Miriam Vale RTE Report
When we proposed an RTE to Miriam Vale this weekend just past, life was a little bit different, and we planned to come down on our STeed (Miss Scarlett) and staying nearby, overnight Friday. Life has a way of bringing change, though. Kate's back is beginning to play up pretty badly, so Plan B was for John to ride down alone to meet up with whoever was going to make it to Miriam Vale. One further change came along, and we acquired OzDog, a retired racing greyhound more commonly known as Mouse. We are trying to show him the joys of travel so he can come along on our regular trips, and we thought we'd give him a bit of a taste of caravan life to see if he took to it.
Friday was a day of high stress for us, but then Saturday went like a dream as OzDog got used to our van, the backseat hammock in the car and being on a lead at all times. We stayed at the Boyne River Tourist Park in Benaraby. We're not giving it a recommendation, because to be honest it’s a bit tired and run-down. However, it’s cheap, pet friendly and well placed for the RTE. Plus, and this is a big plus, the view is brilliant and we had the place largely to ourselves.
Saturday morning, and into our club gear (including the dog), grab the flag and head off in the car at a civilised hour. Miriam Vale is a pretty little town which on this particular day was full of people in vans or on motorbikes, either out for a weekend ride, or participating in the Far Ride which terminated nearby at Turkey Beach. We arrived early and pulled into the car-park only to find that PC (Peter) and NavGirl20 (Marion) were there ahead of us, also with their van. This RTE coincided with their journey home after a long trip. This may well turn out to be the shape of things to come for some OzSTOCers, as the member demographic gets older and more of us are travelling in our retirement. We're all still STeed lovers, we're all still members, but sometimes, it's a Drive-To-Eat rather than a Ride-To-Eat, although the conversation is still bikes, bends and club stuff. Either way, good to catch up with friends you haven't seen for a while. It turns out that Peter & Marion actually lived and met here many moons ago, so it had fond memories for them.
We had coffee and then lunch at the Miriam Vale Café, where the burgers and coffee were good, dogs are cherished customers and there’s a stack of water bowls waiting for them. OzDog was wearing his bespoke OzSTOC club bandanna Kate made for him. We held the flag out – yes, it was a small gathering, but the company was excellent, and we'd all made an effort to be there. We'd asked PC if he'd be able to bring some OzSTOC shop stock with him, as we wanted an OzSTOC cloth patch to sew to OzDog's cold weather jacket for future events, and he was happy to oblige. You can see that Peter's wearing his infamous 'hair hat', but John's exposing his built-in solar panel, despite bringing his OzSTOC cap along... Luckily, sunburn was avoided as we'd nabbed a good table in the shady part of the dog-friendly zone.
PC and NavGirl20 continued south, heading for home. When we’d waved goodbye to the two of them, we were thrilled to see another familiar motorbike at the side of the road just one street away. Biggles (Bill) had been participating in the Far Ride and had just pulled over to let Leonie know all was well when we passed him, honking like hoons and doing a maybe legal U-ey in the street to catch up.
It was a fun couple of hours catching up and exchanging news, enjoying the beautiful weather and a change of scenery. Plus, of course, we discovered that we can all travel happily together and OzDog doesn't mind our van one bit. That's us sorted out for the longer trip we have planned in October, heading south to mid-north coast NSW...
Yes, 500+kms was a long way to go for a cup of coffee and a chat, but unless you make the effort, you lose touch with other club members. We're glad we made the effort, glad to catch up with PC and NavGirl20, glad we bumped into Biggles, and glad that OzDog took to van life pretty readily. Maybe next time he'll travel with Kate in the car while John pilots Miss Scarlett. We'll see! Cheers, John&Kate (& OzDog).
