21st December Sydney Cruise wrap up

Wrapup and Pics

Little bit of a recap.

The cruise started for me at about 2:00 fitting an OEM and fan and clutch to Arthur's car. It had been plagued by overheating issues at previous events and it was hoped that the switch from 16" thermo to an aftermarket fan clutch and second hand fan might just do the job. Even without a shroud and lower engine covers he made it through without any probs, so while it's not "finished" I'd certainly call it a short term success.

Anyways UNX, shineyzx, Mandy, mholt and I met at Berowra, and picked up LittleRedZx, AAU54U and Buckets on the way through to Casula.

We got off to a good start with shineyzx in the lead (and doing an awesome job keeping us off any police radars) and Mandy keeping a close eye on things





UNX seemed to enjoy pushing his car on the highway without it overheating for the first time ever



Unfortunately it wasn't all smooth sailing with a missed exit meaning we didn't get to the Casula meet until 5:45 (as opposed to 5:00 to leave at 5:30). Mholt had to take off back towards Newcastle at this point, so we left KFC with Nick89, Zedmd and nick300zxtt joining the group, UNX waiting for us further down the route (having gone in search of fuel) and AAU54U in the lead.

Quick pic of the crew leaving Casula



Somehow we took the long way around once again, eventually meeting UNX and LittleRedZx again on Appin Rd.

Appin Rd itself was freaking awesome with a few of us enjoying a "spirited" jaunt through the countryside. Definitely one of the most enjoyable roads I have driven on.

Eventually pulled off into Wollongong to meet ZOE NZX300 at Flagstaff lighthouse. This was a great location to meet, although with all the delays were running about an hour behind schedule and Joe had to take off shortly after.

A couple of quick pics from the lighthouse







Unforunately at this stage it became apparent that we'd lost a couple...

shineyzx and Mandy had missed the turn off to Wollongong but managed to join us a little while later



LittleRedZx had been cutoff in traffic but managed to find us at the lighthouse.

I have no idea what happened to Bucket?

Anyways a couple more pics,

Zedmd's cyborg that managed to stick it to some of the "bigger" cars



and the lighthouse



After much debate we decided to leave the cars at the lighthouse and walk into town for dinner in Wollongong. It was a shame not to get to drive Macquarie Pass but all the delays had well and truly taken their toll on our schedule, and quite possibly morale.

Nick89 and his two mates (commodore and R32) said their goodbyes and took off towards Sydney, the rest of us walked into town and eventually settled on a quick Thai meal. As luck would have it we were bucketed with rain heading back to the cars so made some very hurried goodbyes. Big thanks to nick300zxtt for navigating out of Wollongong and back to the Hume.

All in all it was good to catch up with everyone and to meet mholt, and the drive down from Narellan Rd into Wollongong was awesome. That said I'm aware that things did not go smoothly for all. If you have any suggestions about how to improve the next one please drop me a line via PM, I'd love to hear them.

 

Ha maybe the "didn't work" one (mine) only appeared that way due to no batteries in the other?

 

Hi, as I mentioned in the PM yesterday thanks for the frank and honest feedback, it is certainly appreciated.

It seems a few tweaks are needed for upcoming events, including making sure all members have a hard copy of the route before we depart (so as you can still get from point A to point B in the event that we are separated), and also making sure that all members are contactable prior to departing the first meeting point.

From the front of the pack I didn't realise that you, Ben, Mandy and Chris were missing in action until I pulled in at Wollongong. While I had kept in touch with Ben and Chris fairly regularly throughout the day I didn't have your contact number and it quickly became clear that nobody else did. That's an oversight on my part and I'm happy to wear the blame for that one.

As far as missing Robbo -we got into Wollongong a fair bit later than expected, and by the time Chris, Ben and Mandy arrived at the lighthouse we were no hope of getting to the inn before the kitchen closed. I knew you were MIA but it didn't occur to me that you might have skipped the Wollongong stop altogether and after hanging around for an hour or more waiting for various stragglers I assumed you must have been split up and turned for home. Given the circumstances I don't think I made a bad call in that regard, but I'm genuinely sorry that you copped the shit end of it.

Most of our problems could have been solved with better communication, and that's something I'll endeavor to improve on for the next one.

I'll also take advantage of living with a designer/printer and have Tahli print off a few maps that I can hand out before we leave.

I do want to stress a little bit of driver responsibility too -there are certainly things that I can and will do better next time in my "leader" capacity, but I also make a point of publishing itineraries and maps, and drawing attention to any updates etc both in the coming events thread and in the facebook group/facebook event so as to keep everyone informed prior to the occasion, and did my best to account for everyone at the designated meeting/stopping points. It's not easy co-ordinating with people at three different meeting points (I won't be doing that again) finding fuel for someone else while running late to Casula, coordinating with the various people calling/texting to say they're running late, remapping after missed turns, keeping an eye on what's coming up (I hadn't driven that route either but did a make a point of bringing a map with me) and making sure I keep track of the four to six cars immediately in my rear view mirror for the duration of the cruise. I did cut loose a little down Appin Road but was mindful of keeping the cars immediately behind my in my mirror, and assumed that others would be doing the same. I don't mind doing all of the above, in fact I LOVE it, but it's not easy and in this instance being stretched a little thin lead to an unacceptable result for you.

Anyway end of the day there are lots of things I/we can improve on next time, and I do genuinely we hope that we can drag you out again for the next run. It would be good to catch up more and have a look over that car some time as planned.