Words and pictures by Daniel.
In the rush to get out and see more of Melbourne after being locked up for so long, we had another Drive and Takeaway on 4 December.
This time we met in Glen Iris and took a scenic route to Yarra Bend Park. Being closer to Christmas and two days before our Christmas picnic, it was a more intimate gathering than previous Friday night drive’s, with six cars carrying eight members and four friends along for the drive. Another two members and two friends joining just for dinner.
The benefit of a smaller group was that we got to talk to each other more and have a proper catch up both at the start line, and at the park at the end.
We took the Monash to Burnley, then headed the scenic route along Yarra Boulevard. We did the full route of Yarra Boulevard from the Monash Freeway to Chandler Highway, interrupted by a small section of suburban back streets of Kew.
Yarra Boulevard is a wonderful drive, with amazing scenery so close to central Melbourne. There’s also some amazing views of the city through clearings, one of the most in demand locations for viewing of New Years Eve Fireworks.
For me it was also the first trip in my latest acquisition, a 1993 Toyota Camry Vienta Ultima, formerly owned by Motafrenz member Matthew Gough. It was the top of the range Toyota sedan in 1993 after the Cressida was discontinued that same year. It was much roomier than my Alto to carry three adults around, and the air conditioner is far more effective.
As we exited Yarra Boulevard onto Chandler Highway we started following an Aston Martin DB5 (or maybe a DB7). The driver was also going to High Street Fairfield for dinner so a few member took the opportunity for a chat.
We all collected our dinner from a range of take-aways, with kebabs, fish and chips (hipster fish and chips, with sweet potato potato cakes, and unpeeled chips), and pizza and made our way to Yarra Park to join Marcus and David who’d headed straight there for dinner. Being a smaller group, we all got to have a good chat while eating and catch up on the relatively uneventful happenings of most of our lives during 2020.
After dinner Gordon got to sample a couple of other members cars for a loop around the loop road. Firstly, he drove Marcus’s Morris Minor, the least powerful car there. This was followed by Chris’s supercharged VF V8 Commodore SS, easily the most powerful car there. Unfortunately, there was no interest in driving a 1993 Toyota Camry Vienta Ultima around the loop. ☹
The Friday night Drive and Take Away’s have been a great event to catch up with other members after lockdown. They work with five or fifty people, and don’t take much organising.
The events team are keen to see more of them happening in 2021, so if you know of a nice location to drive to, or a nice driving route in Melbourne, the committee would be really happy to support you to run one.
