No matter how carefully you try to plan some things out, you can never count on the stars aligning when you might want them to. For some months now, amid a year of increased geomagnetic activity, I've been trying to get a glimpse of aurora australis – the southern lights – without leaving my home state.
If I was closer to the South Pole, seeing these purple and green shades of nitrogen and oxygen wouldn't be such a rarity, but rather ironically, South Australia is only this country's third-most-southern state. Every now and then, you can get a glimpse, but you've got to get your timing right.
Earlier this year, I'd tried and failed to see it due to cloud cover where I was, leaving me jealous of the stunning photos others had managed to capture. Mind you, many pulled an all-nighter to do this and snapped the good stuff at 4am, which was off the cards for me.
What I had learned from these earlier failed expeditions was that there is an app – along with many other resources – which people use to track this aurora activity. Configured correctly, it will send you notifications when it might be visible in your area. Most of those alerts over the past few months have been false alarms.
That was until just a few days ago. I was at the gym, nearing the end of my workout, when up flashed a prediction. The KP index which measures aurora activity was due to hit 8.0 out of a maximum 9.0, but with only a one percent chance of actually seeing it. Inspecting the app's various graphs and maps, it looked like the best chance I'd had yet. Suddenly, I found myself in a race against Mother Nature.
Good thing, then, that I had just picked up a fresh ride for the week, and it was a good one. Mazda has been trying to push towards the luxurious end of the market for a number of years now, but it appears it has gone all in on this, the CX-60.
Not only is this designed to look and feel the part, but it's intended to go like it as well. That headline bait isn't entirely unjustified, because its bonnet isn't long for no reason. There's a 3.3-litre straight-six under there with a big turbocharger strapped to the side – just like you'd find in a BMW X5, except with an extra 300cc. Even the rotary dial which controls the infotainment system feels to have been borrowed from a Beemer as well.
After hitting those last few sets, I first had to race home to get my tripod, as handheld camera alone wouldn't cut it. To really get the full effect, I'd need at least around 20-30 seconds of shutter exposure. Fortunately, it seemed most people were at Friday drinks after work because the roads were mercifully clear.
That was the easy part – I then had to get to somewhere I could actually have a chance of seeing it. In parts of the city and the Adelaide Hills, it was cloudy, but it looked like the coast might clear up in time. However, I'd need at least a bit of elevation to get the perspective of my winning shot right. The sun was already setting by this point, and recalling previous locations I'd gone to photograph other celestial beings before, I made a snap decision to head for Moana Beach.
As I zig-zagged across the Adelaide Hills to eventually head west, the CX-60's throttle pedal was given an absolute belting by my right foot. Its numbers might be somewhat modest for a six-pot on paper, but there's no denying it can put in some serious work when it needs to.
Given this is more of an entry-level luxury proposition, it's an engine which doesn't feel lean and athletic, but rather muscular and assertive. It doesn't throw you back into your seat, but after the turbo and 48V mild hybrid system's hint of electric assistance have kicked in, you'll look down and see the speedo needle sitting far higher than you'd expect.
The shocking state of some of these Hills roads meant its leather-lined interior and well-balanced suspension tune were welcome as it faced potholes, worn-out surfaces, and stray gravel spilling over from driveways. This might only be the mid-spec GT model, but it feels that complete that I can't honestly see what the point of stepping up another rung for thousands more would be.
Only the transmission was a downside of this package. It's still an automatic with a planetary gear set, but rather than use a torque converter, there's a novel multi-plate clutch pack fitted instead. It does help it feel quite direct, but it's easy to catch it off guard and isn't the smoothest around town. Fortunately, it is possible to lock it into a proper manual mode – although you'll need to delve through enough menus to prevent it from automatically switching back to D after a few seconds of not clicking the paddles.
At this stage, Mother Nature was losing the race, and clearly resorted to Mario Kart tactics to try and prevent me from seeing the aurora. Not once but twice, some very cute but in this instance frustrating koalas decided to poorly-time their road crossings.
The first – which had a baby on its back – I was easily able to dodge with a slight swerve, the rear-biased all-wheel drive system helping to prevent understeer in this instance. The other, I had to come to a complete halt to wait for it to cross. I might as well have had a Banana Peel cast across the road at this point.
As I crested the last few hills before coming in to land by the sea, I was convinced this wasn't another false positive; the sunset was far more purple than I'd ever seen. By the time I finally made it to the elevated carpark at Moana, you couldn't have scripted the timing better.
Almost the second I got out of the car and put the camera on the tripod, nature's light show began. At this distance from the South Pole, it's often able to be captured on a camera but not able to be clearly seen by the naked eye. On this night, however, the streaks of light were clearly visible.
I'd got my shot, but I still needed one with the car. Fortunately, like many of South Australia's beaches, you can drive along Moana Beach which is exactly where I placed it.
The number of other people who'd had the same idea had thoroughly chewed up the initial bit of sand as you hit the beach, meaning once again, I called upon the Mazda's straight-six power to plow through this loose, deep sand which it did with surprising ease. I later saw some vehicles get bogged in the same spot if that's any indication.
While I'd managed to get a few snaps of the car with a purple sky, it seemed that by this stage the real show was over. However, aurora australis had one last trick up its sleeve, and just as I'd set up for a front-three-quarter photo, it let out one last bright flash before saying goodbye.
I might have won the race to get there in time thanks to the Mazda's big engine, but after that parting gift? Alright, Mother Nature, I'll call it a 1-1 draw.
2024 Mazda CX-60 G40e GT
Drive-away price (AUD): $64,990
As Tested: $67,985
Engine: 3.3-litre turbocharged inline-six petrol with 48V mild hybrid system
Transmission: 8-speed automatic with single multi-plate wet clutch pack
Drivetrain: Rear-biased AWD
Power: 209kW // 284PS from 5000-6000rpm
Torque: 450Nm // 332lb-ft from 2000-3500rpm
Acceleration (0-100km/h // 0-62mph): 6.9 seconds
Weight: 1949kg (kerb)
Economy: 7.4L/100km (claimed)
Patrick Jackson
