One by one the rest of the crew rolled in until we were all there.
We left at 11:00 and bored our way through to Cooma and on to the Snowy Mountains Highway, where the pace increased a tad until Adaminiby. Fuel and lunch and then the fun stuff begins!
Had a good run through to Kiandra (I am starting to think I like the “yellow line” bit almost as much as the Clyde these days!) where we regrouped.
From there it was down through the snowies, past Cabramurra, past our usual "smoko" stop at Tumut ponds and onto “Johno Corner”.
Continued on, then Carl, James and I left the rest of the group to make a detour into Khancoban to feed the fuelstorm. James and I swapped bikes from Khancoban to Tintaldra (38km) and it was very, very strange at first, felt like my feet were dragging on the ground, the pegs are so low and it is a lot heavier and just generally different (it is a Honda after all) but after a few kays got a bit used to it so pushed it out a bit, then mostly stuck with the others through to Tintaldra (backed it off heaps though on the corners cuz it felt like a barge compared to the 6). James wasn’t real impressed with the 6 either! No taste… anyway…
Got into Tintaldra right smack on bourbon o’clock, got our rooms sorted then into the pub for an evening of drinking and merriment! No idea what time we started or what time we finished.
Glenn rolled in eventually having come straight from work, damn he's hard to catch with a camera!
I took over Stevo's camera to get up close and personal with a few familiar (and new) faces... can anybody put faces to the names? LOL
Can you see why the above two make such a great couple? :P
Obviously someone else thought this was a great idea so tried to copy me :P
Me with my 'dad':
One of our hosts for the evening:
I got a lesson on how to pull beer:
And yes... I do like jugs! and cowboy hats
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear… well so they say. Everybody got up and was breakfasting etc… I decided the wisest option was to stay in bed as long as possible… I was feeling somewhat delicate LOL.
 | Click this bar to view the full image. |
A few of the girls and my “dad” had decided to head straight for Bright… and I was very tempted by this idea, with the thought of having time for a nanna nap before the evening’s entertainment began… but after being called soft and the threat of having my HTFUC status removed I opted to go to Thredbo with the rest of the crew. I wish I had of gone straight to Bright! Was feeling okay when I was on the bike and moving but every time I stopped it was bad…
We all left Khancoban and in spite of the hangover it actually was quite a pleasant run up to Thredbo. I ended up with nobody in front or behind me for most of the way - just me and the bike and the road which I find very peaceful. Got pretty cold the closer we got to Thredbo – was freezing at Thredbo!
A few people didn’t find the bakery where we were and ended up going through to Jindabyne! Oops. Eventually they came back to Thredbo, everyone was fed and the group split up a bit more with Trevor, Mark with Esther on the back and Glenn heading off first as they had gear and Esther’s bike to collect from Tintaldra. Jeff headed off to set up on a corner to take some more pictures and Karl, Kim and Bec headed off shortly afterwards. Eventually the rest of us followed.
For the run back through to Khancoban I was once again mostly on my own, and it was pretty uneventful. A quick regroup/rest at Khancoban before heading to Corryong to catch up with everyone else and refuel.
Fuel concerns for the fuel storm saw James and I heading off in front of the rest of the group along the Murray Valley Highway heading for Tallangatta for more fuel before the run to Bright. I was starting to feel much better and had a lot of fun on the run into Tallangatta. We passed Jeff along the way (he’d headed off earlier again too) and he followed us into Tallangatta. Fuelled up and ready for the final 98km to Bright!
Since I was the only one who actually knew where the little back road to Tawonga/Mt Beauty was I was in the lead. The end part of it is called the Redbank Road but at the start it is something different, I have no idea what! We had a good run along that stretch, pretty much keeping together.
Headed up Tawonga Gap with me still in the lead, James on my tail until the top and unbelievably I left him behind! I love that stretch of road, had an absolute ball.
Quick regroup down the bottom at the T-intersection before all three of us rolled into Bright. Over the next hour or so everyone rolled in except for Jase and Josh… James got onto them on the phone, they were at Dinner Plain so not too far away.
Bikes at Bright:
Everybody got sorted into their rooms (it was a bit of a free-for-all which seemed the best way to do it, hell I didn’t care, I got a double bed!) and a quick trip up to the supermarket for supplies (read bourbon and dorritos) and we were set for the night.
Unfortunately the pub had stuffed up our booking, we had asked for 7pm and got told it was at 6pm! Everyone scooted off to the bistro very quickly, ordered and the meals arrived super quick! I ordered, got to the table, had just started buttering my bread roll and my meal arrived. Food was good and quick, we were in and out very quickly.
Jase and Josh turned up eventually, they had copped snow coming over the top of Hotham!!!!
We all sat around outside the pub for a while before a few of us headed back around the back where the alcohol was cheaper. Eventually the band kicked off so we all headed to the pub for more socialising and a spot of dancing LOL. Except of course for all the softies who went to bed early (you know who you are!)
Eventually (no idea what time, maybe midnight?) bed seemed like a good idea so off I went.
It rained quite heavily through the night but when I woke up in the morning it had stopped raining, was a bit foggy though. We hung around saying our goodbyes with the Victorians (and saw Seph off with them) before departing ourselves around 10am.
Jeff, Karl, Kim, Esther and Bec all left earlier again so we had Glenn, Stevo, Carl, James and I riding back to Walwa where we were to meet the others.
Had a pretty good run over Tawonga, except for a few moments with motorcyclists coming the other way on the wrong side of the road… grrrrr.
Back up the Redbank Road and into Tallangatta to top up the fuel, then over Granya (which was in great condition!) and into Walwa to meet the others and have some lunch. Burgers were the go (well worth the wait).
In the general store in Walwa:
Headed back along the Murray River Road for 5km before heading over the bridge into Jingellic and onto Tumbarumba to top up the fuel yet again. From there it was up the Elliot Way and Kiandra for another regroup then onto Adaminiby for fuel and to say our goodbyes.
I don’t know what time I got back into Canberra (I should really start looking at the time when I arrive places) but I expect it was about 6:30pm.
It was once again a fantastic weekend, a huge cheers to James for organising it all and to everyone who participated, it was an absolute blast!
When’s the next one? Anzac Day Long Weekend of course… awesome, bring it on!
No comments:
Post a Comment