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Bundaberg Overnighter 18/19 September

I’d planned the ride, chased up participants and arranged accommodation and two separate departure points, teed up with Mike and Marie from Emerald to meet in Gin Gin. Saturday dawned fine, Therese and I awoke to find Daniel still not completely over his viral illness. It looked like one or both of us may have to stay home and look after him. We’d been looking forward to the ride, the ‘wing was packed and ready to go but family comes first. Discussions with the older brothers soon made arrangements that either of them would be home most of the time. The small TV was moved into the bedroom and a phone put by the bed. With it past leaving time to get to Caboolture by 8:30am, final arrangements were made; change grabbed for the Gateway and we were off.

At the Redcliffe turnoff, some idiot decided on the North Coast instead of Redcliffe and just moved straight into our space without so much as a bye-your-leave. Much horn blowing, cussing and gesticulating later I realised that I may as well be speaking to the Man in the Moon. No response at all. Ignorance and size is right and it appears you don’t have to show any remorse or hint of apology. Arriving at Caboolture at 8:45, everyone else was there ready to go; Lionel and Mary, Larry and Annette back on the road, Mal and Tina, and Dave along after a long absence. After greetings and discussions confirm those who should be there are, that the others, Rob and Jayne, Bill and Mary and Thommo and Val are leaving from Blacksoil, Mike and Marie will be in Gin Gin and Turbo and Wendy in Bundaberg. A briefing on the ride and underway only a few minutes late. Never mind, timings would allow that to be picked up by Moore. Unfortunately I didn’t allow for the first day of school holidays and road works with red lights. We meet the Blacksoil group in Moore as arranged, but 20 mins late. Tales are told of more idiots, this time with a trailer load of canoes. Obviously the asylum inmates have been released. No wonder the road toll supposedly goes up during this period. Getting underway, I hoped the rest of the day would go better or Mike and Marie were going to be waiting for a while.

Next stop Nanango for fuel and smoko. We leave for Ban Ban Springs only 10 minutes behind schedule. Not a lot of chatter on the CB, only 4 of us on air but those who are seem to be enjoying the bends, mountain ranges, and open country riding. 1½ hours later we’re in Ban Ban Springs, spot on schedule. Some had started to wonder whether they were going to get lunch. Ban Ban Springs was an interesting break as we chatted to a chap from Bundaberg with a sidecar outfit built on an XS1100 Yamaha. The chair was a Dusting copy, mounted on semi-elliptical springs as per the original. With his partner on the back and the two kids in the chair, they were test driving the new setup and the home built trailer in readiness for a trip to Melbourne to take in the Grand Prix.

Fifteen people arriving in Ban Ban Springs put pressure on the kitchen so the meals took longer than expected. It was worth the wait though. Dave finally got his Ban Ban burger, what a beauty, and coffee. He had to eat amid threats to leave him behind. Underway but 15 minutes behind schedule again. The road from Ban Ban Springs to Gin Gin is beautiful undulating country with plenty of bends to make riding enjoyable and double lines to make it almost impossible to get past a tanker making very good pace. Hard to keep 9 bikes together in this sort of situation. On the Wallaville bridge, a wandering beast makes life interesting, especially with that tanker now behind us all. The beast was in the middle of the guard railed bridge and section of road almost a kilometre long and we had to almost stop to get past. Hope he eventually got off without becoming road kill.

We rolled into Gin Gin about 5 mins behind schedule. Not bad for a trip that has taken 6 hours. Mike and Marie are there. We haven’t seen them since the Ulysses AGM in Geelong. Greetings and news are swapped, bikes are fuelled and contact is made with Eric who is in Melbourne with Deb, Clint and Charleen. They were having an enjoyable time on a ride of Victorian Goldwingers organised by John Gilbert. Back on the road to Bundaberg, stopping at the Mystery Craters on the way. There must have been a mystery crater in the car park as Bill’s bike, apparently tired after travelling so far, immediately fell off the side stand and lay down on my bike. Luckily, (for Bill), both bikes only received very minor damage and no one was hurt.

We rolled into the Cane Village Caravan Park at 4:45 pm. Turbo and Wendy were there waiting for us. The park managers greeted us and made us extremely welcome. The accommodation was allocated out as per the bookings until we got to Mal and Tina and there was no cabin. How that could have happened I had no idea and there were no more cabins available. Not a problem, it was obviously my fault and Therese and I were happy to share. (As I write this I have checked all my emails and advices and Mal, at no time did I have you and Tina on the list as even coming, so it turns out it really wasn’t my fault at all.)

With two important games of football on that night, there was no time to waste. A quick trip to the pub for drinks, some quick showers and it was into the celebration of good riding and good friends. The idea of a meal was raised a few times before it actually received any significant priority. Takeaways were ruled out as we headed for the local Leagues Club for some very nice meals then back to the caravan park to watch the night’s entertainment. We also watched the football but Thommo’s support of the Lions was the best entertainment any of us has had in a long time; except for Val, who sees it during every Lions game. Management generously accepted our noise until after the game was complete then gently suggested it may be polite to observe the park rules and let some of the other dwellers have a night’s sleep. Again I would like to thank Rita and Ron for their welcome and their attitude and highly recommend this Caravan Park to anyone. After the game and with drinks having run out, everyone headed to their cabins grumbling about having to be ready to roll for breakfast at 8:00am in the morning, a Sunday at that.

For Bill and Mary, Sunday started with a major cleanup of the cabin. Apparently Bill celebrated Mary’s birthday by using a bottle of Coke to do an interpretation of the kid in the Viva add. We paraded the 11 bikes through the centre of town; shame there was hardly anyone about. We rode to the Bargara Berry Café for strawberry pancakes but not everyone has such simple tastes. The big or small breakfasts were most popular, with the strawberry pancakes and ice-cream a close second. The raffle was run and again, how come I only win in my own raffles. Val won and generously gave her prize to Marie. I had Marie redraw my win and Mike won the prize.

After farewelling the Emeraldites to head north, we looped through Bargara and south along the coast. If the real estate agents had been active, I reckon they would have been swamped with offers; it’s a beautiful part of Queensland. After a mandatory u-turn, I picked up the correct road, and we headed back to Bundaberg. The missed turn was the navigator’s fault, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. We then turned south for home with a pit stop at Childers where we meet the Frazer Coast Ulysses group and were invited to join their wine tasting and lunch at Burrum Heads. With the threat of afternoon storms, we declined and headed to Maryborough for a light snack and fuel.

The final stop for a refuel, goodbyes and to meet up with Larry who had to make a deviation was planned for Caboolture. Complaints of sore tails flooded in and an unscheduled stop was made. With a coffee, a stretch, and inspection of the blown fork seal on Mal’s bike we were a bit distracted and although a lookout was kept for Larry, he unfortunately got past unseen. At Caboolture, he thought we had continued on without him so he headed for home. Sorry Larry. We eventually got to Caboolture well after Larry had left, waited ½ hour for him to arrive, decide he wasn’t coming, made our farewells and went our separate ways.

It had been a great weekend, good riding, no serious mishaps, great weather, new friendships made and a great time had by all. How come everyone doesn’t ride a Goldwing. The world would be a much better place if they did.

See you on the road,

Bevan

Ride to Victoria

When we heard John was starting up regular monthly runs for WingRiders in and around Melbourne, a few of us decided it would be fun to get a little time off work and go down for the inaugural ride. Some who wanted to couldn’t get away, so on Thursday morning at 6am only two bikes left Carina and made our way out west to travel the Newell Highway. Eric and Deb and Charleen and I were well rugged up for the cold, and a good thing too!

Rugged up and ready to go

Relaxing after a 1000km day

Out to Goondiwindi then turn south and down through Maree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran and Dubbo by late afternoon. We wanted to get a good way on the first day so after fuelling up in Dubbo, we considered the numbness of our bums and said “What the heck! Push on.” By Parkes, however we were about done and pulled into the very first motel we saw. Set up then ride downtown to the local RSL for a feed, which even included a chocolate cake with a candle for my birthday.

Friday morning off really early again and we quickly realised that despite the month, it was still Winter down here. We shivered our way to West Wyalong where we shared brekky with a busload of teenagers. At least the sun was up now. Pushed on through lower NSW and we soon crossed the Murray at Tocumwal. Everything in this area was nice and green, a marked contrast to our brown state.

Arriving early afternoon, we set up camp at Majeric’s daughter’s place for a pleasant evening. Next morning we went to the meeting place at Yarra Glen to await the locals.

John can continue with the Ride Story………

Victorian Ride 18 Sept 04

Sat 18 Sept, As the day arrived, the wet and cold Melbourne weather lifted to beautiful sunshine and revealed that who ever controls the weather is a WingRider.

The start point was the Grandview Hotel at Yarra Glen. After negotiating with the local Ulysses Club to co-habit their Saturday morning meeting point, Karen and I arrived 20 minutes prior to departure to be met by the impressive sight of 16 Wings or Valkyries and 1 Harley ready to ride.

To our complete surprise among the group were Clint and Charleen and Eric and Deb from the AWRA in Queensland. After getting over the initial shock of two die-hard wingers travelling 2,000 klm for a decent ride, we got on our way. “Words were heard to say what the $$#$%#$%$#% are you lot doing here”

Start point Yarra Glen

Yarra Glen to Marysville saw us ride through the Black Spur, some of Victoria’s most spectacular old-growth of mountain ash. Note Hi-ace vans should not be allowed out on Saturday mornings when we are out riding. We broke for morning tea in Marysville before going over Lake Mountain. In Neutral, Marysville’s famous bike/ coffee shop was closed, but not to worry the little coffee shop on the corner refined their skills and delivered large coffee and cake orders all in 30 minutes.

Morning Tea Marysville

The line up at Marysville

Marysville to Warburton, on leaving Marysville we travelled over Lake Mountain with not a straight bit of road in sight between Marysville and Warburton.

A couple of riders had a slow ride over the mountain due to bad fuel but other than that a great ride. Everyone worked together on the radios to call through oncoming traffic and ensure a safe and comfortable ride for all. Weather over the top was full sunshine and conversations were heard referring to something about Qld weather.

Warburton to Yarragon, just when you thought you were on a straight bit of road we headed towards the bottom of Mt Baw Baw. We then turned right towards Moe onto an unmarked road where the ferns overhang the side of the bitumen. This continued for some time with eventually the road opening up to the rich dairy countryand the plains of the Gippsland Valley. The weather on the other side of the valley was noticeably cooler and the wind had started to pickup. A break at Yarragon for afternoon tea and break-up as some riders had other places to go.

Yarragon Line up

Riders on the day:-John & Karen Gilbert, John & Margaret Brak, Graeme Williamson, Shane & Evelyn Cowman, Wayne Styles, Rob Morley, Geoff & Dedre Greenhalgh, Marcus Haeusler (Moose), Paul Szalman, Greg Wood, Aub & Kath Davies, Len Wright, Paul McKenzie, Tim & Lyn Mara, Clint & Charleen, Eric & Deb Madjeric.

Thank you to all the above who made the ride an excellent day John Gilbert

Some coffee while we wait	GL1800 of new members, John and Marg Brak
Re-fuelling before the start	Getting into the cornering
Line-up for fuel

The Return Trip

After spending Sunday with our various families in Melbourne, we met up on Monday morning and went to visit the Redwing Boot shop in Burnley and the Draggin Jeans shop in South Melbourne. While Eric could not bring himself to buy a pair of boots with Red and Wing in the same name, he did get a couple of pairs of Draggins for himself and Deb.

Off up the road and a couple of hours later we were in Wodonga, Eric’s old stomping ground, for a quick memorial visit. Then it was up the Olympic Highway to Wagga where we stayed at a pub with very creaky floors, but nice cheap meals, especially on Mondays when it is two-for-one.

Away early Tuesday morning and we had another big bacon and egg brekky at our favourite café at Cootamundra. We decided not to travel the Newell again so made our way up between the two major highways, through Young, Cowra, Canowindra, Molong, Wellington, Dunedoo, Gunnedah, Barraba and finally stopped for the night in an even more creaky hotel in Bingara.

Brekky next morning was in Warialda, then on up to the Bruxner and a short-cut to come out at Stanthorpe. After that it was only a couple of hours to home.

For those interested in the figures we did a total of 3,980 kilometres and used 277 litres of fuel at an average price of $1.04 per litre. Total cost of fuel at $289.90 was just 7 cents per kilometre. Accommodation was fairly cheap with one motel, two pub stays and the rest with family.

All in all a wonderful trip where we had some fun adventures and met some more friendly WingRiders (always the nicest people).

A Barbie at Larry and Annette’s

The meeting was Stapylton BP and we got there in time for a quick re-hydrating drink before everyone arrived and Larry led us out in one of those squarish things with all the wheels.

He found us some interesting ways to get home, making sure we were well and truly lost. But I recognized the Logan River and we waved at Annette, setting up the back yard.

Around the block we went and into Larry’s neighbour’s place then a bit of off-roading down to Larry’s back yard on the riverbank. What a wonderful back yard it is too. Acres of lawn, a bit dry right now, and several tall trees to give nice shade.

The BBQ and tables and chairs were set up under a big spreading tree. What a wonderful setting for a WingRider’s do, and what a wonderful spread was put out by Annette for us to tuck into.

Most of the evening was spent sitting around eating, drinking, talking - the usual, and listening to Rob’s new iPod playing on all the stereos at the same time. Clever stuff.

Leaving time was fun as it had got dark between Larry’s street light and the house and so it was off-roading in the dark to make our way out. The undulating nature of the ground was also the undoing of Phil as he tried to put his foot down on ground that wasn’t there. Over they went to much good-natured ribbing.

Thanks go to Larry and Annette for providing such a great atmosphere for a relaxing evening with our friends.

A young Scottish lad and lass were sitting on a low stone wall, holding hands, gazing out over the loch. For several minutes they sat silently, then finally the girl looked at the boy and said "A penny for your thoughts, Angus."

"Well, uh, I was thinkin'....perhaps it's aboot time for a wee kiss."

The girl blushed, then leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Then he blushed. The two turned once again to gaze out over the loch.

Minutes passed, then the girl spoke again "Another penny for your thoughts, Angus."

"Well, uh I was thinkin'.....perhaps its noo aboot time for a wee cuddle."

The girl blushed, then leaned over and cuddled him for a few seconds.

Then he blushed. Then the two turned once again to gaze out over the loch.

After a while, she again said, "Another penny for your thoughts, Angus."

"Well, uh I was thinkin' ...perhaps its aboot time you let me pewt ma hand on yer leg." The girl blushed, then took his hand and put it on her knee. Then he blushed. Then the two turned once again to gaze out over the loch before the girl spoke again. "Another penny for your thoughts, Angus."

The young man glanced down with a furled brow. "Well, noo," he said, "my thoughts are a wee bit more serious this time."

"Really?" said the girl in a whisper, filled with anticipation.

"Aye," said the lad, nodding. The girl looked away in shyness, began to blush, and bit her lip in anticipation of the ultimate request. And he said, "Dae ye noo think it's aboot time ye paid me the first three pennies?"

To Darwin and Rum Jungle

Day one: Friday 27th August. A nice fine day. Just finished the final touches to the brand new trailer that I have designed and built the night before. So as every thing goes – panic stations as usual. Got away alright, hit the highway up to Gympie then headed northwest, A couple of fuel stops and hoping to catch our travelling buddy Steve Pike on his BMW GS 1150 and aluminium trailer for this trip. Heading into Biloela the radio started to cut out and it started to cough and splutter through town. Fine. Then 10 km’s out of town she shit herself. Now for all those how aren’t members of RACQ I would highly recommend you join Ultra Care as it was great to have. Picked us up with a tilt tray, brought us back to town put us up for the night.

Thank goodness for Ultra Care

NT Border

Day two: We were away again in the morning early, as we still had not caught Steve yet. With not very good mobile reception out west, it was limited to when we would be in contact. Early this morning we caught Steve and we were finally on our way. Since we did not make my first day’s goal, I was hoping to catch up today, but it was too much. So Winton was our stop on night two. I was told that there was a Wing also in the park. I went to meet him but he was on the phone so I left it until morning.

Day three: Got up went to find out about the Wing owner. His name was Jim from Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast. Well how about that. He was also heading for Rum Jungle – his second trip. He was happy at his own pace so we thought we will see him later. We headed for Cloncurry for lunch. Well if you are on the road, we can tell you give it a miss there. On to Mt. Isa, meet up with a group of 5 from Cairns also on their way over. After finding out that there was no descent place for food we settled for sandwiches at a corner store with the Cairns group, then on our way to Camooweal for the night. Settled in for the night at a caravan park behind the pub and thought Sunday pub tea would been great, but they don’t serve food on Sundays so Maree, Steve & I had a liquid tea We left the pub at 10:30 pm.

Day Four: As Steve & I didn’t mix our drinks the night before, we were fine but that cant be said for all of our party (hey honey!). Packed up and left for the trip into the Northern Territory. After stopping for photos at the border, three of the Cairns group passed us. We climbed on board and caught up to them. 2 were in the left lane and 1 in the right lane as there were no cars for miles. By this time the clouds were getting dark and we were going to get wet. After about a couple of hours down it came – not a lot of rain – just enough to have to put wets on and be uncomfortable. We came up to a road train to pass as we were doing avg. 135kms. So as we are passing I take a look ahead I see a bike in the right lane, assume he is the same bike earlier in the day. So off we go. As we got half way along the bike in front of me, I realised that that bike was not with us but travelling in the opposite direction and coming straight at us. He sped up and got in front of the truck but I didn’t see him until the bike in front of me got out of the way so that left me nowhere to go so I just cuddled up next to the road train and gave the bike all the room I could. We all survived. We then stopped at Barkley’s roadhouse. The heater was on - that was a god send. They told us it started raining at 1am and that was the first rain that they had had since Easter. We payed our $1.37 per litre for unleaded and left on to Tennant Creek and Renner Springs for the evening.

Day Five: Off to Katherine to check out the Gorge. Steve, Maree & I pulled into Katherine, went looking for the national park to camp. Found a nice spot, set up for the evening. That night the toilet block was visited by Myrtle the resident python & the wallabies. Next day we hit the Gorge. Very nice. Took the morning tour so we were back by lunch. Back on the bikes and on to Darwin for two days before the rally begins. Caught the sunset over Darwin - what a treat.

Katherine Gorge

Setup near Darwin

Darwin Sunset

Part Two Next Month Rusty & Maree

AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION (QLD) INCORPORATED RIDE / SOCIAL EVENT CALENDAR
DATE	DESTINATION	RIDE / SOCIAL EVENT	Ride leaders
17^th October Ride	Sunshine Coast	Meet at BP Caboolture North, 8.00am for 8.30am start Travel via Bellthorpe and Reesville to Mary Cairncross Park for morning tea, on to Peachester and Old Gympie Hwy to Woombye for Lunch	Rusty & Maree
23^rd October Social	Redbank	Fasta Pasta Meet BP Goodna (first servo outbound after Logan Mwy) 3.30pm for 4.00pm start. Out to Donna and Andy’s for a cuppa, then on to Redbank Plaza Fasta Pasta. After tea, on to Annette’s for her 40^th.	Turbo & Wendy
21^st November Ride	Kenilworth	Ride to Kenilworth area. Lunch at the pub	Peter & Michelle
26^th/27^th November Social	Noosaville	Christmas Party The Entrance Resort, 67 Gibson Road, Noosaville Dinner at Tewantin Pub	Ray & Valerie
19^th December Ride	Brekky Ride to Mt Tamborine	Meet BP Stapylton at 7am for a 7.30 departure. Scenic ride through Mt Tamborine. Stopping for breakfast on the way.	Clint & Charleen

Social Coordinator - Wendy Beddows Ph; 07 - 3812 4166

e-mail: nnikki69@optusnet.com.au Turbo's Mobile 0421304144

RIDE DATES; Unless otherwise arranged, rides will be on the 3rd Weekend of the month, and Social rides, the following weekend, with other social events as announced through the year.

**Ride Leaders: Please check the details of your ride and let me know of any changes. Ride leaders are also asked to organise 2 raffle prizes for their ride. Suggested value approximately $10.00 each.
Raffle tickets will be made available from Eric.

IMPORTANT: Even if you have not finalised the details of your ride, just supply the start time & location, the general direction of the ride, and the meal arrangements.

Other Rides of Interest

Pink Ribbon Ride (in aid of Breast Cancer Research) Sunday 31^st October. The ride starts from Griffith University – Nathan Campus Car Park. Registration from 9am. Costs $10 and includes entry to the prize raffle. The Ride finishes at the Bearded Dragon Hotel, Tamborine with food and entertainment. Oh, and you or your bike should try and wear something pink. Male riders are welcome.

Daniel Morecombe Ride. Sunday 12 December. A fund-raising and awareness ride in aid of missing boy Daniel Morecombe and supporting his family’s quest for knowledge. Meeting at BP North Morayfield and travelling to the Caloundra area. More details next month.

A line-up of (mostly) Wings at Yarragon, Vic

Newsletter of the

October 2004

What’s Inside