I'll be at the Gem pub, Stapylton, Gold Coast for lunch (maybe dinner) on Wednesday. Would be good to catch up with any forum riders nearby.

Leaving 9am Monday from Kilmore Victoria in a 15 tonne truck with two drop offs in New South of about an hour each, Qeanbeyan  and Armadale and the required breaks.  I'm assuming no down time for the recent floods up there. Maybe some locals can tell me if I'm dreaming about  the timeline, or roads that are closed.

Dave you've got three so far SSD, Bruce and myself, weather dependant. We are currently subjected to another round of heavy rain it's supposedly not going to be as bad as the last round.
Regards Martin.

That's about ten minutes from me and I know where it is, so I can make it.  I will be driving as I am still broken from the Southern Run.  

Even though we are experiencing a couple of days of heavy rain, it is far enough away from Beenleigh River not too flood.  If you are coming up the New England Hwy via Armidale and the Logan Motorway then I cannot see any problems with flooding.  Just don't go through Boonah or Beaudesert.  

Not sure if this is becoming a habit of only meeting at pubs, Mr Daveyson  

Sorry I'm out   
Would have enjoyed the chance for a catch up  but Sian and Calan (the youngest man child  in the house) have both tested positive  for the Rona virus this morning

I think I may be able to make it. I have had a death in family so waiting on more info on that. Regards Poddy

Plenty of roadworks on the New England Hwy all the way up through Tamworth, Armidale and towards the border. When things go pear-shaped on the M1 and coastal routes, the trucks get diverted to the NE hwy and the surface gets cut up accordingly. Nothing dramatic, but it'll slow things down a bit.

Thanks everyone and for the road tips. 

No drama if it doesn't work out I probably average a trip to the Gold Coast every three months. 

Made it to queanbeyan but after closing, room booked for armadale tomorrow, won't make lunch Wednesday but aiming for dinner instead.

Normally deliver concrete sleepers, but sometimes, this time, concrete fence rails and posts. 

Lasts a life time. 

Come getts you some. 

Would have been good to gather, but I've got alternative commitments.

Dave.   I was one of the 3 that Martin said were coming.   I could have made it at lunchtime but unfortunately have work commitments in the lat afternoon/evening so won't be able to make it on this occasion.  Next time I am in though.

Kind regards Bruce

Apologies Dave, I could do lunch but not dinner. I was looking forward to the meetup, maybe next trip. SSD is in the same boat.
Regards Martin.

No worries the way I'm going I'm not even sure if I'll be there by dinner.

The further north I getts the worse the weather getts. 

Probs have a better idea later tomorrow.

And the times they are a changing

Have a geez at this.



The tank wasn't even empty. It can now cost more than  $400 to fuel up from empty, that's more than I paid for my car. 



.

A few hiccups today, didn't get much further than Muswellbrook, but yes the New England is plain sailing. So now I'm thinking Thursday I'm at the pub.

Dave keep us informed as to possible arrival time.
Regards Martin.

Just stopped at Glen Innes so might even make it before closing later tonight.

It's Wednesday 1:30 pm at the moment.

I'll give you five hours then.  

It being 2:00pm Qld time, we can expect you at the pub for 7:00pm local time.  I expect it will be too late to offload your cargo when you arrive.

Now Thursday Lunch.
I just had a talk to Dave due to the fact that he won't be here until late the meetup has been moved to Thursday lunch. SSD and Bruce and myself will now be attending..
Regards Martin.

And if the pubs open when I rock up tonight, ill be having both, a beer tonight and lunch tomorrow, I'm known for my willpower.

Took an hour at Glen Innes trying to get rid of a brain ache, and then I said to meself hey Daveson why don'ts you go getts you some headache tablets, that fixed it.

G"day all due to family funeral unable to make it.

Dunno why the roads at Armadale remind me of water-skiing back in the days.




Saw three rolled over cars on the road along the way. It's enough to make a bloke guess the road conditions haven't been crash hot lately, for some reason.

So I've finally gone and gotts me Stapylton pub run done. 

Just had a quiet one. 

Lunch tomorrow come getts you some.

Had a good turnout SSD, Bruce, Dan, Tackler, and myself to meetup with Daveyson. Good food and banter enjoyed by all. Traffic was good on the way down but pretty heavy but bearable on the way back.
Regards Martin.

Sorry i missed this  some days i hate having to work 

Cheers Jamie

Booked into stanthorpe for the night, another drop off at Armadale tomorrow, then back to Vic.

Was a good chat and to meet some more brick icons. Plus got heaps of tips today, work tips and brick tips.

One thing I forgots, if you're  a Victorian going to Queensland don't wear a long sleeve shirt, or you'll look like a tourist in your own country.

Any chance of a who's who of the folks in the photo?  Same with those nice looking bricks. 

Wish I could get down there to meet up with a bunch of you guys.

Clockwise
 daveyson, long sleeve shirt (he's from Victoria)
Bruce striped shirt
Martin blue shirt, black k75
Dave (tackler) red k75
Dan (standard k) standard k
SSD (Paul) red k100rt

Cool!  Thanks!

I know I'm looking forward to when I can hook up with the Kanucks up north again.

daveyson wrote:One thing I forgots, if you're  a Victorian going to Queensland don't wear a long sleeve shirt, or you'll look like a tourist in your own country.

And shorts.  

Everyone wears shorts, even in winter.  Workboots and football socks are acceptable in lieu of thongs.

It nice how much effort goes into maintaining historical bridges. 



Had the privilege of meeting Charlie on the way back, another icon of brickdom.

Gotts to Coonabarabran.

"wish I could get down there to meet up with a bunch of you guys"

Every cloud has a silver lining, I'm thinking flights could be really cheap now cause of the virus effect on air travel.

I'd love to shout you a beer for all the pm'd help you've given me.

It's on my list.  But first I need to ride to Alaska.  Unfortunately, my vax status precludes leaving the U.S..  Hoping that someday our rulers get a dose of rationalism and allow the peons freedom to travel.

As far as air travel cost, with the price of fuel, I expect it will get even more expensive.

daveyson wrote:It nice how much effort goes into maintaining historical bridges. 



Had the privilege of meeting Charlie on the way back, another icon of brickdom.

Gotts to Coonabarabran.

"wish I could get down there to meet up with a bunch of you guys"

Every cloud has a silver lining, I'm thinking flights could be really cheap now cause of the virus effect on air travel.

I'd love to shout you a beer for all the pm'd help you've given me.

You should have seen it before they fixed it

So clocked up 940km today and made it home. All's I got to do now is do some mile munching on a bike instead of a truck, to find out what the thing about it is.

Haven't watched the news in six days, bit of a relief actually.

Thanks to everyone for adding to the mix. 

Heaps of grey nomads slowing things down last time (6 to 8 December 2021) None this time? 

Dunno why my sedan feels like a low sports car at the moment

Point-Seven-five wrote:Cool!  Thanks!

I know I'm looking forward to when I can hook up with the Kanucks up north again.

Hear, hear .75!  It's been two years since I crossed over the border and it would be great to meet up this year if possible.  Glad you gentlemen from Oz could get together.  We here in Canada have had some provincial borders closed along the way but overall this was quite limited and over quickly compared to you folk.

Woodie wrote:

Point-Seven-five wrote:Cool!  Thanks!

I know I'm looking forward to when I can hook up with the Kanucks up north again.

Hear, hear .75!  It's been two years since I crossed over the border and it would be great to meet up this year if possible.  Glad you gentlemen from Oz could get together.  We here in Canada have had some provincial borders closed along the way but overall this was quite limited and over quickly compared to you folk.

C'mon down when the riding weather gets a little better and I'll fix you up with some of the Barbill's beef on weck and wings.

Sounds good Jim, I'm in!  Getting close on the weather.  I've been out a couple of times in the last three weeks but we've still been getting some snow.

Snow here too.  Flurries in the forecast and lots of salt on the roads.  The bike is going to have to wait a couple more weeks.

Hey Jim there's a few ways to get into Australia if your not vaxed, here's two ways, don't try the first way. 

Way 1

A few unvaxed  people got in if they previously and recently tested positive then negative. The positive was considered to have given them a level of immunity. 

The last bloke I heard of that tried it tested positive then negative just before he needed to enter (but obviously that was just a coincidence) even though he had a prior positive (coincidence) Der Spiegel ran his positive test result and it came back negative, but that was fixed up in short order. He refused to state his vax status, therefore allowing him into the country (but not necessarily through customs) His team were seen on video giving the F U and laughing about getting through the loophole. There's a lot of votes in acting against someone who says F U to OZ (just a coincidence) prior to that our PM said he should be allowed in. His declaration as to the number of countries he was recently in was false ( obviously just someone else's unintentional oversight, he said) 

He was a tennis player. His team was informed the week before he was due to play at 6:05pm on the Friday before play that his visa was cancelled, that is five minutes after the 6:00 pm evening news (just a coincidence) incredibly he got a full bench of the federal court the next day! (coincidence) On the weekend, a Saturday, that Sabbath to boot (coincidence) The case was finished in one day (coincidence) He had a lot of money (coincidence) And a decision the next day! Sunday!  (coincidence) deported the same day, one day before due to play (coincidence) the first decision went for him, the second decision went against him (coincidence) 

His name was Novax or something like that, but THAT is the coincidence.

Way 2

The idea has already been floated that since the crises atmosphere is calming down that we should shortly consider dropping all covid restrictions and return to normal.

It's only a matter of time before this happens, I hope it's soon cause I owe you some beers. Hopefully some of your mates will pop over too.

Unfortunately, I don't think I caught the covid despite my best attempts to get it.  If did, it had to be asymptomatic because I haven't even had the sniffles in over three years.  I suppose I should taalk to my doctor to see if I have the antibodies.

It's good to see that things seem to be loosening up down there.  I just saw one of your politicians speaking out about the lockdowns. The problem at this end is that I can't get on an airplane without proof of vax and Oz is a long swim.  I am hoping that as things calm down with the scamdemic the vax requirement will go away.

Surprising, Novax did, things are always changing. Anyway I'm hopeful it will all be back to normal soon. I appreciate much more now how nice it is to just have a simple dinner at a pub after they've been closed for so long.

Anyway l think Denmark was the first a few months ago, quickly followed by a few others, to scrap all covid travel restrictions. I think they're going OK, so might be here soon too.

Hey Paul, This might fix your heat problem. My bike originally had the same plastic trimming as yours between the forks and the upper fairing. It was way too hot on my lower legs. Looking at yours reminded me that I replaced them with a different type from one of my other bricks, which has what I'll call air scoops. This might have been what fixed it. 

Who knows, Martin might even have some bits left over from his mudflap bucket. There's also spose to be some trimming between the upper and lower fairing to direct the heat out the side vents of the lower fairing.

On second thoughts yours might be different to my original one, cause I think yours had a lip above the fairing. Could it be that yours is installed upside down to mine?