[ Riley Elf - Lucie Mabel ]

Elfin adventures

Picnic at Hanging Rock

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This annual show put on by the Macedon Ranges & District Motor Club, takes place in the shadow of the beautiful Ngannelong, or Hanging Rock in the Mt Macedon region of central Victoria. This the 31st iteration of the annual show and took place on February 11th in 2018.

There were close to 2000 cars lined up around the race course and an absolute feast for the vehicle loving eyes. It’s not a long drive from Melbourne and absolutely worth the visit.

Of course not without drama, Lucie overheated as we left the venue, and thankfully, a quick call to club members following behind me elicited a couple of bottles of water to get us home. New thermostat and housing later… we’re back in business…

BMC Grand Day Out and the end of 2017

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Austin, Morris, Riley, Leyland, MG, Austin-Healey, and Wolsley are all brands associated with the British Motor Coporation and a show of all BMC vehicles is enough to tickle any Classic British Car fancier, such as myself. It doesn’t hurt that the show is local and is free to exhibit in and/or attend.

The Grand Day out Lucie and I attended in 2016 was my first show… and as it’s in December, the last one to attend in 2017. I’ve learned a fair bit in that year. I’ve learned that I love Brits over Americans, I’ve learned the differences between NZ assembled Riley Elves, and the UK ones, I’ve met a bunch of great people, and had heaps of fun bringing Lucie into a state where she’s (mostly) reliable, and where I can feel confident ditching the old Starlet in favour of keeping just one car on the road.

Here are a few pics from this year’s Grand Day Out, LOADS of minis, and THREE Riley Elves on show.

Federation Square

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So… two icons, Minis, and Federation Square, Melbourne – a great central venue and a space to totally show off our beautiful vehicles. It’s too bad that the Flinders St Station was covered while it’s been repainted… but all the same it was a fun day with the smiles on the faces of the people walking among the cars being the highlight.

Monbulk Car Show 2017

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One of the lovely things about getting out and about with Lucie is the chances it has afforded me to visit places I wouldn’t normally have gone… I’ll have visitors come to town, or have some time free of a weekend and I can ping a friend and suggest a road trip to the Yarra Valley, or Mt Macedon, or Daylesford, each of which I did one time or another in 2017. One of the other nice things is finding small towns that love old cars, and Monbulk is one such town.

Every year, in the autumn, Monbulk hosts a car show to raise funds for the local Country Fire Authority (CFA) and other charities and there was an epic turn out. The Victorian Mini club sets up every year in front of the Police Station, brings donuts to the cops (who are we to balk at a stereotype) and this year took out the cup for the best display! Lucie got to sit for the first time with another of her kind, a Mk 2 (the green one) and there was a spectacular array of cars to view.