With our second Social Drive for the year now done and dusted, it goes with-out saying that ourselves and our customer-based community were quite hyped-up and keen to take on this social drive. Why?
The route this time was designed to loop The Blue Mountains and finish us a little closer to Sydney, and more importantly the North-west. For most this would mean, closer to home and an easier overall drive.
The plan was simple; meet, drive, pit-stop, drive and eat.
The meeting location was at the base of the mountains in Penrith, a new restaurant precinct dubbed, The East Bank. It’s situated right near the Nepean River boat ramp and the M4 highway, making it the perfect spot for us. Our team arrived early as per usual, to grab a coffee before the event kicked off and help park ’n’ greet all the drivers on arrival. Even though meet up was at 8am, the first cars came from a-far and arrived early at 7:30am. Like dominoes one-by-one another car and driver rolled into the carpark. Before long the carpark was beginning to fill…
The minutes pilled on and the cars (& flies!) rolled in.
By 8:45am nearly everyone had arrived, we counted 97 cars and about 1,245,671 flies. Most the early arrivals had finished their coffee’s, gone for a walk and had a nice chat. It was time to get this convoy moving! Sergio stepped up and gave everyone a quick run-down on what to expect, then invited everyone to start their engines.
We hit the road and head west up and over the Blue Mountains.
The run up to Katoomba would be slow, but it was a great time to get side by side and enjoy the flow of things. The road littered with small towns, joined with some of the most amazing flowing roads with scenic views into the Blue Mountains off each side. We saw huge cliff faces, valleys and of course gum trees as far as they eye could see. When we neared our turn off the Great Western Highway, we would make a quick toilet and lolly stop at the famous “Lolly bug”.
Sugar anyone?
The Lolly Big is an iconic lolly shop that has been greeting road trippers since what feels like the dawn of time. They were sadly hit and destroyed by a bushfire in 2022 so it was incredible to see it rebuilt bigger and better than ever. They had over 1500 varieties of sweets on offer and some of us couldn’t help but buy a few… With the stop complete, we once again hit the open road and things from here would pick up a little bit.
Time to cut across the Hartley Valley.
After about 75 odd kms since we embarked it was time to change directions, from west to north for a quick cut through of the Hartley Valley and up Brown Gaps. Hartley Valley like always was ever inspiring, things just “open-up” becoming a vast space framed by cliffs and mountains both sides. There wasn’t another soul of the roads, bar out party. Perfection.
But as all good things must come to an end, as we proceeded up Browns Gap we were met with a half closed road, down to a single lane and a nifty traffic light. We didn’t think too much of it, but the timer for this light must have been set for majority traffic incoming the other way as only 5 or 6 cars managed to get through at a time. Not the worst traffic jam to be in, but one none the less. Luckily, after exiting Browns Gap it was a simple right turn onto Bells Line of Road which would be the road we take to our final destination, Hillbilly Cider in Bilpin.
On the last leg.
The last part of our drive was the home-run on Bells Line of Road, so even though we were split up - all the small groups got to enjoy each other’s company on the best piece of road throughout the whole drive. Bells Line is known for its undulations, tight and switch back turns. It’s not slow either, you can maintain the speed limit and still have a grin ear to ear on a road like this. Arriving at Hillbilly Cider we were greeted with a pair of parking attendants, one of their team and surprisingly, one of our own… who made a shortcut down a dirt road to beat the convoy.
Lucky for that traffic light…
Turns out the car-park space was perfectly adequate, but something so perfectly snug… was always going to be a slight challenge with the 70 odd cars that made it to the destination turning off a single lane main road. But, luckily for that traffic light that broke us all into groups of about 6… we filtered in easily, even having time to adjust and park the cars ‘just right’. With the convoy arrived, it was time to feed many hungry mouths!
The smell of Hillbilly Cider.
There’s a smell at Hillbilly Cider, it’s not the fresh mountain air and it’s not apples or something of disgust. It’s the smell of home-made Napolitana Sauce and a wood-fire pizza oven. If you’ve ever smelt it before, you’d know exactly what I’m trying to describe but if don’t… think of it this way: If you weren’t hungry before, the smell that greeted us would make you hungry now.
Just like that it was lunch.
As we shuffled in there was a Cider Tasting going on and with the heat of the day starting to ramp up, a cold cider was high on the list. Most people opted for the classic Apple Cider, it’s the one they’re known for, and it did not disappoint. Moving into the alfresco gardens, the smell was replaced with the sounds and cover songs of a live singer. All the kids ran off the play equipment and the adults got to put their feet up. Perfect.
The pizza arrived and as quickly as they arrived, everyone’s plates were emptied. Hillbilly Cider really knows how to make an impression. They atmosphere, food and facilities were something special and worthy of another visit. With lunch coming to an end, small groups began to leave and before we knew it - it was time for us to head as well.
The cherry on-top.
On the way back to reality and about 20km down the road in Kurrajong Heights we pulled into a look-out. Knowing we had three special Volkswagen GTI’s behind us. Why were they special? Well, they were the youngest drivers to take part and for two of them, it was their first ‘cruise’ ever! Knowing this we wanted to line their cars up and take a photo for them to remember, the first of many to come. The next generation of car enthusiasts is alive and well.
Check out the video:
Want to join in on the fun?
Our events are private functions which are designed for our customers and their friends + family to enjoy European car ownership. If you’d like to join in on the fun and take part on Social Drives, Tech Nights and other Misc Meets, then please sign up to our monthly email newsletter below, which is the only place to receive information on upcoming Eurowerke events.
We look forward to seeing you at the next one!
