MINI COOPER REGISTER AUSTRALIA Inc

OUR FIRST RUN – SUNDAY OCTOBER 28, 2007

With our newly furnished Club receipts in hand, we commenced out first run as the Mini Cooper Register Australia.

Under blazing and humid skies of 32 deg C, we assembled at our northern Brisbane Meeting point and were attended by the Register President John Heselwood, Secretary Tony Formosa with wife Kath, Treasurer Bob Ward, member Brian Hey and picked up Ray and Judy Retchless along the Motorway as we continued our run northbound along the Steve Irwin

( Croc Hunter) Way, past the Glasshouse Mountains named by the intrepid English Captain James Cook as they resembled the glasshouses in his native land, and then upwards via some lovely Mini bends and slopes until we fetched up at our smoko (English breakfast) stop on top of the Range at Peachester.

The topic of conversation was the new Cooper Register of which this was the first founding run, so in a way a little bit of history created by some very dedicated Mini Members, the other topics being how the cars handled the corners, and of course the temperature gauges doing their work by indicating above normal on such a warm day.

To gauge the standard and dedication of Members of our new Club, you only have to look closely at their cars, and of the 5 cars which attended the day, all were indicative of a high quality and rare combination of the Mini Cooper variety, bearing in mind, the Australian Cooper S’s were quite different to the UK variety, thus making them a collector’s item in their own right.

Cars in attendance were Tony Formosa’s Lake Green and white Mark 1, John Heselwood’s pristine white Mk 1, Ray Retchless’s Castrol Green and white Mk 1, Brian Hey’s Indigo Blue and white Mk 2 to Bob Ward’s Police Special Mk2 Jet Red and white model just out of refurb, but unfortunately the first stage of this run saw him wear a smashed laminated windscreen from the ministrations of an "over the border" four wheel drive.

The run continued after smoko and we then climbed higher to the Maleny Plateau where at all times views were reminiscent of a weekend drive in the Old Country where each turn rewarded us with a peaceful country scene or gripping mountain and sea views.

Maleny is a little arty crafty town set in the hills behind the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, just a comfortable 2 hours drive from Brisbane. Lovely breezes and a country ambience pervaded this little gem – the tourist destination from Brisbane on these rather hot Spring days – did I say Spring? What has happened to the weather!

With lots of staring and finger pointing, we fetched up at the Maleny Pub to park, then strolled the township to view all the wares and items of art and craft on display, repairing to the Pub at lunch for a nice cold ale and a lovely lunch of barramundi or lamb roast. A good chin wag followed then mount up time again and a short cut off the beaten track as we descended back to the lowlands and home, via some lovely Mini roads with little traffic.

Unfortunately Ray had a jammed throttle on one of the scarier bends and managed to ride the brakes and bring his beast to a stop in a lay by under beautiful jacaranda tress where the cover shot was taken. John managed to spong his finger with the throttle return spring with Bob applying first aid before gangrene set in.

Up and away we went again and then joined the hordes on the lowlands to fetch our way home to the end of a very pleasant trip with fellow enthusiasts. This is what we feel our new Club will be renowned for – the sharing of the Mini experience in comfortable driving environments with like minded enthusiasts. That’s what makes Clubs great and we look forward to another run and an informal get together in the future.

Bob Ward