Post by Dean Watson on Jun 7, 2017 15:35:57 GMT 10
2017 AGM:
Fine but cool mid teens weather was the forecast for Monday the 22nd May, so thermals, flannel shirt, draggin jeans and jacket without the liner was just perfect. I almost left my jumper at home as I had left it out to wear. 1st ‘U’- turn of the trip.
Ugo & I got away from Packenham Maccas a little before 8:30, and a freeway run to just past Moe got the first few Kms under the belt quickly. Left turn up the Haunted Hills road through Yallourn North and Tyers saw us at Heyfield Bakery for an early morning tea. Maffra, Stratford and the Bengworden road to Bairnsdale kept us off the highways and in very little traffic. My cunning plan to sample George’s Burgers in Bairnsdale (excellent Tripadvisor reviews) was thwarted by his days of opening. Seems he is so popular he can afford to close the first few days of the week…..Ah well, it was too early for lunch anyway, but we did need fuel which was next door. It also gave us an excuse to stop at Bruthen at the Blue Bee Cafe and try and get through their enormous sausage rolls. It’s really a meatloaf with pastry.
The run from Orbost to Cann River was as good as always, plenty of twisty bits, dry, sunny and no traffic. Quick stop to splash some fuel in and grab a coffee which then required a loo stop in Bombala. Into the excellent as always Nebula Motel in Cooma around 4:30 and a short walk to the services club for dinner. 560 Kms for the day. Road trip….woo hoo.
Tuesday started a little cool and foggy and I was wondering if my temperature display showed negatives. The jumper got a good workout the previous night and until the morning stop at Bungendore this morning. Although it was 130 kms, we left at 8am, and after the huge breakfast at the Nebula Motel, we just weren't ready for the pies at the pie shop a little after 9:30. So, it was hot chocolates all around. We had had short spurts of sunshine, but it was predominately foggy all morning. I am sure the scenery was great, we couldn't see very far off the side of the road, but it was mostly good enough to sit safely on the speed limit. Again, very little traffic. It did fine up as we were leaving though, so it was time to shed a layer. Another 70 kms gave us a quick fuel stop at Goulburn, then North through Taralga and Shooters Hill to lunch at Oberon. 345 kms so far and we were there at 12:30, so had made good time considering we had gone through 2 major cities (admittedly around the outer parts of them), 1 fuel stop and another just walk around for 10 minute and stretch stop.
At Oberon, we met up with Ross (ex airforce and QANTAS colleague) who came with us until Singleton. Ross rides a VFR1200, and while it was easily the quickest, it wasn't the most comfortable on these potholed roads. Oberon to the outskirts of Bathurst and then North through Peel and a 20 minute walk around Sofala. Old mining and just touristy now (much like Walhalla) but nothing much open the first 3 days of the week. We crossed the Highway at Ilford and went through Rylstone for coffee, Lue and into Mudgee around 4:30. 540 Kms for the day. Dinner at a cook-your-own steak place (I paid the $4 to have the chef do it) a short stroll from the motel. We shouldn't have had that second bottle of red, but the third was excellent.
Away again at 8am after another monster breakfast at the Motel (although I didn't have the sausage this time) and back through Lue to just north of Rylstone where the Bylong Valley Rd joins. What an excellent ride. No traffic and fairly open until Bylong (Stop at the Bylong’s Best General Store….there is only 1) and hot chocolate, and from there until the Golden Hwy at Sandy Hollow, the road winds through the Wollemi National Park. Hilly, scenic, motorcycle country.
I had a cunning plan to go through Yarrawa and parallel the golden Hwy until Jerry’s Plains, and although I sent the little goole man along a bit of it, I missed the gravel bit. Fortunately it was at the start, so only a few Kms backtrack and up to and along the Golden Hwy. Not a bad bit of road, but we weren't used to traffic. Talking to the lady at Jerry’s Plains, it was only gravel for the first few Kms and there were roadworks going on, may be sealed in time for the 2020 AGM.
Ross left us at Wallaby Scrub Road just before Singleton to head down the Putty Road and Sydney while we continued on through the outskirts of Singleton and then Lunch at Chillbillies Cafe in Dungog. Sunny and warm sitting on the decking there trying to get through a hamburger with the lot. Should order smaller…..The Stroud Hill road took us through quiet farming areas until we met the Bucketts Way, North till Gloucester and then East To Krambach for a loo stop. North again following Bucketts Way until the A1 just south of Taree and a freeway run for 40 Kms. Although it was freeway, it was 110 kph limit and very little traffic and actually quite scenic. If you have to freeway hop, this is a pretty good one. At Kew though, we hopped off and went across to Laurieton and then hugged the coast to Port Macquarie. Arrived again a little before 5pm after 530 Kms, and actually quite pleased to get into the hotel and strip off some gear and get the aircon cranked for a while. That night saw us in a Chinese having ordered way too much.
My body clock is really messed up with the succession of early starts and early to bed. So 8 am Thursday finds me at the laundromat (Bubbles) feeding dollar coins into the machine. Conveniently next door is a cafe so it’s breakfast and a slow coffee while the machine does it’s thing. Ugo & I had left it fairly loose, so I text him after I get back to the Motel, and he’s having his breakfast & coffee at his Hotel, so another coffee is in order. Glorious sitting out in the courtyard in the sun, and we certainly don't need much in the way of warm gear for the 20km ride over to Wauchope. Nice ride incidentally. The process of registration is quite straight forward and fast after we figure where to park. The poor lady volunteer at the entry was trying to show me where, but all I could hear was “Over there”. My problem was that she was looking in one direction, nodding her head in another and pointing with her finger in a third, but none of which seemed appropriate. Saw another 4 bikes parked behind a fence so went there.
Amongst my (minor) niggles of the AGM, it is signage. The maps on the website for the AGM didn't show which gates were which, the literature said registration at Gate 2, but not the street name that Gate 2 was in, and on the ride in, there was a solitary sign at about waist level in front of a cafe on the other side of the road that you had to turn at. If I hadn't been pre warned by a motorbike in front of me also turning, I wouldn't have seen it. The signage inside the event was also somewhat lacking, where to park for registration as mentioned above and how to exit. They had some signs up to indicate a oneway system, but the exit sign was on a moveable barrier that was closed. So we just rode through the tent city on the grass, and went the wrong way round the oneway system, and then tried to go out the ‘In’ gate. They had 4 gates, one was in, one was out, and the other 2 were used solely for the in and out gates for the test rides. These 2 excellent gates were utilised for 2 or 3 minutes every 25 minutes of so by the test rides, and were not permitted to be utilised at other times. Seemed dumb, but I’m hopeful that there was actually a very cunning plan.
The Thursday was a day pass day, some $15 for the entry and apparently some 200 townspeople used that. There wasn't a passout, so once you left, that was it.
We walked around the display bikes for a while, the Ural with sidecar has us trying to figure a need as we certainly had a want, tried to buy some gloves at the BMW stand but they didn't bring any, got some earmold earplugs done, organised a sheepskin cover for my seat and bumped into Albert & Leanne who took us to the RSL for lunch. There we met up with John & Judy, and Trevor & Fran. Stories told of the trip up and camping in Siberia, you know the drill.
Back to the event to get our earplugs, pickup my seat that I had given to the Goodwool guy to make a pattern from, have a look at the rest of the stalls and try and get Ugo onto the bus for Saturday night. Long story…..you had to be there.
Bumped into more people we knew and had a sit down outside the big tent where people were inside rehearsing for the nights entertainment. We did note that there were fewer traders stalls than we expected, and while most motorcycle manufacturers were there with display bikes and for test riding, Suzuki had a different set up with the test bikes being predominately V-Stroms. The new model in both the 650 and 1000 seem like a very good bike for them, and quite a lot of bike for the money. The older ones are certainly good. Dinner on the waterfront at Port Macquarie and another excellent wine.
Friday was back out to the AGM site after an excellent breakfast sitting out in a courtyard area in the sun. Picked up my wool seat cover, and that was very good service to have given them the seat less than 24 hours before. The extended NatCom meeting was in the RSL in Wauchope and I met up with Flipa just as I got there. Lunch was multiple plates of sandwiches and tea, coffee and juices and provided a very good feed. They got 180 odd invitees which seemed like a good number, and if only 2 members from every Branch were allowed, then 90 Branches were represented.
At the start, Helena explained that it was their Committee meeting, and that we were there as interested observers until questions at General Business. That, of course, didn't stop a few members from trying to second motions and vote on motions of Committee business. I could sense, if not see, the exasperation from the Committee, but they were quite patient and explained the process again every time it happened.
Before the meeting began, it seemed by the small talk I overheard, there were quite a few who seemed ready to ask some difficult questions of the Committee, but as the Committee Members delivered their reports, their detailed explanations seemed to quell the bloodbath that some Committee Members thought it may be. All in all, very civilised, and really not all that interesting. Did I mention the sandwiches were good? Dinner tonight at an Italian, and actually the same place as I had breakfast, and with the same waitress. Some people work very long hours.
Saturday morning early saw the gathering of the bikes for the parade. There was an existing shop on the site and the local Lions had a setup of egg and bacon rolls and a coffee for a fiver. Breakfast done while watching all the early morning joggers pound up and down the tracks by the river. There seemed to be a great many groups (mainly female) doing this, and was quite entertaining for a while. All that energy and so early……..but, it was sunny. The parade was the usual stop start slow affair, but not many kids made you realise that this is predominately a retiree and visitor city. It finished, I am guessing, quite a lot earlier that the organisers had anticipated and there were many calls to start the speeches early. However, I am assuming again, that dignitaries were given a start time, but by the time the speeches began, more than half the bikes had gone and with the smaller attendance this year, it was noticeable. While there was a coffee stall, a hotdog van and an ice-cream van at the finish point, most headed across to the large shopping centre attached to the venue for the AGM.
Again the Committee was a little caught out by the numbers, and it was a little late starting, but they went through their reports again as yesterday, and again there were very few actual questions put to the Committee. There were some members that had a say, but not really sure what they were actually trying to do, a lot of them didn't seem to have any actual question. You all know the election results so I won’t repeat them here. Saturday night saw us on a bus (free) to the AGM dinner. Im not really sure what happened with the bus bookings, but from being told that there were 130 odd on the standby list for the busses, and that no others had been put on, we were very surprised to find more than a dozen spare seats on ours. We had been pre warned about the noise levels from the band and in fact the police had been called out to quieten it on the Tuesday night, so with this in mind, we grabbed a table as far from the band as we could. This turned out to be very close to the bar, so a win win. Unfortunately, being so far from the band meant that the announcements of the various winners of things during the evening was unintelligible. I think there were about 18 of us from Shearwaters there which was a very good turnout. The noise levels did force a great number out of the tent and the cold outside make them head to the busses, and quite a few sat there for an hour waiting for the busses to go. Downside of using the busses and I suspect a lot got cabs which is where the long standby list went. Had to be cold camping that night though, and no sleep until the noise stopped.
Sunday morning, woo hoo, road trip. 8 am saw us depart along the Oxley Hwy heading for Walcha with a damp road and overcast sky. Those that have done the Oxley will know that it can be a sensational, very twisty piece of road, and uphill is the direction to tackle it in. You will also know that there are very long sections of double lines and very few passing opportunities. This didn't seem to matter to the local (and I am going to say BMW club as they were predominately riding that brand) off road motorcycle club as they roared past us over the double lines on blind corners. They were a sizeable group, more than a dozen certainly, and seemed to be organised as they had 3 people on the side of the road pointing the group down a dirt road. I was tempted to stop and hand out organ donor cards as a lot of them won’t be using theirs for much longer. Normally I wouldn't care much about the foolhardy actions of idiots, but when they deliberately threaten my safety, I become a little miffed. Into Walcha and fuel and a hot chocolate at the Royal Hotel. Excellent hot chocolate and the fire there was being used by the numerous motorcyclists on the way through. Actually pleased to have a little mist in places as it was softening the bugs on the bike. I was hoping to have it washed at the AGM, but there wasn't a wash stand as there is sometimes at the AGM’s manned by the scouts or local schools.
Continued on the Oxley Hwy to Tamworth, much more open country now and then south on the New England Hwy to Willow Tree, but the cunning plan to run South West to Merriwa turned out to be gravel for some distance. Fine for me, but…….. So, through Scone, Muswellbrook and the Golden Valley Hwy to a lovely little Cake & Pastry shop in Merriwa with a bunch of old ladies having their lunch. The open country had made the Kms go quickly, but still enough to keep us interested, and the big open cotton fields were interesting in their own right. I would imagine most would be sprayed by crop-duster, and I was particularly interested in spotting the single strand wire (telephone?) wire running diagonally across a lot of the open paddocks. From Merriwa we ran west to Cassillis and south through Ulan to Mudgee. We did come across the roadworks that had been the downfall of John & Judy the week before, but the dirt was dry and hard packed. Back into Mudgee around 4:30 after some 620Kms. Another excellent steak that I got the chef to cook.
South on the Castlereagh Hwy to Wallerawang and a bakery there for morning tea. Cold start and so the hot chocolate there was good, and although the pastries looked excellent, we resisted. Only so much the stomach will take an hour after bacon & eggs. Backroads from there including the Old Western Hwy that turned out to be single track. Must have been a hard drive when it was just the Western Hwy! Then Sodwalls Rd, Mutton Falls Rd and Lowes Mount Rd into Oberon and fuel. Only 55Kms from Wallerawang, but took 50 minutes, really lovely scenery, hilly, twisty, single track but in excellent condition. From Oberon, Abercrombie Rd (and what another excellent road) took us into Goulburn for a fuel stop on the outskirts, and we pushed on to Bungendore and ‘The Pie Place’ for a late lunch. It was OK, but not convinced by the number of stars given by Trip Advisor.
Through Queanbeyan (no real way around it) and the Old Cooma Rd to the Monaro Hwy to Cooma. We had a lucky break as the Pancake & Crepe Restaurant at Bredbo was closed, so no extra Kilos and an early arrival into Cooma. 520 Kms for the day. The cold weather gear had been on for most of the day, I recall it got above 10 degrees sometime after Goulburn.
I found out this morning that my temperature gauge for external temperature does indeed show negatives. I had never seen it below 0.0 before, but at 7:45 as we got going, it showed -1.5. However, it was a bright and sunny morning, and even the -4.0 it showed 30 minutes later didn't spoil a great run south on the Monaro. Stop in Bombala for fuel and then Cann River at the cafe for Hot Chocolate. It’s still a great bit of road, and no traffic. I did notice though, the road surface deteriorated as we entered Victoria, and I seem to remember it was the other way around a few years back. It seems that the road works are slowing in Vic and increasing in NSW. Rode straight through Bruthen for the first time ever, and into Bairnsdale for fuel and quite a long stop at a cafe there.
With the forecast looking grim, and pretty much over the trip now, we opted for the Freeway run home. Much easier to deal with the quite savage at times, cross winds and very heavy rain, though we were back into the teens for temperature. I do believe that I enjoy cold, sunny and calm to warmer, blustery and torrential. Turnoff at Pakenham through Koo Wee Rup and home a little before 5pm and 625 Kms for the day.
So, all in all, an excellent road trip with good company, met some interesting people, the new moulded earplugs are a big improvement over the old 10yo pair, and the Goodwool seat cover (they advertise in Riding on) is excellent, excellent!
Fine but cool mid teens weather was the forecast for Monday the 22nd May, so thermals, flannel shirt, draggin jeans and jacket without the liner was just perfect. I almost left my jumper at home as I had left it out to wear. 1st ‘U’- turn of the trip.
Ugo & I got away from Packenham Maccas a little before 8:30, and a freeway run to just past Moe got the first few Kms under the belt quickly. Left turn up the Haunted Hills road through Yallourn North and Tyers saw us at Heyfield Bakery for an early morning tea. Maffra, Stratford and the Bengworden road to Bairnsdale kept us off the highways and in very little traffic. My cunning plan to sample George’s Burgers in Bairnsdale (excellent Tripadvisor reviews) was thwarted by his days of opening. Seems he is so popular he can afford to close the first few days of the week…..Ah well, it was too early for lunch anyway, but we did need fuel which was next door. It also gave us an excuse to stop at Bruthen at the Blue Bee Cafe and try and get through their enormous sausage rolls. It’s really a meatloaf with pastry.
The run from Orbost to Cann River was as good as always, plenty of twisty bits, dry, sunny and no traffic. Quick stop to splash some fuel in and grab a coffee which then required a loo stop in Bombala. Into the excellent as always Nebula Motel in Cooma around 4:30 and a short walk to the services club for dinner. 560 Kms for the day. Road trip….woo hoo.
Tuesday started a little cool and foggy and I was wondering if my temperature display showed negatives. The jumper got a good workout the previous night and until the morning stop at Bungendore this morning. Although it was 130 kms, we left at 8am, and after the huge breakfast at the Nebula Motel, we just weren't ready for the pies at the pie shop a little after 9:30. So, it was hot chocolates all around. We had had short spurts of sunshine, but it was predominately foggy all morning. I am sure the scenery was great, we couldn't see very far off the side of the road, but it was mostly good enough to sit safely on the speed limit. Again, very little traffic. It did fine up as we were leaving though, so it was time to shed a layer. Another 70 kms gave us a quick fuel stop at Goulburn, then North through Taralga and Shooters Hill to lunch at Oberon. 345 kms so far and we were there at 12:30, so had made good time considering we had gone through 2 major cities (admittedly around the outer parts of them), 1 fuel stop and another just walk around for 10 minute and stretch stop.
At Oberon, we met up with Ross (ex airforce and QANTAS colleague) who came with us until Singleton. Ross rides a VFR1200, and while it was easily the quickest, it wasn't the most comfortable on these potholed roads. Oberon to the outskirts of Bathurst and then North through Peel and a 20 minute walk around Sofala. Old mining and just touristy now (much like Walhalla) but nothing much open the first 3 days of the week. We crossed the Highway at Ilford and went through Rylstone for coffee, Lue and into Mudgee around 4:30. 540 Kms for the day. Dinner at a cook-your-own steak place (I paid the $4 to have the chef do it) a short stroll from the motel. We shouldn't have had that second bottle of red, but the third was excellent.
Away again at 8am after another monster breakfast at the Motel (although I didn't have the sausage this time) and back through Lue to just north of Rylstone where the Bylong Valley Rd joins. What an excellent ride. No traffic and fairly open until Bylong (Stop at the Bylong’s Best General Store….there is only 1) and hot chocolate, and from there until the Golden Hwy at Sandy Hollow, the road winds through the Wollemi National Park. Hilly, scenic, motorcycle country.
I had a cunning plan to go through Yarrawa and parallel the golden Hwy until Jerry’s Plains, and although I sent the little goole man along a bit of it, I missed the gravel bit. Fortunately it was at the start, so only a few Kms backtrack and up to and along the Golden Hwy. Not a bad bit of road, but we weren't used to traffic. Talking to the lady at Jerry’s Plains, it was only gravel for the first few Kms and there were roadworks going on, may be sealed in time for the 2020 AGM.
Ross left us at Wallaby Scrub Road just before Singleton to head down the Putty Road and Sydney while we continued on through the outskirts of Singleton and then Lunch at Chillbillies Cafe in Dungog. Sunny and warm sitting on the decking there trying to get through a hamburger with the lot. Should order smaller…..The Stroud Hill road took us through quiet farming areas until we met the Bucketts Way, North till Gloucester and then East To Krambach for a loo stop. North again following Bucketts Way until the A1 just south of Taree and a freeway run for 40 Kms. Although it was freeway, it was 110 kph limit and very little traffic and actually quite scenic. If you have to freeway hop, this is a pretty good one. At Kew though, we hopped off and went across to Laurieton and then hugged the coast to Port Macquarie. Arrived again a little before 5pm after 530 Kms, and actually quite pleased to get into the hotel and strip off some gear and get the aircon cranked for a while. That night saw us in a Chinese having ordered way too much.
My body clock is really messed up with the succession of early starts and early to bed. So 8 am Thursday finds me at the laundromat (Bubbles) feeding dollar coins into the machine. Conveniently next door is a cafe so it’s breakfast and a slow coffee while the machine does it’s thing. Ugo & I had left it fairly loose, so I text him after I get back to the Motel, and he’s having his breakfast & coffee at his Hotel, so another coffee is in order. Glorious sitting out in the courtyard in the sun, and we certainly don't need much in the way of warm gear for the 20km ride over to Wauchope. Nice ride incidentally. The process of registration is quite straight forward and fast after we figure where to park. The poor lady volunteer at the entry was trying to show me where, but all I could hear was “Over there”. My problem was that she was looking in one direction, nodding her head in another and pointing with her finger in a third, but none of which seemed appropriate. Saw another 4 bikes parked behind a fence so went there.
Amongst my (minor) niggles of the AGM, it is signage. The maps on the website for the AGM didn't show which gates were which, the literature said registration at Gate 2, but not the street name that Gate 2 was in, and on the ride in, there was a solitary sign at about waist level in front of a cafe on the other side of the road that you had to turn at. If I hadn't been pre warned by a motorbike in front of me also turning, I wouldn't have seen it. The signage inside the event was also somewhat lacking, where to park for registration as mentioned above and how to exit. They had some signs up to indicate a oneway system, but the exit sign was on a moveable barrier that was closed. So we just rode through the tent city on the grass, and went the wrong way round the oneway system, and then tried to go out the ‘In’ gate. They had 4 gates, one was in, one was out, and the other 2 were used solely for the in and out gates for the test rides. These 2 excellent gates were utilised for 2 or 3 minutes every 25 minutes of so by the test rides, and were not permitted to be utilised at other times. Seemed dumb, but I’m hopeful that there was actually a very cunning plan.
The Thursday was a day pass day, some $15 for the entry and apparently some 200 townspeople used that. There wasn't a passout, so once you left, that was it.
We walked around the display bikes for a while, the Ural with sidecar has us trying to figure a need as we certainly had a want, tried to buy some gloves at the BMW stand but they didn't bring any, got some earmold earplugs done, organised a sheepskin cover for my seat and bumped into Albert & Leanne who took us to the RSL for lunch. There we met up with John & Judy, and Trevor & Fran. Stories told of the trip up and camping in Siberia, you know the drill.
Back to the event to get our earplugs, pickup my seat that I had given to the Goodwool guy to make a pattern from, have a look at the rest of the stalls and try and get Ugo onto the bus for Saturday night. Long story…..you had to be there.
Bumped into more people we knew and had a sit down outside the big tent where people were inside rehearsing for the nights entertainment. We did note that there were fewer traders stalls than we expected, and while most motorcycle manufacturers were there with display bikes and for test riding, Suzuki had a different set up with the test bikes being predominately V-Stroms. The new model in both the 650 and 1000 seem like a very good bike for them, and quite a lot of bike for the money. The older ones are certainly good. Dinner on the waterfront at Port Macquarie and another excellent wine.
Friday was back out to the AGM site after an excellent breakfast sitting out in a courtyard area in the sun. Picked up my wool seat cover, and that was very good service to have given them the seat less than 24 hours before. The extended NatCom meeting was in the RSL in Wauchope and I met up with Flipa just as I got there. Lunch was multiple plates of sandwiches and tea, coffee and juices and provided a very good feed. They got 180 odd invitees which seemed like a good number, and if only 2 members from every Branch were allowed, then 90 Branches were represented.
At the start, Helena explained that it was their Committee meeting, and that we were there as interested observers until questions at General Business. That, of course, didn't stop a few members from trying to second motions and vote on motions of Committee business. I could sense, if not see, the exasperation from the Committee, but they were quite patient and explained the process again every time it happened.
Before the meeting began, it seemed by the small talk I overheard, there were quite a few who seemed ready to ask some difficult questions of the Committee, but as the Committee Members delivered their reports, their detailed explanations seemed to quell the bloodbath that some Committee Members thought it may be. All in all, very civilised, and really not all that interesting. Did I mention the sandwiches were good? Dinner tonight at an Italian, and actually the same place as I had breakfast, and with the same waitress. Some people work very long hours.
Saturday morning early saw the gathering of the bikes for the parade. There was an existing shop on the site and the local Lions had a setup of egg and bacon rolls and a coffee for a fiver. Breakfast done while watching all the early morning joggers pound up and down the tracks by the river. There seemed to be a great many groups (mainly female) doing this, and was quite entertaining for a while. All that energy and so early……..but, it was sunny. The parade was the usual stop start slow affair, but not many kids made you realise that this is predominately a retiree and visitor city. It finished, I am guessing, quite a lot earlier that the organisers had anticipated and there were many calls to start the speeches early. However, I am assuming again, that dignitaries were given a start time, but by the time the speeches began, more than half the bikes had gone and with the smaller attendance this year, it was noticeable. While there was a coffee stall, a hotdog van and an ice-cream van at the finish point, most headed across to the large shopping centre attached to the venue for the AGM.
Again the Committee was a little caught out by the numbers, and it was a little late starting, but they went through their reports again as yesterday, and again there were very few actual questions put to the Committee. There were some members that had a say, but not really sure what they were actually trying to do, a lot of them didn't seem to have any actual question. You all know the election results so I won’t repeat them here. Saturday night saw us on a bus (free) to the AGM dinner. Im not really sure what happened with the bus bookings, but from being told that there were 130 odd on the standby list for the busses, and that no others had been put on, we were very surprised to find more than a dozen spare seats on ours. We had been pre warned about the noise levels from the band and in fact the police had been called out to quieten it on the Tuesday night, so with this in mind, we grabbed a table as far from the band as we could. This turned out to be very close to the bar, so a win win. Unfortunately, being so far from the band meant that the announcements of the various winners of things during the evening was unintelligible. I think there were about 18 of us from Shearwaters there which was a very good turnout. The noise levels did force a great number out of the tent and the cold outside make them head to the busses, and quite a few sat there for an hour waiting for the busses to go. Downside of using the busses and I suspect a lot got cabs which is where the long standby list went. Had to be cold camping that night though, and no sleep until the noise stopped.
Sunday morning, woo hoo, road trip. 8 am saw us depart along the Oxley Hwy heading for Walcha with a damp road and overcast sky. Those that have done the Oxley will know that it can be a sensational, very twisty piece of road, and uphill is the direction to tackle it in. You will also know that there are very long sections of double lines and very few passing opportunities. This didn't seem to matter to the local (and I am going to say BMW club as they were predominately riding that brand) off road motorcycle club as they roared past us over the double lines on blind corners. They were a sizeable group, more than a dozen certainly, and seemed to be organised as they had 3 people on the side of the road pointing the group down a dirt road. I was tempted to stop and hand out organ donor cards as a lot of them won’t be using theirs for much longer. Normally I wouldn't care much about the foolhardy actions of idiots, but when they deliberately threaten my safety, I become a little miffed. Into Walcha and fuel and a hot chocolate at the Royal Hotel. Excellent hot chocolate and the fire there was being used by the numerous motorcyclists on the way through. Actually pleased to have a little mist in places as it was softening the bugs on the bike. I was hoping to have it washed at the AGM, but there wasn't a wash stand as there is sometimes at the AGM’s manned by the scouts or local schools.
Continued on the Oxley Hwy to Tamworth, much more open country now and then south on the New England Hwy to Willow Tree, but the cunning plan to run South West to Merriwa turned out to be gravel for some distance. Fine for me, but…….. So, through Scone, Muswellbrook and the Golden Valley Hwy to a lovely little Cake & Pastry shop in Merriwa with a bunch of old ladies having their lunch. The open country had made the Kms go quickly, but still enough to keep us interested, and the big open cotton fields were interesting in their own right. I would imagine most would be sprayed by crop-duster, and I was particularly interested in spotting the single strand wire (telephone?) wire running diagonally across a lot of the open paddocks. From Merriwa we ran west to Cassillis and south through Ulan to Mudgee. We did come across the roadworks that had been the downfall of John & Judy the week before, but the dirt was dry and hard packed. Back into Mudgee around 4:30 after some 620Kms. Another excellent steak that I got the chef to cook.
South on the Castlereagh Hwy to Wallerawang and a bakery there for morning tea. Cold start and so the hot chocolate there was good, and although the pastries looked excellent, we resisted. Only so much the stomach will take an hour after bacon & eggs. Backroads from there including the Old Western Hwy that turned out to be single track. Must have been a hard drive when it was just the Western Hwy! Then Sodwalls Rd, Mutton Falls Rd and Lowes Mount Rd into Oberon and fuel. Only 55Kms from Wallerawang, but took 50 minutes, really lovely scenery, hilly, twisty, single track but in excellent condition. From Oberon, Abercrombie Rd (and what another excellent road) took us into Goulburn for a fuel stop on the outskirts, and we pushed on to Bungendore and ‘The Pie Place’ for a late lunch. It was OK, but not convinced by the number of stars given by Trip Advisor.
Through Queanbeyan (no real way around it) and the Old Cooma Rd to the Monaro Hwy to Cooma. We had a lucky break as the Pancake & Crepe Restaurant at Bredbo was closed, so no extra Kilos and an early arrival into Cooma. 520 Kms for the day. The cold weather gear had been on for most of the day, I recall it got above 10 degrees sometime after Goulburn.
I found out this morning that my temperature gauge for external temperature does indeed show negatives. I had never seen it below 0.0 before, but at 7:45 as we got going, it showed -1.5. However, it was a bright and sunny morning, and even the -4.0 it showed 30 minutes later didn't spoil a great run south on the Monaro. Stop in Bombala for fuel and then Cann River at the cafe for Hot Chocolate. It’s still a great bit of road, and no traffic. I did notice though, the road surface deteriorated as we entered Victoria, and I seem to remember it was the other way around a few years back. It seems that the road works are slowing in Vic and increasing in NSW. Rode straight through Bruthen for the first time ever, and into Bairnsdale for fuel and quite a long stop at a cafe there.
With the forecast looking grim, and pretty much over the trip now, we opted for the Freeway run home. Much easier to deal with the quite savage at times, cross winds and very heavy rain, though we were back into the teens for temperature. I do believe that I enjoy cold, sunny and calm to warmer, blustery and torrential. Turnoff at Pakenham through Koo Wee Rup and home a little before 5pm and 625 Kms for the day.
So, all in all, an excellent road trip with good company, met some interesting people, the new moulded earplugs are a big improvement over the old 10yo pair, and the Goodwool seat cover (they advertise in Riding on) is excellent, excellent!