I had originally planned on doing the ride alone, but Dave (Shiney) - whom had not done this sort of distance before, organised to come with me, so we added a 2004 Honda ST1300, so much planning and practice went into the trip.
We made the plan simple, working on 500km a day, with plenty of breaks, so you can see the world a little, while making sure you are looking after yourself and enjoying the ride you are doing
Day 1 Toowoomba to Tamworth Monday 501kmShiney came down Sunday night, so we could get up and on our way, we where up and stomping around early, and i am sure Teela was glad to be rid of us as the trip is all we spoke about for the entire time they where there....
Met up with Duncan in Warwick, it was then we realized that he was riding Skidmarks bike! We Stopped in tenterfield at blue bells cafe as the great coffee shop i promised the boys was closed!
Lunch with ST2UP in Guyra, which was the first of many good feeds put on by OzSTOC members on our trip, after good coffee and food we headed for Tamworth with Steveo coming out to meet us and bring us in
Duncan was moteling it, while Shiney and i decided to camp at the Paradise caravan park, which is where i first sighted the Taj Mahal Tent that Shiney takes with him, We went to dinner at the little Chinese place with Steveo, all round a damn good start to the day
Day 2 Tamworth to West Wyalong 610km Tuesday 5.30am start discovered that Shiney makes a good cup of Nestle Coffee/Milk mix, Rode out of Tamworth Heading for Tony's place in West Wyalong, Got down the road to Coonabarabran for breakfast, which would turn out to be the first of many lots of bacon and eggs.....
We picked up Abe in Parkes on the way through after breakfast, it was a pretty uneventful trip, apart from one very very interesting stretch of roadworks that caused abe to laugh at my rear end.....but the crowning moment was arriving at Tony's house!
Tony was not home and his wife Heather greeted us as we pulled in what a reception! Cold beer, Air conditioning, Home cooked meal on the stove, one hell of a comfortable couch and throw in the Trifle for desert, as you can see below, we did it tough! (side note if there is how tony is greeted every time he comes home half the group will be moving to West Wyalong to live with him)
Day 3 West wyalong to Mildura Wednesday 550kmWoke up, and the Hospitality continued, Fantastic home cooked bacon eggs for breakfast to start our day, i am not sure that any of us wanted to leave....
but we sadly continuned to Goolgowi to meet up with Sabie, who commented on the fact of his 200km ride west and 3 day ride south to meet us! I used to be an overseer on property near here called Gunbar just near here so it was a little trip down memory lane for me. We now had five of us travelling together
none of us had really ever ridden together so seeing us all working out each others habits was interesting, and yet a quite amusing, from my arm waving talking Shiney through what all the farm stuff was, Duncan feet dancing on the bike, Sabie who was playing with his technology, and Abe who was patiently trying to find one of who would do a consistent speed
and of course we came to the Legendary Hay Plains Hay plains, something everyone should do once, just to see how open the world really can be although the first thing we really saw was a red light....
Poor Duncan at this time, was discovering a Leather Jacket, and western NSW where a great Jenny Craig competitor, but not great for riding! we got great value cabins at the Big 4 Cross Roads in Mildura, and Lonerider and octane came out to dinner with us at the gateway tavern
Day 4 Mildura to Middleton Thursday 425kmThen it was the final stretch to Middleton, but first we had to get across the border, and the Fruit and Veg police, i rolled up first, and the nice lady came out and asked me" do you have any Fruit or Veg on board?" my answer " No veg, but you might want to check with the 4 fruits behind me
" i am still laughing at the one...
then it was the obligatory photo at the border
Breakfast at Loxton, Lots of road works at 80km became very frustrating which slowed us down, although i did learn i could headbutt a bird at a 100km and not know i hit it until everyone else tells me, and Always double check your GPS with a map as you might miss out on some great roads...not that i may have blindly followed my GPS and added a little to our trip....
Arrived Middleton caravan park around 3, great little spot, even brought RTE Scooby out for a photo!
Day 5 Middleton Friday Up Early, as I was seriously excited, how could I not be? We were about to have ST1100s and ST1300s all over the place….The first arrivals started around 10am, and the picture started to build, watching the bikes pulling in beside cabins, the tents going up, the old faces shaking hands from last year, the new ones gleefully walking around looking at bikes, and greeting the old hands, welcomed like they were part of the family.
Handing out rally gear left right and centre, running around talking, it rolled into mid afternoon, I had done the food and grog stuck up early so that i could get into socializing, and stinky Pete was an excellent man who kept my wine glass full, even when Teela turned up i was full of smiles
I even found a stray Turtle!
and then it was onto meet and greet, they even had to open up a spare room for us all for dinner
and some guy there looked like someone had put Diesel in his food....
Thus ends Part one of my Ride report, Part 2 will be continued soon.....
