A coolish winter day of 15 degrees greeted the 23 people and 12 Corvettes, 9 - C3s & 3- C4s, which commenced at 10 am. The majority met at Prices Bakery at Hillcrest where we had our own special room organised with plenty to eat and keep up our calorie count for the morning. The run progressed along Grand Junction Road through Highercombe, Paracombe then the George Rd to Lobethal and Mt Torrens where we met Karen & Rob McConnell. As we had plenty of time to spare we detoured from the original tour plan and headed onto Birdwood where we met up with Karen and Dave Nischke. It is a great time of the year to take in the green of the hills and paddocks as we headed via Willianstown and Lyndock for the Barossa valley stopping at Kellermeister Wines for a taste and home supply top up for others.
Up to Tanunda then through the back roads, where we had to correct our navigation skills, that is “u” turns a couple of times, to ensure we were on the correct road to Collingrove. Upon arrival Christeen and Neil Bailey called in for a brief visit to say high to us all but did not stay for lunch. Before lunch we were given a brief history of the 1856 Collingrove Homestead residence which was established by the Angus family who had vast pasture holdings around the state. Then we were allowed to wander through the house and see and read more of the history preserved by the National Trust since 1976. To top it off the group had their photo taken in the parlour of this beautiful old house.
Lunch followed consisting of BBQ meat with salads followed by sweets tea and coffee. This was served in their Summer House with chandeliers a feature and lots of country fresh air which would have been quite suitable for summer but on the cool side for July with most wrapping themselves around their warm coffee/tea cups trying to keep that bit warmer. At around 3pm people started departing and making their own way home. Those who attended this run commented that for future event organisers the success of a run could be gauged in the number of “U” turns needed as we may have set a benchmark of at least three for this one. Thank you all
