INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE CLUB THE COMMITTEE JOIN OUR CLUB MOTORSPORT MOTORSPORT PROFICIENCY CONCESSIONAL LICENSING TECHNICAL MERCHANDISE MX-PRESS CLUB HISTORY IMAGE GALLERY VIDEO GALLERY CLUB DOCUMENTS LIFE MEMBERS MAZDA DEALERS NEWS ARCHIVE EVENT ARCHIVE EVENT FEEDBACK CONTACT US

PAST EVENT

Sunday 24th of July 2011 - Country Cruise The Five Valley Dash

A Sunday Drive for people who love to take their Five for a long spirited Drive through the Collie, Ferguson, Preston, Blackwood and Capel Valleys and have a opportunity to spend some time on roads further afield.

The plan is for you make your own way down to the start in Pinjarra some 83 km south of Perth. From Pinjarra the 400 km drive along secondary roads takes us into the forests of the Geographe Bay hinterland, farmland, hills, vines, National Parks, State Forests and of course that magic bit of twisting blacktop along the Blackwood River… We end 135 km south of Perth at the Old Coast Road Brewery and Café.

All in all you are looking at a total distance of some 605 km, a bit more if you hail from the northern suburbs and a bit less if you are a southerner.

Please note that this is not a relaxed tour of the region with long lunches and coffee breaks; it is about the drive and the roads. This spirited drive may challenge a single driver, or it will be a bit more laidback (but no less fun) for two. It won’t be a navigation exercise; the instructions are straight forward.

We meet at the Dôme Café in the Coles Pinjarra Junction Shopping Centre from 8:30 am onwards if you want to have brekkie at the Dôme, or a bit later if you are having yours beforehand. To get there take the Kwinana Freeway heading south, take the Pinjarra exit and when you get to Pinjarra turn left at the T-Junction with South Western Highway; after 200 m turn left into James Street; the Dôme will be on your left.

The briefing is at 9:20 am sharp in the Coles Pinjarra Junction Shopping Centre Carpark near the Dôme Café and at 9:30 am you will be asked to "start your engines"

Lunch will be at the Kirup Tavern www.kiruptavern.com.au; view the menu here.

Please start with a full tank in Pinjarra (the Liberty 53 Mile Roadhouse at 31 South Western Highway has 98 RON). We refuel in Donnybrook 318 km into the run after the start in Pinjarra; the BP has BP Ultimate 98 and the Gull and Liberty service stations sell PULP. But you can get fuel along the way beforehand in Balingup, Nannup (the BP has Ultimate 98) and Kirup if you can’t make the 318 km range from Pinjarra.

The 152 km first leg of the drive sees us heading east for a loop through the Lane Poole Conservation Reserve before we turn east to explore the area around the Wellington Dam and the Collie and Ferguson River Valleys ending with a regroup at the Preston Valley Store in Lowden for a stretch / driver change.

The 137 km second leg takes us from Lowden to Kirup for lunch. We start by driving through the Wilga State Forrest to Balingup before driving to Nannup along the 41 km of winding, bending, twisting bitumen that follows the Balingup Brook and the Blackwood River past farmland, bushland, and pine plantations. Signs warning of bends are random and don’t indicate the severity of bends even when they do exist and if they put one sign on every bend they would run out of signs! We finish the leg with a less twisty 43 km drive through the Mullalyup State Forrest to Kirup for Lunch.

After lunch the 98 km third leg from Kirup starts with the undulating and picturesque 28 km drive through the hills, grazing land and orchards of the Capel Valley to Donnybrook were we refuel before the last 70 km from Donnybrook takes us back to the coast along Leschenault Inlet to the Old Coast Road Brewery and Café in Myalup www.ocrb.com.au.

We should get there around 3 – 3:30 pm to reflect on the days drive and share some stories over one of their award winning beers or a Simmo’s Ice Cream before you make your own way back home.

Please RSVP to events@mx5club.com.au before 18 July so we can arrange the lunch booking at the Kirup Tavern and know who should be at the meeting point before we depart.