The venue for last weekend's SA/VIC RTE was the Hermitage Hotel in Harrow.
The GoodGreat friendly service the food was good. Well, I was happy with what I had. Perhaps Stroppy and Chops could elaborate more since they had both lunch and dinner there (and breakfast the following morning).
The BadA bucks night carrying on long after we'd made our way back to our rooms and me having one with a window to that area meant I got the full brunt of it.
The UglyAfter the bucks night had gone the staff remained there until well after 2:30am chattering away. It was quite loud and they kept me awake. I wasn't too impressed with that.
If a RTE was to be held there again in the future I would definitely attend but I think I'll stay elsewhere.
Rex did say there was a story to this hat, but I didn't get the hear it.
Stroppy and Chops also attended from the nation's capital.
Now to the ride. I managed to score monday off so I made a long weekend of it, riding to Mildura on the sunday and returning home on the monday. As usual I departed home in the dark but it was quite light by the time I arrived in Tailem Bend. The sun would poke its head out a few minutes later.
I saw the new Motor Park at the Bend (can't remember it's actual name) so rode in for a bit of a look. I couldn't get the bike on the track but was able to walk on to it and take a couple of photos.
My planned breakfast stop was Keith andafter refuelling sat down for breakfast. When I had stopped here on a road trip to Horsham a few years ago there were birds in a cage in the meal room. I did notice that it wasn't there although I could hear chirping so I am guessing they moved it. Someone did ask me about it in Harrow.
I veered off the main drag not long after this to check out Mundulla. The old Mundulla Hotel was the venue for one of the few SA RTE's I was unable to attend so I thought I'd check it out.
From there it was to Frances. I initially went the wrong way out of Mundulla until I saw a left hand turn for a road to Padthaway and after doing some calculations in my head thinking that can't be right (in both meanings of the word) turned around and headed back towards Bordertown before making the right turn in to Frances Road.
Sometimes I cross the line:
It was the first time I'd seen one of these old SA border signs in four years. They's all be done in a new design but I guess this is one they forgot.
The big tuna at Edenhope... I presume it's a tuna. It had no signage and it's not listed on the wikipedia page for Australia's big things.
I managed to snap Ppopeye as he rode into Harrow.
And John G as well. He was the only other SA representative.
Day two saw me being the first to load my ride and put it in front of the hotel for the group photo. I joked to Williamson that I put it in the end so he could edit out the 'ring in' but the reality is that the kwaka was parked there first. Under normal circumstances I probably would have left earlier but a time was set for group photo and I had our state's flag so I was still there.
There was a straight road from Harrow to Wombelano but I had mapped out a course taking me from Harrow to Wombelano via Balmoral. For some reason I wanted to look at Balmoral although I never actually saw much there. Stroppy zoomed past me on the way there and Chops would also pass me when I stopped for a photo. I saw this lake at Douglas which was pretty cool.
A year ago to the day on my way home from the Halls Gap RTE I passed a lot of silo art in towns from Rupanyup to Patchewollock. Somebody on here pasted pictures of all of them on here about a week later. I recognized thenm all but one, Lascelles. I didn't go to Lascelles on that trip. I had lunch in Hopetoun on the way from Harrow to Mildura and dropped into Lascelles after lunch.
A touch of irony.
Believe it or not, this was my forst interstate trip for 2018. The other side of this river is New South Wales. JohnnYted advised me they are a friendly lot.
It took me a while but I finally stumbled across an I form the make a word thread. I think an I was what stopped me completing the current word.
Big Lizzie at Red Cliffs:
Like buses none for ages and then two come along at once. I would refuel at the On The Run at Irymple before checking into my accommodation in Mildura. On The Runs are everywhere in South Australia but it would appear that they now have infiltrated Victoria. There could be one in Broken Hill nowadays for all I know.
Day three would see me cross into New South Wales to check out that friendly lot and be able to say I have been to two states this year.
From Curlwaa it was back into Victoria at Yelta and on the Sturt Highway heading for Renmark. I've traversed this a few times now but this it the first time I turned off to look at Lake Cullelleraine.
This is what the current South Australia border signs look like.
The Big Dunlop Tye at Yamba.
For some reason I chose to ride the kwaka into Lindsay Point and back to Paringa. I dodn't know why because I had done it on another bike three and a half years ago and I knew that there was nothing of significance there, but it turned out to be a good decision because it meant I crossed the Paringa Bridge just as the controller was locking up the pedestrian gates so I stopped and asked him if he was about to raise it. He said yes so I crossed, u-turned, crossed back, parked the bike and walked down to the river bank and waited for the five or so mintes for it to be raised.
After brunch in Renmark I zigzaged a bit until Waikerie but I didn't take many photos as I had done most of it before. I'd crossed all the Murray River punts including the two interstate ones, but Lyrup was the only one not done on the kwaka. I rectified it yesterday.
It was well and truly toasty by then but I did stop to buy some fruit in Waikerie and a couple f hydration stops in Blanchetown and Evanston before doing the new underpass at Hindmarsh on the way home.
I'm looking forward to Finniss next month.
