry is quite rough and bumpy, and there is a section where part of the road is closed for work and there are traffic lights to allow cars to pass.
River Rd is a lovely drive although it is a very narrow and twisty road with many narrow, blind corners. This can prove to be a bit dangerous at times with oncoming traffic. Thankfully each of the times I have driven the road, it has been fairly quiet, and I've only ever seen just a few cars.... until Sunday that is.... there were heaps of cars on Sunday. There must have been another club driving that road on the same day. We came across many old American cars coming in the opposite direction.
The run ended at the Riverside Oaks Golf Course for lunch. We went into the bistro for our meal, which was pre-ordered at the start of the run to allow the bristro to be prepared for an onslaught of people coming in for lunch. I had the beer battered fish and chips. It was rather nice, but similar to all the other places around that do beer battered fish and chips. Other options included hamburgers, chicken burgers and steak sandwiches, which all looked nice when they came out.
On leaving the golf club, I took a few nice back roads on the way back home. I'll post these in a separate post soon.
It was a great day of driving. Great roads, great scenery, and great people. It was good to finally get on another club run, I will have to make sure I go to more in the future.
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