Rob's Ramble
A number of people made the effort to come to Ham Common for Rob’s Ramble on Saturday 11th June. They were rewarded with a beautiful, sunny winter’s day, a fun ride in their Alvis and some good company.
Richard Budd came all the way from Cobbitty in his ‘Alvis Mini’. The Wilson’s came from Forrestville. Brian drove the 12/70 from Lane Cove and then navigated for Heather in the TD21. It was good to see Darren Purkis with daughter Alexis from Ropes Crossing in their beautiful red and grey TA21 saloon. Although the others were generally locals, they were eager to take part in this year’s Rob’s Ramble. 
The navigators get a chance to test their skill at answering Heather’s cryptic questions and the drive, around Richmond-Windsor roads is always a pleasure. This year we went a bit further afield and drove around Richmond Vale and Kurrajong Village. The picturesque, winding roads were a challenge for our Alvises and kept us alert.
Heather’s map had the route marked as well as lights, roundabouts, petrol stations, schools, churches, speed zones and fire stations. She had also put the location of the answers to all the questions. By rights, of course, everyone should have taken the correct route and answered all of the questions properly. However this is an Alvis Car Club event and we always find ways to get lost and miss an answer. The most important thing is to have fun and there seemed to be plenty of that.
After travelling around Richmond Vale and Kurrajong Village, we continued through Kurmond to Blaxland Ridge, then via Putty Rd to Sackville and Ebenezer to Wilberforce finishing at The Boathouse Café at Macquarie Park, on the Hawkesbury River. The Café had an excellent seafood/pizza menu with a beer or glass of wine to quell the thirst.
After lunch Heather gave the answers and scores for all participants; with everyone receiving a chocolate treat, as always. No one had difficulty deciding what type of town was Richmond or Wilberforce. Their ‘Macquarie Town’ signs were large and familiar. They had more trouble working out how many tractors had gone before the Tractor 828 café (of course the answer is 827). When it came to ‘What did you have to avoid the whole trip?’ although potholes was the obvious answer (after all the recent rain) bonus points were allocated for ingenuity. Geoffrey Goldsmith and Josh Wilson were given extra points for saying ‘not damaging Heather’s car’. The answers ‘double demerit points’ and ‘running out of petrol’ were also rewarded.
The day seemed to have a good combination of challenge and fun, so everyone left with a smile on their faces. We look forward to more outings like this now that COVID-19 restrictions have eased.
