VIC Werribee RAAF Cruise - 24/11/13

Hi guys/gals,

Firstly I would like to thank Adam for organising this cruise last minute & it is very much appreciated by everybody that attended today for sure.

I was first home so hence why I'm stating the thread lol

There was 11 zeds plus Mike's MX5, so a very good turnout considering it was organised last minute due to the GOR cruise being postponed. Everybody that didn't come due to weather or due to the GOR cruise sure did miss out.

Was very good to see a lot of old faces & some new faces aswell. Hope everybody enjoyed the cruise & had a good drive & time with us fellow zedders.

We definitely need to do more cruises in VIC.

I'm sure Adam, Robbo & the others will put up pics soon.

Thanks again Adam

Abraham

 

Yes thank you Adam for that... The morning was very misty and miserable but once we got talking about the Z's it suddenly didnt matter. The Day cleared up however around 11am so most of the day was pretty decent.

Great to catch up with you all again!

 

Great to see everyone again. I had a great day and really enjoyed cruising in the zed again. Id like to say thank you to everyone who came today and i know to see u all at the next cruise which too hope is soon.

Ill post up photps as soon as i can. Not at home right now so could take some time as i took quite a few today.

 

great day out, weather came good in the arvo and made all the difference. was pretty miserable in the morning.

good to catch up with everyone, see you all next cruise. the red zed will be back by then!

 

Pick of the day!




Martin's skateboard under Mikey's MX5 bahaha WHAT THA!?

 

Sorry about that Mike skateboard mishap aside, I really enjoyed taking the MX-5 for a spin! It really is like a go-kart, feels really solid and so much fun

Great catching up with everyone, thanks Adam for organising! Looking forward to the pics

 

Thanks Adam! Made good of what would have otherwise been a miserable day!
I had a realization on the way home, that vic doesn't end up with many cruises because of the turnouts we get. It is disappointing, even though G.O.R was postponed plans hadn't changed much, same meet place, and the backup plans were stated last night, so those who were going to attend G.O.R really didn't have an excuse..
Anyway will upload some pics later!
Robbo

 

True story! What happend to the rest? I mean unless they still went to the BP meet up... You'd think someone would check the forum?

My "Big Loop" series will continue...ill have to wait and see what happens with the GOR cruise and organise it most likely after it. It's also going to have to be based on my situation... I might be moving back to Shepparton for work. It'll still happen, just maybe a different "Big Loop" to keep it fresh

 

Was great to see some faces I know and meet some new ones Thanks everyone who came and Adam for organising.
Correction: 12 cars total I believe. 11 + MX5 + Martin's late entrance

 

Yeah Ditto.. Thanks Adam.

That RAAF Museum was awesome, and it was nice to cruise, chat and laugh with old friends and some new ones too....
PICCCCIIIEEES PLEASE EVERYONE!!! lol:zlove:

 

Plenty of guys with better cameras than my weak phone so I'll leave the zed photos to them.

Some pics from the museum below:

 

Piccies

Crappy phone pic, will upload the others tomorrow!

 

Here are a couple of my choice pics, since Adam hasn't had the time to upload his yet:

Started out pretty grim. To top it off, my wipers got tangled on the way in. Had to handle city streets with very little vision. Thankfully some ZXperts came to the rescue once we met up with the guys...




And the trip home, back down Eastlink. The weather actually got really sunny for a while, I picked up quite the sunburn.


Keen Holden fans (I'm not one of those, to be sure) will note that this is an incredibly rare W427, with a factory 7l V8!



In other news: Robbo! That U-turn we did in the morning was right outside Holden's headquarters! I had no idea until I spied the one-and-only 2000 Sandman concept sitting on the showroom floor. Very unexpected

 

Sry guys will post tomorrow. 200+ photos takes time to orgsnise and upload. Great photos so far.

 

Today I set out to organise a little cruise for all of the Z members still keen on going on a Z cruise after the annual Great Ocean Road cruise was cancelled because of the bad weather conditions we have had the last few days which could have increased the risk for a member to have an accident on the wet and slippery GOR roads we would have driving on today. So my plan was to take a small group of Zs up to a few of the historical buildings in my local area including places like the Werribee Mansion and then drive up to Point Cook RAAF military base for the group to check out an aviation Museum. Finally we would make our way to Williamstown where we would end up at another historical building called a Bell Tower which ships use to use to navigate into the Melbourne habour back in the 1900's.

When I arrived at Todd Rd service station there were quite a few Z's already parked in the car park of KFC. After parking my Z I was immediately greeted by Cam and the other Z members joining the cruise. It was so good to be amongest Z owners again and I was hopefully the group would enjoy the cruise I had set out for us today. Because there was no rush to head off we all spent a few hours chatting amongest each other while we waited to see how many more member would turn out to join in the cruise. By the time we were ready to leave we had a group of 11 Z's and 1 Madza MX-5, which I was very pleased with before we headed off, I gathered all of the owners for a quick cruise route summery and safety briefing.

























Before we left a couple of vintage Indian motorcycles were also parked at the shell service station. Thought some of you vintage bike members might enjoy these shots.





Our first stop would be Werribee Mansion which is a large historical estate located in Weeribee South. I figured the old mansion would be perfect for some Z photography for all the Z members to enjoy. Unfortunately unknown to me a massive public event was on when we arrived at the entrance to the estate and a long queue of cars filled the road and the entrance into the estate. I took a risk and proceeded to take the group into the estate, Unfortunately we were all directed into the events temporary car park which was into a large grassy field which was still damp and muddy from the wet weather Melbourne has been experiencing for the last few days. I felt terrible, all of these beautiful clean Z's will be now covered in grass and mud and it was all my fault. It didn't get any better as the public event made it impossible for us to get anywhere near the mansion and so it was quickly decided as a group to ditch the mansion and head to the next stop on the cruise. The Shadow Fax Winery.









The Shadowfax Winery was only a minute down the road from the mansion and it was a last minute addition to the cruise which my dad suggested would be a good spot to have lunch and test some exotic wines. Unfortunately because I hadn't booked anything with the winery, they were unable to accommodate us for lunch but we decided to have a little break in the wineries outdoor sitting area and chat for a bit.



















After leaving Shadowfax, I took the group through some twisty rural roads and then cruised along the coast line before headed towards point cook where we had all decided to have lunch first before going to the RAAF museum. As I didn't know point cook very well, I turned into the first MacDonld's I saw and next thing I know all of these Z's had evaded the car park.













When everyone was full from lunch, we headed to the point cook RAAF base. Once we passed the bases front gates it was a short drive to the Museum and because we are special we all parked in the museums staff parking and there were just enough spots to fit everyone one in. The sun was out and everyone was really excited to see the museum but luckily for us when we arrived at the museum, a special flight display was being presented on the main tarmac next to the museum and everyone quickly dashed over to watch the display.



























The plane performed a series of basic aerial maneuvers before landing and returning the aircraft back to the tarmac and park right in front of the public audience watching the display.



























With the flight display now finished we all headed into one of the 4 museum hangers where a restoration of a world War II De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito 2 seater bomber was being displayed throughout the hanger.









After leaving the restoration hanger, Martini_Z had just arrived in the museum's car park, making him the 12th Z attending today's cruise. I decided to take a few random shots of some of the display aircraft and of course of a couple of the sexy Z's all parked together.





















The Museum exhibit was definitely the highlight of the day for me but I also think everyone in the group also felt the same way. The museum showcased a complete record of Australia's aviation history and all of the displays in the museum showed visitors the various generations of technology that has been developed for the aviation industry over the last 100 years. Also on displays were various kinds of personnel uniform's and wartime photos with information plaques to help visitors learn about the tools and equipment the RAAF personnel used to operate aircraft throughout Australia's aviation history.













































This was a particular favorite among most of the members on today's cruise. This display showed a cutaway aircraft engine which when activate would operate the spinning of the internals of the engine and you can see the huge pistons moving back and forth to show visitor's how the engine works. From member this engine puts out 800 KW of torque.



As the group walked further into the museum, we came into the more modern designed aircraft era, where a Mirage fighter jet and was on display and then next to that was an amazing display of aircraft mounted machine guns with the most impressive being the massive harrier Jet jet gatling gun, which according to the info plaque, could fire 6,000 rounds a minute.









































This is a huge surface to air missile



Got gauges



We exited the main museum hanger and made our way to the first aircraft display hanger which showcases various kinds of prop planes and a few different kinds of helicopters.













And lastly the final hanger showcase the modern day super sonic fighter jets used by the Australian Airforce over the years. The F1-11 was the most impressive aircraft on my list and they also had the various bombs and missiles carried by the F1-11 on display as well.





















After leaving the final hanger we spotted this old and decommission surface to air missile defence turret. Wouldn't want this thing chasing you.



By now everyone had their fill of the museum and I thought it was time we get some scenic shots of each members Z's infront of the C-130 Hercules on display near the car park.

This is my attempt at photography for today and I hope everyone likes the end result.



















































































































To finish off we did a group shot of everyone infront of the Hercules. The guys took great care to try and arrange the Z's by colour.





























We were planning to continue to Williamstown but we all decided to finish today's cruise on a high and so we all said goodbye and part ways. I thoroughly enjoyed today's cruise and has inspired me to do another cruise like this again next year and hopefully make an annual cruise of it. Thank you guys for being so forgiving to me and It was my pleasure to take you out for a day cruising in our Z's.​

 

Great pics Adam!! Cannot wait for you to put up your build thread so everybody can see & appreacite all the hard work you put into it.

Martin i love the pic with you & your zed!!!

Abraham

 

Nice write up my friend! It was a good do out with friends and Z's on short notice :zlove: well done

 

Fantastic pics Adam - we got the whole package, photos AND organising the cruise!