Beckoning Beacon

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="045005a0dwnjzk.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MG MIDGET ABP 102"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>MG MIDGET ABP 102</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="1968_mg_midget_mkiii_restoration.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Making the Midget Mobile"><U><B>Making the Midget Mobile</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="mg_midget_images.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABP 102s Beach Photos"><U><B>ABP 102's Beach Photos</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="racetrack.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="At the racetrack"><U><B>At the racetrack</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="spridgets_and_stars.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spridget Odyssey 2002"><U><B>Spridget Odyssey 2002</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="midget_and_healey_wedding.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Healey in the Midget"><U><B>Healey in the Midget</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Beckoning Beacon</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="how_fast.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How fast?"><U><B>How fast?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="mudgee_spridget_drive.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Slurp and Burp Run"><U><B>Slurp and Burp Run</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="spridgets_on_the_move_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Midgets and Sprites on the move"><U><B>Midgets and Sprites on the move</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="austin_a35_at_goodwood.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Austin Powered"><U><B>Austin Powered</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="sprite_run_to_tasmania.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="No Hoods Allowed"><U><B>No Hoods Allowed</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="restoring_an_mg_midget_mk1_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prudence, the Mk1 MG Midget"><U><B>Prudence, the Mk1 MG Midget</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="running_a_sprite_in_club_competition_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Competition Austin Healey Sprite"><U><B>Competition Austin Healey Sprite</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="midget_links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Midget and Sprite links"><U><B>Midget and Sprite links</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact me"><U><B>Contact me</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Beckoning Beacon</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0faa2bf0.jpg" border=0 width="162" height="191" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>A Spridget lighthouse sprint</B></div> <bR> <div> A still, slightly crisp early Autumn day.  Fifteen made-to-drive Sprites and Midgets.  A well planned route along the spectacular south coast of NSW.  </div> <bR> <div> Nothing more was needed except 15 eager drivers and companions.</div> <bR> <div> There was no problem in that area!</div> <bR> <div> So began the March 2003 Sprite Car Club of Australia (SCCA) run from Heathcote, just south of Sydney, to Kiama and its lighthouse.  Keith and Juliet had organised the route with refreshment stops and a set of detailed directions with built-in observation questions.</div> <bR> <div> So it was an observation run with easy to answer questions - not so easy to write the answers down though if you were sans co-pilot as I was on this day.</div> <bR> <div> Here is a map of the general area - not the one created by Keith and Juliet for the run which used a much larger scale - but it shows our route from Waterfall in the north down the coast to Kiama in the south.    </div> <bR> <div>   <IMG SRC="11800800.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="640" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <div> Map by <A HREF="http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/mynrma/hs.xsl/guides_and_maps.htm?cpssessionid=SID-3F5768EC-3F728F40" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/my"><U>NRMA (National Roads and Motorists Association)</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Our route took us through Stanwell Tops along Lawrence Hargrave Drive. <A HREF="http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/hargrave_bio.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/h"><U>Hargrave</U></A> was a pioneer of flight having invented and flown the box kite in 1894 at Stanwell Tops - he also discovered/invented many other aeronautical concepts later used in manned flight including the curved wing section and the radial engine.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10097e90.jpg" border=0 width="151" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="101e9970.jpg" border=0 width="233" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> View south from Stanwell Tops and the Hargrave memorial<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Having come down the escarpment we followed the narrow band of land squeezed between the cliffs and the sea through villages including Clifton, Scarborough, Wombarra and Austinmer.  Up came Bulli in time for us to pull into the Bulli Kiosk for morning tea.  Our route planners had organised with the operator of the Kiosk space for our cars and tables for hungry spridgeteers.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10917c60.jpg" border=0 width="535" height="198" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Bulli Kiosk where we had coffee, cakes and heartier fare like gourmet egg and bacon rolls<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Here's a photo with a club member's 1958 bugeye in the foreground.  The car is absolutely original as Brian has had it from new.  In fact, so original that he has had to give up polishing it - the undercoat is starting to show through the paint!</div> <bR> <div>  <IMG SRC="10d11e90.jpg" border=0 width="529" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    </div> <div> Blue was the odd colour on this outing</div> <bR> <div> The gathered Spridgets created a lot of interest - as they should - with people from the Kiosk and the nearby park coming over for a look.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10f136b0.jpg" border=0 width="531" height="363" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Another image of the momentarily quiet Sprites and Midgets waiting to head for the lighthouse at Kiama.</div> <bR> <div> The operator of the Kiosk likes having car clubs to visit and wanted to take a Sprite photo to join the others in his gallery so he took our cameras, stood on the back of a ute and this was the result.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10b18090.jpg" border=0 width="536" height="265" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <div> Gathered Spridgets and spridgeteers with other cars out of sight in another part of the carpark<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> After refueling we headed off through Wollongong to Shellharbour and not long past here we left the coastal route turning inland for Jamberoo.</div> <bR> <div> This is a very green, lush coastal hinterland - ideal roads for our cars in an idyllic setting.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="110a8180.jpg" border=0 width="424" height="280" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  </div> <div> Jamberoo Valley</div> <bR> <div> The best part of this run for me was the road over Saddleback Mountain which forms the southern boundary of the Jamberoo Valley.  Through dairy farms up and down dale and around every corner the prospect of a magnificent view of the coast either north or south depending where the road took us. </div> <bR> <div> Eventually we ended up in Kiama, a town of about 15000 people.  At Blowhole Point is the famous <A HREF="http://www.kiama.com.au/attractions/blowhole.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.kiama.com.au/attractions/blow"><U>blowhole</U></A>, a park and the <A HREF="http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lights/NSW/Kiama/Kiama.htm#Area" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lights/NSW/"><U>lighthouse</U></A>.</div> <bR> <div> Here we gathered as we straggled in after answering the observation questions and/or having had lunch at one of the Kiama pubs.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1121afc0.jpg" border=0 width="538" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <div> Looking south with the ocean and coastline hidden over the hill<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <IMG SRC="1141a010.jpg" border=0 width="538" height="257" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Looking north at the end of the trip - and the direction home</div> <bR> <div> Text and images copyright Paul Orton except where otherwise indicated.</div> <bR> <div>   <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> var sc_project=198455; </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js"></script><noscript><a href="http://www.statcounter.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://c1.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=198455&java=0" alt="Website Statistics" border="0"></a> </noscript>   </div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>