B R E A K I N G   N E W S — 5   D a y   L o c k d o w n
so no Caffeine Run, dammit

February’s Caffeine Run is at Heide MOMA cafe on Sunday 14th Feb from 9:30 am.Heidi Museum of Modern Art is at 7 Templestowe Rd Bulleen.
Located opposite the main entrance to the museum, Heide Cafe offers great coffee, simple, fresh food and fast, friendly service.

You could take in the gardens and sculpture park while you’re there – it’s spectacular.The museum itself is now open but its Covid19 restrictions require one to book an entry ticket in advance.
Details on their website: Heide website

Australian Alpines at Euroa Show and Shine
October 2019

We were invited by the Euroa Show and Shine Show as guests to be featured at the show. There were over 800 cars and the overflow had to park in the streets.  The town’s population is 3000, but expands to 10,000 on the weekend.

19th July 2019

We all started the run with breakfast and coffee at Daughters Hall in Hall, a little village on the edge of Canberra at around 10am. From there we all proceeded to Coppins Crossing and then Uriarra Crossing. It was a cold start with some fog but the weather turned sunny later on to allow us to view some beautiful countryside on the outskirts of Canberra.

After a short drivers’ briefing in the car park at Uriarra Crossing, we all headed up Fairlight Road and then Mountain Creek Road to Wee Jasper and return. The road had some fast flat stages along with some tight turns that really suited the Alpines. We all gathered for a photo shoot in the park west of Wee Jasper and then on the bridge over the Goodradigbee River which feeds into Burrinjuck Dam. Fortunately, no one encountered any roos or livestock on the run. However, speedy Matthew did miss the turnoff back to Uriarra Crossing and found himself heading towards Yass.

From Uriarra Crossing we all headed to the Cotter along Uriarra and Brindabella Roads and then Paddys River Road towards Tinbinbilla. Again, some missed the turnoff on to Brindabella Road and there were late arrivals for lunch at the Moon Rock Cafe at the Tinbinbilla Space Tracking Station. Not surprise that the cafe was packed with tourists for the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing. The slow service for lunch allowed time for the late arrivals to catch up and then some were running low on fuel requiring one new Alpine to drive for fuel to Tharwa (no name mentioned!). Then it was a fast run along Discovery Drive (the access road to/from the Space Station) onto Paddys River Road to Corin Dam Road to reach Corin Dam. Apart from some slow moving tourist vehicles, this run was fast and offered up some incredible scenery. We witnessed a stray cow on the right hand side on the return journey but thankfully it stayed off the road. I did come close to hitting a small wallaby.

Next stop was the National Arboretum for a photo shoot against a setting sun. We lost some new Alpines along the way but four did arrive for the shoot and we all braced ourselves against a very cold westerly wind. 

We finished the day with dinner at the 1882 Bar and Grill in Hall for a few beers, wine and food as well as having a good chat about our runs and Alpines generally.

Big Thank you Barry for organising and providing the above commentary

It’s a mess out there now.
Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. 

For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900.

On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday.
22 million people perish in that war.

Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday.
50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.

On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%.
That runs until you are 33.

The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts.

You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath.

On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.

At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish.

At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict.

On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War.
Life on our planet, as we know it, should have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.

When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.

Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that?

When you were a kid in 1985 and didn’t think your 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. And how mean that kid in your class was. 

Yet they survived through everything listed above.

Perspective is an amazing art. Refined as time goes on, and enlightening like you wouldn’t believe. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this.