You know it's funny how things turn out sometimes, and today was one of those occasions. Last week an old Qantas flying friend of mine called me and asked if I could help him with a gearbox problem he was having with his 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang's 4-speed manual gearbox.
As you all know that before I became a 'Trolly-Dolly' with Qantas, I was a fully qualified motor mechanic and still love to tinker with motor vehicles, especially if there is something out of the ordinary that creates a problem that no one else can fix. I love a challenge.
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| My 1977 Porsche 911 2.7 Coupe parking next to the Gazebo at Panorama House |
John lives at Berry on the Shoalhaven Coast, about 145Ks south of Sydney and I live in the 'Sutherland Shire' at Cronulla, so we decided to meet half-way at the famous old Panorama House that is situated in Bulli Tops, at the top of infamous Bulli Pass and Mount Ousley where those roads meet at the edge of the Illawarra Escarpment at 11am this morning.
Panorama House is approximately a 1-hour drive from my residence here in Cronulla. I departed from home at 10am this morning in what turned out to be a perfect day weather wise, and if you were in the southern suburbs of Sydney last night and witnessed the devastation of the electrical storm that passed through our suburb here in Cronulla at 7pm you would find it hard to believe that we were still in the same country.
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| View from the Gazebo at Panorama House is directly over the northern suburbs of Wollongong |
I arrived early at Panorama House for our hook up at 11am which gave me time to take a few photographs overlooking the South Coast and the Pacific Ocean, it was so clear today as you can see by the photos I am sure that I could almost see New Zealand.
The Bush fires here in Australia have been raging in our SUN BURNT COUNTRY from the middle of September and are still burning, however we have enjoyed a reprieve from these devastating bushfires in the last couple of days due to much welcomed changed weather conditions and rainfall that has helped dampen the fires that are still burning.
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| The 1964.5 Ford Mustang - this same model as John's was used as the Pace Car for the 1964 Indianapolis 500 |
To cut a long story short, what I am trying to say is that today's weather was the clearest conditions we have experienced for almost 5-months, the photographs are proof of what l am telling you... NO SMOKE !!! can you believe it, and I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy these conditions today on my run down the coast.
Now getting back to the Panorama House, these days many young couples decide to get married there and take their marriage vows overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the spectacular southern coast line.
As you can see my 1977 2.7 Porsche Coupe parked in front of the dedicated ceremonial area with the Gazebo in the background using this spectacular backdrop overlooking Wollongong and the surrounding suburbs below.
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| The newly refurbished ceremonial Gazebo with stunning backdrop views over the Illawarra coast. |
Once I had correctly diagnosed the gear box problem with John's Ford Mustang it was now time to drive back to Sydney. All in all, today turned out to be just one of those perfect days that you could not organise in a pink fit.
I was starting to forget how beautiful our country is with all the horrendous smoke haze that we have been experiencing all over our State of NSW for near on 5-months, today's adventure bought back all those wonderful memories.
I will sign off wishing and hoping that we have a lot more of this beautiful weather that l was fortunate enough to enjoy today. That's all for now, so until my next adventure.
Cheers for now.
Ken
READ MORE: about my 41-year history with my Porsche 911
LEARN MORE: about Panorama House, Bulli Tops, NSW
