CAPRICORN CHAPTER
Established 24 May, 2008
Capricorn Chapter MGCC country members living in the Rockhampton, Yeppoon, Biloela and Moura districts can now enjoy more social activities with the Capricorn Chapter being officially recognised following the meeting in Rockhampton.
Founding members from these existing Chapters joined club President David Miles and Assistant Treasurer Kevin Ponting in Rockhampton for the occasion. Gurney Clamp was appointed Co-ordinator of the club's newest regional Chapter, joining Wide Bay and Darling Downs. After holding that position for 10 years, he resigned at the end of 2018 and the role has been taken over by Gary Kunst.
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Jim Armstrong is the Coordinator of the Capricorn Chapter. His contact details are :
Phone: 0417 544 222
Email: james.armstrong4@bigpond.com
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Click here for our Facebook page.
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Click here for the Capricorn Chapter – Members MG Draft Run Sheet 2024.
Check out the report on the All-Chapter Queensland Meeting held by the Capricorn Chapter here.
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Check out the report on the Capricorn Chapter Far North Queensland Run from 7 - 16 August, 2023 here.
MGCC Qld Capricorn Chapter
Run Report Rubyvale Trip, 16 – 17 March, 2024
By Jim Armstrong
Photos by Phil Henry, Clare Lynam, Jim Armstrong
Saturday Morning Yeppoon, wouldn’t you know it---Rain. But no matter where we were going, nothing but blue skies.
Our small contingent of the Yeppoon group gathered at the Oaks Servo right on 7:30 as planned before heading up to Rockhampton where some of the members were waiting. On pulling into the car park at the Duckponds we could smell a very strong odor of petrol. On inspection it was coming from Bob and Wendy Schoevart’s brilliant blue Mustang. Bob said he would go home and repair it and would meet us somewhere along the road but as our full contingent hadn’t yet arrived, we waited, and waited as apparently Clare and Paul Lynam hadn’t voted and were in the process of doing so. As it turned out Bob and Wendy were back in time before we eventually left at around 8:45.
Next stop was at Duringa for morning tea. Fairly uneventful trip so far except I had a complaint that I was driving too fast at 100kph in a 110kph speed zone. I offered the lead to someone else but got no takers so on we go at 100kph even though the speed limit was 110kph most of the way.
Emerald was the planned stop for lunch and the Star Hotel was the venue. After a delightful pub style meal and a refreshing beverage and topping up with fuel we were on to the final leg of our journey to Rubyvale arriving safely at around 3:00pm.
Booking in was another experience altogether as the Publican’s wife had just had a baby and the publican obviously doesn’t handle the accommodation side of business at the Royal Hotel in Rubyvale. Somehow, he muddled through it and soon we were settling into our digs for the night.
Not long after, most of us were enjoying happy hour whilst others decided to have grandpa or grandma naps. John was experiencing a small but annoying wiring issue with his E Type and with a bit of time, patience, but no Vaseline, he sorted it. Phil decided to do a bit of a reccy and returned with a few beverages and a local who looked like he had just come down from the hills. The local was gobsmacked when he saw the cars and all could say was, I have never seen these types of cars, only in books so as John said, that gives us some sort of good feeling doesn’t it?
During our Happy Hour, our Gemfields member Bronwyn Fidler, joined us for her first club outing with her bright red MGB. Bronwyn lives at Anakie which is only a short drive from Rubyvale. She and her friend Ray Smith who is a longtime friend of Wayne Kirwan joined us for dinner on Saturday night and she said she had enjoyed herself, requesting our yearly drive Calendar so she might join us in later runs throughout the year.Dinner Saturday night was a bit different insofar as we had prebooked and were sat at two tables and most of us ordered our meals at the same time. We sort of expected the meals to arrive at the same time but no, some got theirs virtually straight away while others like us received our meals about an hour later. Despite this the dinners were very nourishing and met our needs.
Sunday morning, as Murphy’s law dictated, Gunther who on last visit supplied us with a breakfast of apple strudel finished off with a toddy of port had closed down so we visited the Gem Mine a little further north of Rubyvale. The gem shop there proved popular and quite a few of our group bought some jewelry but Paul Lynam lashed out and bought Clare a ring to celebrate their recent wedding anniversary.
The next stop was the markets at Saphire where we were once again joined by Bronwyn and Ray. Here, some of us bought some prawns to take home, Sandra included. We live not 500 meters from a well-stocked fish cooperative who sells fresh prawns stocked daily but here we were some 250+klms inland and we are buying prawns for tea. All jokes aside, they were delicious and fresh. Jo did the same and later testified to the quality of the prawns.
By now time was marching on and some of our group decided to leave a bit early whilst others stayed to bid farewell to our local members.
The trip home was again uneventful with John and Gail stopping at Emerald to pay respects to family at the Emerald Cemetery with the others continuing home. Quick fuel stop at Blackwater and by the time we had arrived at Kabra our group was down to only three cars, nonetheless we stopped for a farewell ale and a post mortem of the week end before heading home.
MGCC of QLD., Inc. Capricorn Chapter.
Coordinator; Jim Armstrong (0417 544 222)
Media Liaison Officer; Phil Henry (0434 017 132)
Run Committee; Jo Emmert, Clare Lynam, Phil Henry
Chapter First Aid Officer; Rae Cowie
Run Report Capricorn Chapter MGCC of Qld Inc.
25 February 2024
By Phil Henry
This run really deserves a title, most likely referencing Murphy’s Law which says that if something can go wrong, it will. Maybe a bit overblown but it’s certainly a story.
That story began on about Saturday 17 February, the day before the scheduled Chapter run to Byfield. Coordinator Jim Armstrong rang to suggest that predicted heavy rain would render the location for smoko, Waterpark Creek, as muddy underfoot and definitely unsuitable. A decision was taken to postpone the run by a week, and advice was circulated to intending participants.
Unfortunately two participants failed to receive the message and turned up at the meeting point. Not surprising also, as the day had dawned clear and sunny!
Anyway, arrangements for the rescheduled run were put in place by Jo Emmert and the author of this report, Jim’s computer having been laid low by something technical and Jim himself by Covid. With better weather during that week, locations for smoko and lunch itself stayed in place.
But towards the end of the week the forecasts were getting a bit grim again and so the location for smoko was changed from Waterpark Creek, which was still likely to be impractical, to Rae and Jack Cowie’s homestead, with solid concrete underfoot and a roof above. But yet again the day dawned clear, with the large blob of bad weather on the BOM radar we’d all been watching overnight sitting well out to sea.
Probably because of the potential for rain, getting acceptances for the run had proved challenging, with people opting in and out at a seemingly blinding rate.
However eventually 7 people and 4 coastal cars met at the Woodbury Rural Fire Station, with 8 people and 5 cars arriving from Rockhampton not long after.
Acceptances and late apologies were still being received and there were also a few no-shows. Those driving sports cars mostly had their roofs down.
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At last, with numbers pretty much established, the group set out back down Woodbury Road to Jack and Rae’s place, where the usual morning tea festivities commenced. Jack regaled us all with a story from one of his UK car magazines about the use of MGAs, and then Daimler Darts, by the police forces there many years ago. The rationale had been that to reduce the escalating number of motor cyclist deaths, faster police cars had been required than those in use at the time.
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The Rusty Door prizes were won by Jo Emmert and Rae Cowie and the poker run by Robbie Galloway, with three queens. After more chat and coffee, we all headed off to Byfield for an early lunch, leaving Rae and Jack, who had another commitment, with our appreciation for their hospitality at such short notice.
The actual run duration was always going to be fairly brief and, arriving before lunch time at the Byfield Store, their service was very fast. The food was up to their usual very high standards and it wasn’t long before everyone was tucking in. The run sheet suggested people leave after lunch at their own discretion, and this is exactly what happened. Finally, we got one up on Murphy!
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Participants
Note: I sort of apologise for not being able to recognise cars that aren’t easily recognisable.
Gary and Robbie Galloway 4WD
Gordon Kelsey Subaru Outback
Meredith and Ewan Sutherland Lexus
John and Gail Newton 4WD
Jo Emmert Paddy the MGB
Brian and Glenis Russell MGB
Paul and Joanne Davey MGB
Martin and Narelle Adamson MGB
Phil Henry MGTF (late model)
MGCC of QLD., Inc. Capricorn Chapter.
Run report Capricorn Chapter MGCC of Qld Inc.
21 January 2024
By Jim Armstrong
Despite the usual heat wave conditions that we experience in Central Queensland this time of year 27 member made the trip up Mt Archer for our now traditional 1st Run of the year and bar b que. The Yeppoon group met at the oaks and had an uneventful run up to Rockhampton where some of the Rocky group had started to gather along Frenchville Drive.
Joy and Daryl had already ventured to the top to save an area for us to enjoy.
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It seems as there was no overheating of our cars up the very steep climb to the top of the mountain or at least none reported. On reaching the top we experience a very cool change with gentle breezes, a perfect setting for our afternoon gathering. Soon, bar be que plates started to sizzle sending mouth watering aromas around the area whilst participants chatted and enjoyed a cool beverage or two.
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The lucky rusty door prizes were drawn and won by Martin and Narelle, Phil W and Gordon Kelsey. Meantime Jo was busy organizing Gloria’s poker run that was eventually won by yours truly with a hand of 4 Jacks.
A quick briefing was held, and several issues were discussed; Rae has put together a first response sheet that she has asked to be filled out and placed in a sealed envelope and stored in the glove box of your car. In the event of and accident, this information is vital to the first responders like the QAS. Rae has also done some investigatory work regarding First Aid training and the use of the defibrillator. If you are interested, please contact Rae.
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The upcoming All Chapter Meeting in Toowoomba was discussed, and Phil Henry has been appointed the coordinator for this event as at this stage Sandra and I will not be attending. The committee of the Darling Downs Chapter are still working out final costs etc but it would appear to be around $200 accommodation not included. Phil and Gordon have already carried out some work on this. Approximately six couples at the meeting indicated that they would like to attend.
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Soon the sun started to set, the mosquitoes started to rise so one by one the participants made their way back down the mountain to their respective homes.
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