Good writeup, Alan.
When I left Portland Friday morning 8am, I had clear but chilly weather for almost 1 km from home... and then it started hailing.
30 Km up the road, it stopped before I reached Heywood, but was replaced with bone-chilling sleet and rain almost to Mt Gambier.
Didnt even get to Gambier airport on the way north before the hail started again, short sharp flurries which continued until
I had to stop on the side of the road just north of Narracoorte, because I was shivering so bad that I did not feel that I had sufficient control.
Does not help that right side Oxford heated grip has failed. (Next job on the list)
I could only maintain around 75/80 average speed because of bad visibility for the first 250 Km so far.
Once off the Riddoch Hwy and heading for Bordertown, I had clear skies, and it warmed up a tad.
From Bordertown to Loxton was an interesting trip, very little traffic on the hwy, but the road for 25 Km north of Pinnaroo is bad and patchy.
I will not say that it needs repairing badly, because they have already achieved that. 70 kph max through this area, if you want both tyres on the ground, and your bum to remain on the seat. I filled my jerrycan at Loxton, because I was getting low on fuel in the tank, and that 5 litres would be sufficient to allow me to refill at Loxton on the return journey. Still had about 2 litres in the tank when I arrived Paringa around 580 km trip
Arrived and booked in to caravan park around 3 pm. Warm and comfy in well equipped and maintained unit, slept from 9pm til 8am.
Tony, the manager, is a terrific guy, very friendly, and I will ensure that next time I am in the area I will at least pop in and have a chat.
Booked out before 10 am, even tho Tony said I could wait in the unit until the team arrived.
Parked the bike where it was visible from both directions on the Hwy, and sat and waited... and waited... Jd and chippy drove in and chatted, and booked into the park. Next arrival was Lone Rider from Mildura. and then a burst of others, Pete and Chris, Richo, John G, Langers, and Nigel arrived, had to wait awhile for Alan and Heather, but we were all there by around 12.30
Meal was terrific, but just a bit too much on the plate for me as I am only a small eater. Fantastic service from the staff, as we had the whole room to ourselves. I think everyone had a great time, with chats and general banter, a couple of jokes, and lots of chat about bikes, fixits and farkles.
I left around 3 pm, made extremely good time back to Bordertown, only saw 3 cars and a truck on the road outside of towns. Sun was dropping below clouds as I passed Bordertown on the way to Narracoorte, and full dark as I passed through there enroute to Mt Gambier.
The further south I went, the colder it got, but it was not the freezing conditions encountered on the way to Paringa.
Counted 7 fresh roadkill between Mt Gambier and Portland, one was an impact with a car ahead of me, the roo went over the bonnet, smashed his screen, and over the roof and skidded to a stop on the other side of the road. The driver had only overtaken me a few minutes earlier.
No injuries to the driver, and he had less than 20Km to get home with no screen and only one headlight.
Arrived home 9.30 pm to be greeted by two happy cats, and turned on heating while I had a hot shower to remove the chills.
Didn't unpack the bike until this morning.
Had a great time, good to catch up with old friends and meet new faces.
