What day are you heading down Waz, I'll be passing the Southern Highlands around 5-6am on Saturday.( can stretch it to 7-8am for Kompany)
 Maybe give us a chance to drop into RT's for his skrawl on the sKroll.

Wow! Ed, that's an early start from the Hunter to be at the Southern Highlands by 5am, or are you planning to go down on Friday night?

I find the early morning suits me and the cooler hours are more appealing in the summer. Plus I doubt I 'll get home from work before 6pm on Fri.
Waz's and RT's are approx. 3 hours from here and Canberra is a minimum 4 1/2 hours from my place. Not keen on riding into the night whilst tired.
I'd like to be in Jindy by Midday, leaving the afternoon for trekking and other festivities.
I'm guessing most will be heading off on the Friday.

Anyone is most welcome to stay Friday night if needed, plenty of room. I've been a bit absent, spent up to xmas eve in hospital and recovering from surgery as we speak, but would like to join in if possible.
Nothing so frustrating as nice weather and inability to ride anywhere.
Happy New Year to you all.

What day are you heading down Waz,

Not sure yet Ed, trying to get Friday off but may have to work.

Get well soon RT be good to see your new bike.

Keep your chin up RT, and monitor the fluids. Doctors orders. hope you can make it .
Will see how others are closer to the date Waz , I'm sure I can be swayed to change my itinerary for Kompany.

sorry to say Im out, surf carnival that weekend

Will depend on what time the mailrun finishes on Friday.  Most likely I'm an early Saturday starter, get packed Friday, press the button and go Sat morning.  I'm sure further planning/discussion will be made at KRR just the weekend before.

Al

I'm in.  Holidays booked and I am looking at Karuah as well.

I bought mine and Pamela's airline tickets to OZ yesterdee for February. I've got a month and she's got three weeks. I'll drag the red RS outta the shed, whack a new battery into it, change the worn front tyre for a Michie PR3 (anyone local SE Qld got a tyre balancer?), flush the brake fluid, change the coolant, engine oil, oil filter, gearbox and final drive oils, then burn off that 16 month-old tank of nearly stale petrol (treated with Sta-bil October 2014). See ya's in the Snowies.

Gunna do a Tassie run this time, too.

You are gonna be busy but a good time to see Taz
Will be good to catch up with you and Pamela.

A preview of what we might see next month, courtesy of Tom's and my recce over the last couple of days.


View from our February campsite.


Cabramurra from the lookout.

Hunter Krew, when you see Tom, ask him about his favourite animal. 

Bill

Is the idea Grazing at the pub(or other feedlot) or feeding ourselves at the park?

Just trying to figure what to pack.

Al

AL-58 wrote:Is the idea Grazing at the pub(or other feedlot) or feeding ourselves at the park?

Just trying to figure what to pack.

Al

Hi Al & All,

Tom and I made an executive decision on Friday to make a group booking at Jindabyne Holiday Park.
We've booked a number of campsites next to each other, which should be enough for our little party.

If anyone not on Ed's list who is thinking of coming could post, and if Ed could continue to amend his attendance list post as info comes in, I can add to the booking if necessary. In addition, if you expect to be there only one night, please specify.
Rossko, they have cabins (with or without bathrooms) if you want to bring your wife down. Plenty of very nice scenery and activities.

Some of the facilities listed from their website:
[*]Free Wi-fi
[*]Pet Friendly (at Manager’s discretion, please talk to us for more details before booking) click here for more info
[*]Camp Kitchen with Indoor BBQ
[*]2 separate toilet blocks
[*]Modern Ammenities Block including Laundry
[*]Drying Room
[*]Games Rooms and Library
[*]3 Outdoor BBQs
[*]Mulit-purpose Court including Tennis and Basketball Courts
[*]Mini Convience located 100 meters across the road
[*]Fish Freezer
[*]Recycling Bins
[*](Spelling errors are from the site, not me.)

Part of the reason for the choice, apart from it looking nice was that it is an easy walk to pub, restaurants/cafés supplies etc. Camp kitchen also available.

My guess is that given the proximity, many will choose to minimise gear and eat at pub etc, but there is the flexibility for whatever people want to do.
I'll probably organise breakfast stuff to be there to save some hassle.

I didn't think to check out exactly what is in the camp kitchen, but I'll be visiting the son in Cooma in the next few weeks, so I'll add more info when I get it.

The only other thing that I want to try to arrange is to somehow get my boat down there. Not sure if it will be possible, but I'll have a go.

Bill

I am planning a canine free run so I can take the 16v out for a change.

Al

indian036 wrote:A preview of what we might see next month, courtesy of Tom's and my recce over the last couple of days.


View from our February campsite.


Bill

that will be an awesome spot with a great Snowy backdrop. looking forward to the catchup in Feb .

There is a Cafe at Charlottes Pass , but iced Koffee at the summit sounds good too.

Bill , how do we secure our site bookings ?

My wife Tracey is intending to visit Berry overnight on Saturday with other bikes , so I'm guessing I'll be on the road to home around 7am on Sunday.

here you go Bill , the krew so far,
just copy and paste to add .

Bill 
TWB
Smithy 
Rick G
Rossko +1 (we know he wants to)
Rockman
Tackler 
Dee Why
Ausbrick
Tom 
Gaz
Al 
Charlie
Kaptain Holister 
Malcoops  out surfing
Grover- Saturday night only. tent site.
Waz
RT 

Looks like Rickmeister is staying with us at Robertson on Thursday night, then we'll sojourn down somehow indirectly I guess. So need a two night booking for camping.
I need to speak to Waz and Bill, see what plans are afoot. If I get eaten by a bear, you shall all be eternally condemned.
RT

Lashed out and bought another Aldi tent today, a 4 person. So...I'm in. Will contact the Hunter Krew in due course re: travel arrangements. If it's raining....

Bill 
TWB
Smithy 
Rick G
Rossko +1 (we know he wants to)
Rockman
Tackler ?
Dee Why
Ausbrick
Tom 
Gaz
Al 
Charlie
Kaptain Holister 
Malcoops  out surfing
Grover
Waz
Rickmeister

Cheers, Rickmeister.

Hi all, 

Sites are booked for Friday and Saturday nights. No extra booking is needed apart from adding your name to the list on this thread. If needed, I'll add extra booked space. 

Costs to be divvied up on the weekend, but shouldn't exceed $20 per person per night. I'd be expecting and hoping less. 

The plan is to ride the alpine way circuit on the Saturday, following the pattern established by smithy up north. Timing to be determined by the Krew on the ground. 
If you're keen and a fit runner, a visit to Kosciuszko summit could happen on the same day, but if you have the return home time flexibility, Sunday might be better. It's maybe about a 5-6 hour return walk from the top of Crackenback chair lift at Thredbo, not overly strenuous in ups and downs. Probably requires patience and commitment more than youth and fitness. Bring comfortable walking shoes. 

Bill

G'day All, Bill and I had a real good recce run passing through some fantastic areas. Glad to hear Rickmeister is on board. At this rate we may have to book extra ground. The only incident we had was having an altercation with a grey Kangaroo with whom paths were crossed. Luckily I did not hit the roo full on but a glancing blow to the hindquarters at about a 100k. The poor roo came off 2nd best with the 75 only suffering front mudguard damage.
Looking forward to the run in Feb. Cheers Tom

Glad to hear you successfully negotiated the impact with the roo Tom. There's a growing band of us with Saxon 7 having despatched a roo on the Nindigully Pub Run and I survived unscathed from a roo impact on my right pannier on the R80G/S a little while ago.

Look closely at the photo and you can see the strands of roo fur on the pannier. That's as close as I ever want to get to having a kangaroo as a pillion passenger.

Gaz80 wrote:Glad to hear you successfully negotiated the impact with the roo Tom. There's a growing band of us with Saxon 7 having despatched a roo on the Nindigully Pub Run and I survived unscathed from a roo impact on my right pannier on the R80G/S a little while ago.

Look closely at the photo and you can see the strands of roo fur on the pannier. That's as close as I ever want to get to having a kangaroo as a pillion passenger.

I've 2 altercations with the sidecar, one back in '02 where the roo ran into my front wheel from the side, knocking itself silly and giving me a good front end wobble. The second was last year, he was clear out of the way, then noticed the bike, turned around and hopped in front of the sidecar itself.  Bits of fur stuck on, a broken tail-light and a few stress cracks in the gelcoat.  Closest I got to a big one was an large roo hopping out of the bush right in front of my R100GS while travelling at 140kmh in the Pillaga scrub.  After that I slowed appreciably and moved to the centre of the road instead of the left track. I know people say they cant move backwards but he did, He landed on his rears and then pushed himself backwards to get out of my way.

Al

Al

Those roo impacts can be serious. I hit a golden Labrador years back on my Honda 500-4 and was doing the wrong side of 80mph and accelerating. Engine crash bars rook the impact, his nose got the front stanchion and the body hit the engine bars which folded but absorbed the impact. Not so long after lost a friend who hit a horse that jumped out in front of him. Made me realise that if you hit anything high enough you are extremely vulnerable.

Ride safe because that is looking like a really good Krew gathering.

If dictionarys had pictures then Brainless would feature heavily with roos.
I saw one jump of the top of a 15ft high cutting and land right in front of my brother. Absolutely totalled the ST1100 Honda and almost him. Later he said where the f*#k did it come from it was like it fell out of the sky. It did, it was going vertical when it hit the road.
They just panic and become very unpredictable.

Whilst driving across the Liverpool Plains/Pilliga scrub south of Tamworth a couple of years ago I spied an emu at the side of the road amongst the scrub.  Now these things have a brain even smaller than a kangaroo and are totally unpredictable.  As the scrub there is fairly close to the road I braked immediately and sure enough he ran out in front of me and I just managed to miss him. 

I normally drive through that area in day light.  On a motorbike at night it would be almost suicidal.  Roos I can handle but emus scare the bejesus out of me. 

You are right Rick and Tackler, the3 Emu and Kangaroo are very unpredictable and brainless at the best of times. One of our furry friends I would hate to hit on a bike is the old wombat which apparently has a few more brains but is as solid as  a brick wall and low to the ground.Safe riding.Cheers Tom

tom we saw a couple of them ( wombats ) whilst traversing the Kiandra to Kancoban road ...later in the night than we expected
and indeed build like a brick s...t house  on short but powerful legs ...almost kicked ones butt to help it along, off the road, that it had no idea of changing direction with the bright lights and noise following behind, scaring it forward .

didn't stop for pics on that one  

but if things were different could have been a sad story ...we were fortunate I believe .
take care

I'm doing my best to help you guys............had kangaroo steaks for dinner last week.   :-E:


Paul.

sidecar paul wrote:I'm doing my best to help you guys............had kangaroo steaks for dinner last week.   :-E:


Paul.

How did you kill him? With a brick?

Kangaroo steaks (tough, red), like Foster's (weak, clear), both exports.
Most Aussies wouldn't go near them.


:joker:

We make casseroles and curry from roo and call the curry Skippy the Bush Vindaloo.

RicK G wrote:We make casseroles and curry from roo and call the curry Skippy the Bush Vindaloo.

I thought I was bad.

Anymore like that in the pouch??

What do you serve it with? Punch?

They say the Indian beer industry is 'booming'.

Salami made from Roo meat is (Drum roll) ............................ Skipwurst.

The Snowy Mountains Ride is fast approaching. Some plans have been mooted (made?) So, the story as it now stands...

The Hunter Krew (inc. Tom, Gaz, Smithy, Smithy's B.i.L., Warren my self and whoever else) plan to leave Maitland/Newcastle etc on the Thursday morning. The planned route will be Wollombi, Kulnura, Bloodtree Road, follow the Hawksbury upstream to Wisemans Ferry, then the Northern Road down eventually to Herr RT's place at Robertson. Herr RT has kindly offered his lawns for camping etc for the Thursday night.

Friday...down Jamberoo, Nowra, Sassafras, Nerriga to Braidwood. There is a road more or less direct to Cooma from Braidwood, but involves many Km of unsealed road. Most likely...Braidwood, Bungendore, Queenbeyan, Cooma and thence Jindabyne. Should he able to do that comfortably in a day, with time to spare for some lagers at the end of it.

Bill, from Goulburn, could meet at Bungendore or at RT's on the Thursday night.

Thoughts???

Rickmeister.

Sounds like a plan Ulli. Should be able to count me in for a Thursday morning departure.
Not too sure I like the idea of "many Km of unsealed road" but Tom assures me there is some worthwhile riding beyond the gravel road.

I'll most likely get going thursday morning as well, so Robertson thursday night sounds good, if there is enough lawn space available. I'm ok with dirt road at a steady pace but we'll see on the day.
Phil

Plenty of lawn here, no burrs and it's flat. All welcome. I'll get some numbers closer and might be persuaded to clean the hotplate up for Thursday night. Hope it gets a bit cooler by then, be hot out today.
Oh and don't forget, we are a dog friendly establishment.

We'll be in pursuit of the krew on Saturday ,
I'm hoping for a pre dawn pic at Kirribilli . then via Bungendore ? and onto Kapital Hill in Canberra. before heading down the Monaro into Jindabyne .
 I wouldn't mind a quick jaunt to Khancoban whilst on the go , whats the chances of bumping into the krew on the Alpine Way.

 if any one is available for meeting on the Hume along the way . then maybe at Marulan , Goulburn or the Kapital.

GroverK wrote:We'll be in pursuit of the krew on Saturday ,
I'm hoping for a pre dawn pic at Kirribilli . then via Bungendore ? and onto Kapital Hill in Canberra. before heading down the Monaro into Jindabyne .
 I wouldn't mind a quick jaunt to Khancoban whilst on the go , whats the chances of bumping into the krew on the Alpine Way.

 if any one is available for meeting on the Hume along the way . then maybe at Marulan , Goulburn or the Kapital.

Hi all,

I'll be in Jindabyne again today or tomorrow. (Son's birthday in Cooma today.) Any specific questions you want answered while I'm there? 

Ed, my thought was to do the loop including Thredbo, Tom Groggin, Khancoban, Cabramurra, Providence Portal, Adaminaby - either direction. All subject to the desires of the Krew on the ground. Hopefully, we can decide that on Friday evening so messages can be sent in time for appropriate choices on the road for you.

Cheers,

Bill

Rockman wrote:I'll most likely get going thursday morning as well, so Robertson thursday night sounds good, if there is enough lawn space available. I'm ok with dirt road at a steady pace but we'll see on the day.
Phil

I've had a look how far it is to Robertson from Inverell. 900 odd km including traffic around the back of Sydney sounds a bit much for one day so I'm now working on catching up with the Krew on the friday somewhere. Canberra possibly?

Phil, if you are aiming for a Friday meet up you might be better giving the Sydney basin a miss altogether and heading south via the Bylong Valley, Oberon, Goulburn and onto the Canberra region. Just a thought as we in the Hunter use that track or variations on it mostly when heading south.

Look forward to catching up.

Cheers

Gaz80 wrote:Phil, if you are aiming for a Friday meet up you might be better giving the Sydney basin a miss altogether and heading south via the Bylong Valley, Oberon, Goulburn and onto the Canberra region. Just a thought as we in the Hunter use that track or variations on it mostly when heading south.

Look forward to catching up.

Cheers

I was thinking of Canberra because I can bludge a free bed there at my nephews place. I'd probably come down through Coolah-Mudgee-Bathurst-Boorowa-Yass-Canberra. Then up into the hills via Cooma the next day.

I will be going but unsure of what is happening. Its hardly worth going home to Stanthorpe but if I dont then will have 4 days to waste around the area after the Karuah River rally winds up. Does anybody know if I can stay at the Rally site after it finishes.

RicK G wrote:I will be going but unsure of what is happening. Its hardly worth going home to Stanthorpe but if I dont then will have 4 days to waste around the area after the Karuah River rally winds up. Does anybody know if I can stay at the Rally site after it finishes.

Absolutely, it's a public camping area and they won't even charge you for the privilege Rick(they do charge the club per head for the rally as we book the site).  Marie and I have stayed their away from the rally on numerous occasions.  Take your swimmers etc and take advantage of the waterholes.

If you want to do a little exploring while traveling south at a gentle pace there are many options too.  Try the road to Goulburn via Oberon, you can camp at the Abercrombie River (Oberon last stop for supplies).  If you dont mind a little dirt on your travels, camp at Wee Jasper (Billy Grace Reserve has showers if that's getting attractive by then) also grass, shade and a decent river (ice at wee jasper but yass for supplies.  Some dirt on the way to Tumut to continue your route south.  Mid week should be quiet too.  

Al