nice loop Floyd

Great pics Floyd, as BAE said very arty, they look fantastic in black and white.

Gaz ,  top ride report mate, looks like a great weekend was had with good Kompany, .good group pic too
BTW Gaz that seat looks comfy.

Gaz!  Great write up. Looking forward to the journey home. Glad you didn't embarrass me by mentioning my get-off at Hill End. (Major seniors moment!)

Tom and I both made it safely to our respective homes. Had a great week, esp meeting up with RT, Andy, Halo and Floyd (and, of course, Chris)

Looking forward to the next one.

Cheers, Rickmeister.

floyd wrote:
Born Again Eccentric: To be honest Im a country boy and we are far to trusting. 

Being a trusting country boy is a nice way to be. I just wondered because it is an issue that bugs me when the bike is loaded up.

It's a sad reflection on life, that over here I am nervous about leaving anything on my bike when I'm touring or even on a run into town. I even worry about leaving the GPS on the bike when I'm at a service station and have to go inside to pay and the bike is out of sight for only a few minutes (I prefer pay at the pump stations - don't even have to get off the bike or remove helmet). It's not so much the value of the stuff, but the inconvenience of getting something stolen by some toe rag who thinks it's fair game because it wasn't locked away out of sight and temptation (insurance companies kind of support this attitude by making out it's the victims fault for not securing stuff properly).

Don't have a gps or satnav.......must have been the boy scouts when I was young.....Damn it have to be careful how you say these things now.

Well folks! back again for the rest of the report. You will notice that as sometimes happens after a big night, the level of enthusiasm for recording the travels tends to wane a bit.

Anyhow to continue - the hotel staff at the Great Southern had been kind enough to allow us to lock up the bikes in the drive through bottle shop at the end of Saturday night trading so Floyd's, Rick, Tom and my machines were incarcerated. We, that is the three Hunter Krew, were downstairs at a respectable hour and the morning staff unlocked the bottle shop to let the bikes out - and indicated that they only wanted to do this once so we moved Floyd's out as well - seems like he found it parked out the back as he has got home again.

For some reason, as predicted by RT, one of our number who shall remain nameless decided that he would follow rather than lead this morning, so the three of us headed north (still not having sighted Floyd - what time did you get up Floyd?). We wound our way up the coast road, with the traffic fairly light at this time of the morning, until we reached Bega where we fuelled up and had breakfast - yes the koffee went down very well!

After breakfast our route continued north along the Princes Highway, through Moruya where we gave a thought to Waz who was there somewhere battling a front brake problem but like true kommrades we didn't stop to help as we had a long way to go and truth be known on Sunday morning we wouldn't have been much help anyway. About 10:30am we had the benefit of being stopped by the police for a Random Breath Test to ensure that we were not under the weather - I remember the time as I was immediately doing mental calculations as to how many hours since my last drink. Naturally we were all fine!!

As we approached Batemans Bay the traffic was starting to build up and we were pleased to turn off inland for the delightful run up the mountain to Braidwood where another koffee was in order. With a couple of koffees on board, normal service was resumed and the gentleman with the sticking wrist zoomed off in the lead, not to be seen again by Tom or myself until we reached the pub at Taralga. To be fair though it wasn't all his fault as all three of us became widely spaced leaving Braidwood due to traffic and both Tom and I missed the turnoff to Goulburn some 27 km down the road and continued on to Bungendore before heading to Goulburn and on to Taralga.

Another great country pub with under cover parking for the bikes. Got into some conversation with a Hardly rider of the non-patched variety from Cootamundra who was on the road for a few days with a mate. Tucked into some pizza and had an early night.

Monday morning we were homeward bound via Oberon which was cold (I know, I know, for us I meant. We'll get you northern hemisphere types back when we get you on the road and its 43 deg C), Hampton, Mt Victoria, the Bell Line of Road and then up the Putty Road into the Hunter Valley. We had a rest stop at the Grey Gum Cafe half way along the Putty Road and can recommend it to fellow riders. At the village of Broke I parted kompany with my two travel partners to head off to my part of the Hunter - a great 6 day odyssey and one I hope will be repeated many times.

For those that are interested in such details; I have downloaded our tracks from my GPS and compiled them onto a Google map which should open in Google Maps on your computer if you have it installed allowing full zoom in and out. It can be found at this link.

Some basic stats; Home to Eden was 1,406 km, Eden to home was 844 km for a round trip of 2,250 km.

Until next time (and then I'll try to take photos on the way home as well).

Cheers

G'day All, Great write up Gaz. Confirms that you are the Team 75 Scribe. Fantastic trip because it was great to meet up with Rick and Marg,Andy,Halo,Chris RT,Sharon and the most junior member of the forum, Floyd. The best part of the ride was from Khancoban to Thredbo over the Snowy mountains.The pub stays were entertaining especially the pub at Dalgety and Eden. Looking forward to the Alpine Rally. Cheers Tom

good to hear the weekend finished on a successful note. many of us wishing we were on the road with you for the journey.

Smashing Write up Gaz, thanks for the maps too. I see some twisties on there which is good. I was begining to think all roads in Austrailia were slow curves and mind numbing straights. As for riding in 43c - I don't think me brain would work!
6c here this bright morning. Taking the bike to town later, no need for winter liners in this heat!! 

88KE wrote:Smashing Write up Gaz, thanks for the maps too. I see some twisties on there which is good. I was begining to think all roads in Austrailia were slow curves and mind numbing straights. As for riding in 43c - I don't think me brain would work!
6c here this bright morning. Taking the bike to town later, no need for winter liners in this heat!! 

Will

6c? You mean 43F

That's just my 6c worth.

Frost, sun came out and a clear blue sky, just what the K is made for. Such a shame I too have to go out on the K in it......

floyd wrote:Camped last night (and every night on the way to the meet up) but came down with a slight migrane today and slept a few hours under a tree in a park in Tumut.

You have my complete sympathy. That's one affliction I've had my entire life and it usually kills me for two days approximately a dozen times a year. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Well, maybe my worst enemy.

Been there too. Spent 3 months in hospital when I was 23 and used it to try to explore the causes. I found they leave voids, get one and go somewhere dark and rest.

Yup Migraines are one of the worst things ever.

Ive had them my entire life, maybe on average once ever year or 2, but this years Ive had 2 already. They are a lot more mild then when I was a kid, but maybe thats coz I can spot it coming on.

I get the whole blurred vision, seeing stars, cant focus on anything....then about 15-20 mins later the head ache hits and I fell like vomiting. Just need to dose up on pills, lay perfectly still and try and sleep.....

A dozen a year would be hell!

G'day All, just re-read Gaz's great write up and found that what made the ride really great was that Rickmeister for some reason did not bust any Shockies. That RAM shock must be really,really solid. Cheers Tom

what a win situation tom ...giggles

ride well mate