After months of preparation and planning by the SA crew, the Middleton Rally finally arrived. I wanted to arrive early so that I could meet and greet the early arrivers, so on Thursday morning I headed off, via the Adelaide Airport to pick up Carol (Shiney's wife), as she flew in one day early due to Shiney miscalculating the time zone difference between QLD and SA. We had a beaut ride down through some of the scenic back roads that were not included on our Saturday ride and arrived around midday. First at the Caravan Park!.
As the day progressed a few more STs began drifting in. The local bakery, just up the road, did a roaring trade from us all weekend, serving good coffee, and great pies and pasties, rolls and buns. In the evening we wandered up to the Middleton Tavern, just 200 meters from the Middleton Caravan Park for a few drinks and a meal, and it was great to meet some new folk and catch up with old friends from Blackheath. I met with our breakfast caterers, Dan and Derrick from Goolwa Lions Club, on Thursday evening for final preparations, and then all was set for the 2013 Middelton Rally.
Friday saw pretty well everyone else from all over the country roll in, and the camp ground and cabins began to fill. Finally the place looked like there was an ST Rally happening. The other Caravan Park guests took a great interest I proceedings and many travellers stories were swapped. Late in the afternoon my wife Chris arrived with Streak's wife Teela. Friday evening about 40 of us headed for the Tavern again. There was little space available for us, so the long suffering Donna (after banging her head on a table a few times) opened up the front room that had been all prepared for us for our Saturday night gathering. The cooks coped well with the unexpected large number of additional meals, and all had a great evening.
Saturday morning arrived and I was soon to find out if all of the organising was going to come together. I was up at 6.45an (still dark!!) and helped the Goolwa Lions crew get set up for breakfast. What a magnificent meal it was. Snags, bacon, eggs, toast, beans, tomato, tea and coffee, and I sat back and soaked up the atmosphere and the food.
At 9.45 the police arrived. Not a bad thing, as I had requested their presence to block the road so that we could safely leave the Caravan Park together for our “Fleurieu Explorer”. At 10.00am on the dot , we turned
left right and headed off. The ride took us from Middleton to Clayton and Milang on the shores of Lake Alexandrina, through wine country to the regional town of Strathalbyn and across the ranges to the Greenman Inn at Ashbourne for lunch. We had barely arrived when it started to rain, but stopped just 10 minutes before our departure. Stephen and his staff did a great job of feeding the masses in very short time indeed. The road from Ashbourne to Meadows is one of the motorcycling gems in the region, but it was showery and puddled, and so it was a sedate and careful ride. We worked out way through the hills to the scenic ride along the top of the range to the Myponga Dam. With the south coast stretched out before us, be rode down into the beachside town of Carrickalinga and Yankalilla, and then along the Inman Valley Road towards Victor Harbor. I had arranged for us to use a grassed area at the golf club for a photo opportunity and the sight of almost 40 ST Hondas lined up was spectacular. We arrived back at Middleton by 4.30pm.
Saturday evening we headed again to the Middleton Tavern for our formal evening dinner, followed by our after diner speaker. Mr John Evans, from the SA Tourism Commission.. John spoke on the history and attractions of the region, which has encouraged many of us to return and explore further.
Presentation of Awards followed, and I was honoured to be awarded OzSTOC Member of the Year, and well as “Mileage Master” for having the ST with the highest average mileage per year. I was most surprised to receive this second award, when in the presence of so many FarRiders and IronButt riders. Many thanks to the most generous sponsors of all of the awards.
Sunday morning saw the Goolwa Lions provide us with a generous hot breakfast again, and soon after many OzSTOC members hit the road again for the journey home. The stragglers visited the Goolwa Motor Museum, the mouth of the River Murray, and the Goolwa Barrage which separates the sea water from the fresh river water. Sunday evening saw the last of the OzSTOCers sharing, pizza, beer, wine and stories in the camp kitchen.
It is only motorcyclists that will travel thousands of kilometers to go for a 200 km ride, have a feed in a pub and share stories with mates for a couple of days, and then turn around and go home again. This is the spirit of OzSTOC, and we'll all do it again soon.
