The 18th National Tour of the Australian Chapter was held in Milawa in Victoria from 23rd to 28thSeptember 2012. There was a good attendance of members from all States most of whom came in eligible motorcars. They came from as far as Perth in Western Australia and there was also an entrant from Tasmania.
Milawa is in the centre of the King Valley wine producing region in North Eastern Victoria and it is renowned as Victoria’s North Eastern Gourmet Region. Apart from the dozens of famous name wineries in the area there are numerous towns featuring outstanding restaurants and cafes and the programme was arranged to take in the best of some of these.
Sixty five participants stayed in the spacious Lindenwarrah Resort in Milawa where we enjoyed good hospitality and comfortable accommodation. The Welcoming Cocktail Party on Sunday evening followed by a delicious BBQ gave members the chance to renew acquaintances with others from distant places. All States were represented.
Twenty eight proper motor cars were on the Tour with eight Silver Ghosts, four PIs, one PII, nine 20s, four 20/25s and two 25/30. The furthest travelled was Charles and Diana Bush from Perth, WA. The motoring events each day were planned to incorporate a range of conditions from gentle undulating country with a few steep climbs in the nearby Australian Alps to challenge the 20 hp owners and excite the Silver Ghost drivers. Other drives included long straight roads typical of the riverland region.
The region also features some historic towns such as Glenrowan and the old gold mining town of Beechwoth which featured in the life of one of Australia’s infamous bushrangers – Ned Kelly. We also visited King Valley, Yackandandah, Chiltern, Rutherglen and Corawa. On the free day many drove to Bright for lunch and the more adventuresome took the steep winding road to the summit of Mount Buffalo, the highest peak in the area.
There was the usual looking under bonnets and car swapping. There was an unscheduled slow-race which was won by Richard Burke, a new member who had recently acquired a pretty little Martin & King bodied two door coupe originally bought new by his father. There was also a written Quiz with some 30 Rolls-Royce related questions which was keenly contested by several well informed members but narrowly won by David Forward from Adelaide.
Dinners were held at a variety of nearby venues. Monday was at the Milawa Goumet Hotel, Tuesday we dined at the King River Café, Wednesday evening was spent in the Epicurean Room at Brown Brothers Winery and Thursday we had a gala dinner at Lindenwarrah. All of the venues proudly upheld the reputation of the area as, Victoria’s Gourmet Region.
At the Annual General Meeting on Thursday Rory Poland stepped down after five years as Australian Chapter Chairman and was succeeded by David Vann from Brisbane. Peter Crauford became Vice Chairman while David Davis and Bruce Humphries remained Secretary and Treasurer respectively. David Berthon continues as Newsletter Editor and Rory Poland and Peter Jordan-Hill were appointed to the Committee. Presentations were made to the retiring Chairman, Rory Poland, and also to Nanette and Gilbert Ralph who assisted Rory in planning the Tour.
Gilbert M Ralph
