BMBEN
Registered user
On any Wednesday
Meet and greet at McDonalds Blaxland 8.30am for a 9.00 start.
Everybody is welcome.
Wednesday 18th to Friday 20th April 2012
Dungog, Nabiac and The National Motorcycle Museum
The forecast for this Wednesday was for rain, heavy at times, and that was exactly what was happening. It suddenly occurred to me that what a group of riders would like to have in this weather was a support vehicle! So sacrificing my own fun, I threw the bike bag into the ute and drove around to Maccas in the pouring rain. After all, real Aussies drive utes don’t they? After about 15 minutes Gary Baker arrived, riding his Heritage Softail and dripping water. He was the only other rider to turn up although Mr John Mac did drive his car in to see us off.
I followed Gary up the highway to Springwood and along Hawkesbury Road to Winmalee where we stopped at the Hawkesbury Lookout and met up with Joe Bogart on his Road King and Gary Melton on his Hoover Shadow. From here on I will refer to them as G1 (Baker) and G2 (Melton) to avoid confusion. I followed them down the hill, through Agnes Banks and Richmond to North Richmond where we stopped at the BP servo to meet up with Ross Christie on his Yamaha Diversion (I think). With the three riders ahead of me we travelled the Bells Line of Road and turned onto Crooked Lane which would take us to the Putty Road. This was a way I hadn’t been before and by now the rain which had been steady so far, became torrential. I was constantly turning the de-mister on and off and changing the windscreen wiper speed. How I envied the blokes in front of me who didn’t have to worry about those things! Reaching the Putty Road we travelled north to Colo Heights where we had a brief stop, then on to the Grey Gums Cafe where we stopped for smoko. The rain stopped!
We enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate slice which Joe’s wife Robin had thoughtfully provided before heading north again. By the time we reached the old halfway roadhouse the rain started again and stayed with us through Bulga and on to Singleton where we planned to have lunch. For some reason G2 insisted that we had to find a McDonalds, which we duly did. The food was I guess what you expect at Maccas and I entertained myself by removing bits of pickle from my cheeseburger.
Having been fortified (sort of) we left Singleton and headed north along some pretty rough road to Gresford where it was still raining. From here it was eastward to Dungog where we planned to spend the night. It was still raining. G1 had booked us rooms at the Bank Hotel so our accommodation was quickly sorted out and my ute became a receptacle for helmets, gloves, rubber boots etc, thereby justifying my selfless provision of a support vehicle. It wasn’t long till we piled into the bar where we probably spent more money than we did on our accommodation. Then after a passable meal in the dining room followed by another short stint at the bar, we retired for an early night. Well most of us did anyway.
Thursday morning dawned with a mostly blue sky and sunshine. This looked better! While the other four headed up to the local bakery for breakfast, I contented myself with a cup of coffee in the pub beer garden while I rolled a smoke. We were soon on the road again, which was rough as buggery, and heading towards Bucketts Way when the rain came back! It was only light to start with but gradually increased and by the time we reached Stroud Road (this is the name of the town, not the road) had become quite steady again. All this rain seemed to be having a psychological effect on my bladder and I stopped at a little town called Stratford for relief. By the time I was moving again, the bikes were well ahead of me and nowhere to be seen. No problem, I knew where we were going. I drove on to Gloucester, took the town by-pass and was heading towards Nabiac when my mobile phone rang. It was G1 wondering where I was as they had stopped for a break at a cafe in the main street of Gloucester. I chucked a u-turn and headed back into town and soon found them. I don’t remember the name of the cafe but it had a motorcycle theme. Inside were an old Norton, an Indian and a Rudge plus other motorcycle paraphernalia around the walls.
Finishing our raisin toast and coffees we were on the road and heading east again towards Nabiac. It was still raining. The road surface wasn’t too bad till we reached the town of Krambach, but then became bloody awful. Oh well, it was only about 20kms to go. As we approached Nabiac the steady rain became a tropical downpour! We sloshed our way into the car park at the rear of the Nabiac pub and quickly got under shelter. Then, while we were waiting for a room to toss our gear into, the rain stopped. This was followed by the arrival of Alan Mayhak who arrived in a car. We had been expecting him on a motorcycle. His (rather lame) excuse was that he had the flu coming on. A likely story! We left the bikes at the pub and drove/walked the 1km to the Motorcycle Museum which had been the object of the trip.
http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.com.au
I won’t attempt to give a description of this place. If you’ve never been there, I recommend you give it a visit. You’ll find it very worthwhile and enjoyable. We probably spent about three hours there, during which time the rain returned with a vengeance. It was almost deafening under the museum’s tin roof.
We returned to the pub about 4.00pm and straight away established ourselves in the bar. While there we were visited by a couple of friends of G1 who lived in the area. Come meal time and I spotted bangers and mash with onion gravy on the menu. That was definitely my choice, then lo and behold if three of the others ordered the same thing. This was a bit like peanut butter sandwiches. I didn’t last long after the meal and retired for an early night. I was sharing a room with Ross and G1 and minutes after I returned G1 also came in. I must have fallen asleep straight away and started dreaming. In my dream I heard a voice call out “Gary, are you awake?” This was followed by a (largely one sided) conversation which after a while trailed off.
We awoke on the Friday morning feeling much refreshed, to see a sunny blue sky with only whispy clouds. This was looking better! We made an early start around 7am and headed down the Princes Highway, pulling in at a place called Heather Brae for fuel and breakfast. Somehow we ended up at a Maccas again where two of us had our orders stuffed up.
Back on the road again, we travelled down to Hexham where we turned onto the New England Highway for a little while before turning off to Cessnock. Fortunately G2 knew all the right turns to take and we were soon heading for Broke. From Broke it was a short run across to Milbrodale on the Putty Road where we pulled up for a short break. Our next stop was to be the Grey Gums Cafe again, and as I followed the four bikes along that terrific road with the sun shining, I started gnashing my dentures in envy. Why wasn’t I riding my bike instead of driving this bloody ute! Any way we arrived at the Grey Gums and were enjoying our coffee when a young lady arrived on a Triumph road/trail bike. Here was a damsel in distress! She was almost out of fuel and of course the cafe doesn’t have any. The boys gallantly offered her some fuel from their bikes, if a siphon hose could be found. The hose was duly provided by the cafe owners and I provided a plastic bottle from the ute. Joe had intended to provide fuel from his own bike but discovered that you can’t siphon from a Harley. He found that you can though, from a Yamaha, so he generously provided her with a litre and a half of Ross’s fuel. He also managed to find out her name, (Letitia) and where she came from (Melbourne). If Eric had been there he would have got her phone number too.
Well this was to be our final meeting place, so after saying our farewells (with much shaking of hands), we were to make our own ways home. I pulled in at Colo Heights to top up with diesel and before I left was relieved to see Letitia arrive at the bowsers, though she seemed much more relieved than I was.
I arrived home early in the afternoon. I don’t know how far we travelled as I didn’t think to set a trip meter. Everyone agreed that it was a great three days, despite the rain. Next time we have a drought, we’ll do it again.
Peter M
Meet and greet at McDonalds Blaxland 8.30am for a 9.00 start.
Everybody is welcome.
Wednesday 18th to Friday 20th April 2012
Dungog, Nabiac and The National Motorcycle Museum
The forecast for this Wednesday was for rain, heavy at times, and that was exactly what was happening. It suddenly occurred to me that what a group of riders would like to have in this weather was a support vehicle! So sacrificing my own fun, I threw the bike bag into the ute and drove around to Maccas in the pouring rain. After all, real Aussies drive utes don’t they? After about 15 minutes Gary Baker arrived, riding his Heritage Softail and dripping water. He was the only other rider to turn up although Mr John Mac did drive his car in to see us off.
I followed Gary up the highway to Springwood and along Hawkesbury Road to Winmalee where we stopped at the Hawkesbury Lookout and met up with Joe Bogart on his Road King and Gary Melton on his Hoover Shadow. From here on I will refer to them as G1 (Baker) and G2 (Melton) to avoid confusion. I followed them down the hill, through Agnes Banks and Richmond to North Richmond where we stopped at the BP servo to meet up with Ross Christie on his Yamaha Diversion (I think). With the three riders ahead of me we travelled the Bells Line of Road and turned onto Crooked Lane which would take us to the Putty Road. This was a way I hadn’t been before and by now the rain which had been steady so far, became torrential. I was constantly turning the de-mister on and off and changing the windscreen wiper speed. How I envied the blokes in front of me who didn’t have to worry about those things! Reaching the Putty Road we travelled north to Colo Heights where we had a brief stop, then on to the Grey Gums Cafe where we stopped for smoko. The rain stopped!
We enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate slice which Joe’s wife Robin had thoughtfully provided before heading north again. By the time we reached the old halfway roadhouse the rain started again and stayed with us through Bulga and on to Singleton where we planned to have lunch. For some reason G2 insisted that we had to find a McDonalds, which we duly did. The food was I guess what you expect at Maccas and I entertained myself by removing bits of pickle from my cheeseburger.
Having been fortified (sort of) we left Singleton and headed north along some pretty rough road to Gresford where it was still raining. From here it was eastward to Dungog where we planned to spend the night. It was still raining. G1 had booked us rooms at the Bank Hotel so our accommodation was quickly sorted out and my ute became a receptacle for helmets, gloves, rubber boots etc, thereby justifying my selfless provision of a support vehicle. It wasn’t long till we piled into the bar where we probably spent more money than we did on our accommodation. Then after a passable meal in the dining room followed by another short stint at the bar, we retired for an early night. Well most of us did anyway.
Thursday morning dawned with a mostly blue sky and sunshine. This looked better! While the other four headed up to the local bakery for breakfast, I contented myself with a cup of coffee in the pub beer garden while I rolled a smoke. We were soon on the road again, which was rough as buggery, and heading towards Bucketts Way when the rain came back! It was only light to start with but gradually increased and by the time we reached Stroud Road (this is the name of the town, not the road) had become quite steady again. All this rain seemed to be having a psychological effect on my bladder and I stopped at a little town called Stratford for relief. By the time I was moving again, the bikes were well ahead of me and nowhere to be seen. No problem, I knew where we were going. I drove on to Gloucester, took the town by-pass and was heading towards Nabiac when my mobile phone rang. It was G1 wondering where I was as they had stopped for a break at a cafe in the main street of Gloucester. I chucked a u-turn and headed back into town and soon found them. I don’t remember the name of the cafe but it had a motorcycle theme. Inside were an old Norton, an Indian and a Rudge plus other motorcycle paraphernalia around the walls.
Finishing our raisin toast and coffees we were on the road and heading east again towards Nabiac. It was still raining. The road surface wasn’t too bad till we reached the town of Krambach, but then became bloody awful. Oh well, it was only about 20kms to go. As we approached Nabiac the steady rain became a tropical downpour! We sloshed our way into the car park at the rear of the Nabiac pub and quickly got under shelter. Then, while we were waiting for a room to toss our gear into, the rain stopped. This was followed by the arrival of Alan Mayhak who arrived in a car. We had been expecting him on a motorcycle. His (rather lame) excuse was that he had the flu coming on. A likely story! We left the bikes at the pub and drove/walked the 1km to the Motorcycle Museum which had been the object of the trip.
http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.com.au
I won’t attempt to give a description of this place. If you’ve never been there, I recommend you give it a visit. You’ll find it very worthwhile and enjoyable. We probably spent about three hours there, during which time the rain returned with a vengeance. It was almost deafening under the museum’s tin roof.
We returned to the pub about 4.00pm and straight away established ourselves in the bar. While there we were visited by a couple of friends of G1 who lived in the area. Come meal time and I spotted bangers and mash with onion gravy on the menu. That was definitely my choice, then lo and behold if three of the others ordered the same thing. This was a bit like peanut butter sandwiches. I didn’t last long after the meal and retired for an early night. I was sharing a room with Ross and G1 and minutes after I returned G1 also came in. I must have fallen asleep straight away and started dreaming. In my dream I heard a voice call out “Gary, are you awake?” This was followed by a (largely one sided) conversation which after a while trailed off.
We awoke on the Friday morning feeling much refreshed, to see a sunny blue sky with only whispy clouds. This was looking better! We made an early start around 7am and headed down the Princes Highway, pulling in at a place called Heather Brae for fuel and breakfast. Somehow we ended up at a Maccas again where two of us had our orders stuffed up.
Back on the road again, we travelled down to Hexham where we turned onto the New England Highway for a little while before turning off to Cessnock. Fortunately G2 knew all the right turns to take and we were soon heading for Broke. From Broke it was a short run across to Milbrodale on the Putty Road where we pulled up for a short break. Our next stop was to be the Grey Gums Cafe again, and as I followed the four bikes along that terrific road with the sun shining, I started gnashing my dentures in envy. Why wasn’t I riding my bike instead of driving this bloody ute! Any way we arrived at the Grey Gums and were enjoying our coffee when a young lady arrived on a Triumph road/trail bike. Here was a damsel in distress! She was almost out of fuel and of course the cafe doesn’t have any. The boys gallantly offered her some fuel from their bikes, if a siphon hose could be found. The hose was duly provided by the cafe owners and I provided a plastic bottle from the ute. Joe had intended to provide fuel from his own bike but discovered that you can’t siphon from a Harley. He found that you can though, from a Yamaha, so he generously provided her with a litre and a half of Ross’s fuel. He also managed to find out her name, (Letitia) and where she came from (Melbourne). If Eric had been there he would have got her phone number too.
Well this was to be our final meeting place, so after saying our farewells (with much shaking of hands), we were to make our own ways home. I pulled in at Colo Heights to top up with diesel and before I left was relieved to see Letitia arrive at the bowsers, though she seemed much more relieved than I was.
I arrived home early in the afternoon. I don’t know how far we travelled as I didn’t think to set a trip meter. Everyone agreed that it was a great three days, despite the rain. Next time we have a drought, we’ll do it again.
Peter M
