Yea via Highlands (word heavy, images are links)
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:15 pm
ok, so this morning around 10am I awoke and noticed a beautiful sunny day outside, with a nice crisp temperature.
within an instant I was clothed and had already decided to take the MX-5 out for a cruise, top down, on one of my favourite roads.
as I left town and travelled along the road it reminded me of why I love living in the country, empty roads, nice countryside, fresh air.
This day however turned out to be quite the epic adventure for me and my little blue Mexy.
The road begins with long flowing curves, not exciting, but a nice way to warm up for a better drive, the temperature was low (about 15deg I would guess) but the sun was shining and I had the heater on.
After a few km of flowing curves the road gets quite narrow, single lane, dirt edges, etc. Quite challenging, but meh, it's normal for up here.
After a while of narrow roads between farm properties the road widens again and I am greeted with an absolutely gorgeous vista of verdant green fields, trees in a mixture of shades from green, to yellow, to bare of leaves and a lovely framing of the lower areas in a blanket of fog. An impressive panorama which began my day of wishing I had proper camera with me, but alas, I had to make use of a camera phone.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2373/dsc00724w.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2034/dsc00727pmr.jpg
After a quick stop for a few pics I continued on towards Highlands, as this journey continued the road became ever more twisted, adding in tighter and tighter turns and more elevation changes. Through this I approached the small forested area, where the temperature continued to drop, and the sun slowly disappeared behind a pale clouded sky. Through the forest were many tight turns often with a tightening radius, and off camber. This coupled with the fact much of the road was wet as the sun was unable to reach and dry the roads through the canopy of green above. This forest, although short, is an amazing drive, sheer rock faces echo the lovely cry of the MX-5's BP engine under load in a beautiful serenade to match the greenery located mere metres off to the roadside. The only failing of this road was the two logging trucks that each seemed intent on taking my life as they would cut and run wide on blind corners.
Upon leaving the forest I once again found myself cruising along a relaxed road, no traffic, and just the purr of the engine to serenade me, this lead to an intersection whereby I had the choice to enter Highlands town to meet both it's inhabitants, or to turn right and head towards Yea. Knowing that the road to Highlands turns to dirt, and the road to Yea had lovely twists, it was obvious which I decided upon. After of course a picture with the unusual Stone-Henge-Esque sculpture that occupies the grassy patch opposite the intersection:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5364/dsc00731f.jpg
not long after heading towards Yea I saw yet another beautiful landscape, even more lovely than the first, at a glance it appears that there is water off in the distance. Knowing this to be untrue (due to my being quite far inland) I look closer to see that once again, there is a thick blanket of fog encompassing all of the low lying areas of the region:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8074/dsc00733p.jpg
This ever present view of fog in the distance was a sign on what was to come, as I continue towards Yea, the winding roads that usually present a lovely challenge have become almost invisible, in a short amount of time the road has become completely enveloped in the thick fog that I was witness to earlier. Visibility has dropped to mere metres, but the temperature has dropped even more, the wind touches my skin with the feeling of a thousand needles, the temperature must be near freezing point. I continue on, top down, but safely warm in a fetching combination of beanie, jacket, leather gloves, and scarf.
I continue through the thick fog cautiously, visibility is low, and so is the temperature, I am keenly aware of the risk of black ice. This fear is verified a few kilometres down the road where the once green and lush fields are now blanketed in frost and ice, they no longer look like an Australian farm, resembling more one that you would expect in Polar regions.
After completing the perilous journey through the almost arctic roads I enter the town of Yea, the temperature is still low, but as least in the township the fog is cleared, and there is no longer frost occupying all damp areas.
I park the car on the main street and have a coffee at one of the local bakeries, upon leaving an elderly lady notices the car with the top down and mentions "gee, it must be cold in that today" "just a little" I reply, with a grin.
As I prepare to leave town I see a sign and decide to stop once more for a photo.
This sign truly represented how I felt about my Mazda MX-5 after such an amazing day on some brilliant roads.
(the horse and rider bit, not the Saddles and clothing bit
)
within an instant I was clothed and had already decided to take the MX-5 out for a cruise, top down, on one of my favourite roads.
as I left town and travelled along the road it reminded me of why I love living in the country, empty roads, nice countryside, fresh air.
This day however turned out to be quite the epic adventure for me and my little blue Mexy.
The road begins with long flowing curves, not exciting, but a nice way to warm up for a better drive, the temperature was low (about 15deg I would guess) but the sun was shining and I had the heater on.
After a few km of flowing curves the road gets quite narrow, single lane, dirt edges, etc. Quite challenging, but meh, it's normal for up here.
After a while of narrow roads between farm properties the road widens again and I am greeted with an absolutely gorgeous vista of verdant green fields, trees in a mixture of shades from green, to yellow, to bare of leaves and a lovely framing of the lower areas in a blanket of fog. An impressive panorama which began my day of wishing I had proper camera with me, but alas, I had to make use of a camera phone.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2373/dsc00724w.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2034/dsc00727pmr.jpg
After a quick stop for a few pics I continued on towards Highlands, as this journey continued the road became ever more twisted, adding in tighter and tighter turns and more elevation changes. Through this I approached the small forested area, where the temperature continued to drop, and the sun slowly disappeared behind a pale clouded sky. Through the forest were many tight turns often with a tightening radius, and off camber. This coupled with the fact much of the road was wet as the sun was unable to reach and dry the roads through the canopy of green above. This forest, although short, is an amazing drive, sheer rock faces echo the lovely cry of the MX-5's BP engine under load in a beautiful serenade to match the greenery located mere metres off to the roadside. The only failing of this road was the two logging trucks that each seemed intent on taking my life as they would cut and run wide on blind corners.
Upon leaving the forest I once again found myself cruising along a relaxed road, no traffic, and just the purr of the engine to serenade me, this lead to an intersection whereby I had the choice to enter Highlands town to meet both it's inhabitants, or to turn right and head towards Yea. Knowing that the road to Highlands turns to dirt, and the road to Yea had lovely twists, it was obvious which I decided upon. After of course a picture with the unusual Stone-Henge-Esque sculpture that occupies the grassy patch opposite the intersection:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5364/dsc00731f.jpg
not long after heading towards Yea I saw yet another beautiful landscape, even more lovely than the first, at a glance it appears that there is water off in the distance. Knowing this to be untrue (due to my being quite far inland) I look closer to see that once again, there is a thick blanket of fog encompassing all of the low lying areas of the region:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8074/dsc00733p.jpg
This ever present view of fog in the distance was a sign on what was to come, as I continue towards Yea, the winding roads that usually present a lovely challenge have become almost invisible, in a short amount of time the road has become completely enveloped in the thick fog that I was witness to earlier. Visibility has dropped to mere metres, but the temperature has dropped even more, the wind touches my skin with the feeling of a thousand needles, the temperature must be near freezing point. I continue on, top down, but safely warm in a fetching combination of beanie, jacket, leather gloves, and scarf.
I continue through the thick fog cautiously, visibility is low, and so is the temperature, I am keenly aware of the risk of black ice. This fear is verified a few kilometres down the road where the once green and lush fields are now blanketed in frost and ice, they no longer look like an Australian farm, resembling more one that you would expect in Polar regions.
After completing the perilous journey through the almost arctic roads I enter the town of Yea, the temperature is still low, but as least in the township the fog is cleared, and there is no longer frost occupying all damp areas.
I park the car on the main street and have a coffee at one of the local bakeries, upon leaving an elderly lady notices the car with the top down and mentions "gee, it must be cold in that today" "just a little" I reply, with a grin.
As I prepare to leave town I see a sign and decide to stop once more for a photo.
This sign truly represented how I felt about my Mazda MX-5 after such an amazing day on some brilliant roads.
(the horse and rider bit, not the Saddles and clothing bit
)
