This is looking good.....wish I was there kind of thing. Right now Paul as in BAE is somewhere on the second leg after his tube stop methinks.

Sun is out here and an absolutely perfect K day.

Now that the precedent of visitors travelling has been well set hope we will be seeing more of you guys up here.

We have this Wild Atlantic Way that is truly lovely and BAE has traversed most of it by now. Bill [Indian 036] organised some great sunny weather for his visit in March 2015 and was rewarded with a sunny evening through the Sally Gap at the end of a great day. We managed to get BAE to the same place too, also a nice sunny day. He caught a dose of the Kpox on that because when we eventually got to our destination he bought another K, the one that led Bill and myself on our trip through the Sally Gap.

The one important thing...ride safe on this weekend.

Still venturing up Katoomba way Sunday arvo? Could'nt commit sooner - Family things. 
  Would'nt mind meeting up with the Krew at Windsor. Won't be there in time for lunch but should be there before you leave. Dale

I'm sure you'll find us Dale. Yes as you would have read earlier in the thread we plan to take up your suggestion and head up there via Hawesbury Lookout.

See you Sunday.

Well Paul arrived in one piece and looking remarkably refreshed after such a long journey. He is impressed with the weather we have put on for him.

I shouted him breakfast at a local cafe where his BMW shirt attracted comment. RossKo arrived in due course and conveyed Paul to his house of Ks. 

Many thanks to Paul for transporting a few items for me from the UK. The comfort seat looks like a good investment. 

I am sure he will be well looked after and it should be a very enjoyable couple of days.  

Dave.

Well, here he is off on an adventure.

Had lunch with a group  of extinguished, sorry, distinguished gentlemen today and Paul concerned me as he commented that he enjoyed being searched as he entered the country.... said he liked their rubber gloves. Each to their own. The group then headed off towards Newcastle and evening social events. Wish you well for good riding tomorrow.

rosskko wrote:Well, here he is off on an adventure
.

CF wrote:OOPS! CF rotated the original picture after your reply.

I was expecting to see an upside down photo but this is a good compromise I think. A brick, on bricks, with bricks behind. We call those bricks on the ground 'Cobblelock' I mean Kobblelok.

A very nice looking K too.

As for the rubber gloves, well nothing like a good body cavity clear out to make way for what really does seem to be some excellent hospitality. Does one call it a spine lube?

See you guys later.

Good to see Paul making it to Oz safely to enjoy some time with the Aussie Krew.
Paul's arrival with Rosskko at PITS ( Pie in the Sky ) at Cowan on the north side of Sydney . 




Paul is totally Knackered as you can see , 
Charlie , I think that cheesy grin may be rubbing off on him already.

Gaz, Paul , Bill, Smithy, Richard and Marie.




Our morning tea meetup up overlooking the Hawksbury River and Brooklyn 
Al, Rosskko, Paul , Richard, Warren C and Bill .


a quick pic before heading north to Newcastle under the guidance of our tour Ko-ordinator , Tom .

Smithy , Klompy , Gaz, Rosskko , Tom , Al , Down Under Paul , Warren C , Richard ( Basic 2)
seated - Ed and Bill  , Our thanks to Marie P for the pic . 


Lunch at Catho Pub , Catherine Hill Bay , where we caught up with Stan and Uli. 


Tom and Rick at Catherine Hill Bay. 




Paul being shown the delights of our Aussie beaches .


The sun setting for the day , what better way to end it than a view overlooking the Hunter Valley from on top of Newcastle .
Strezlecki lookout and the Anzac walk were our last port of call before preparing for the run out to Chez Gaz and a night of kinship .
Some close shaves with traffic along the way , but all went well .

Mr Klompy , Paul and Smithy.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Kompany today with the Krew . Welcome to Oz,Paul .

Some amazing work by Rosskko and the Krew to get Paul mobile on this ride . 
The RT undergoing a lot of work to make it roadworthy and even then some more to do. Much Kredit due to all involved . well done .

Excellent photos. Quality table linen too. And VCT? Very Cool Triple?

Enjoyed chat and will try again in a bit. If you all recover from the surprises.....Olaf

some great pics ed ....
wish I could have made it

welcome paul

ainsjac wrote:Had lunch with a group of extinguished, sorry, very distinguished gentlemen today and Paul concerned me as he commented that he enjoyed being searched as he entered the country.... smiled as he said he liked their rubber gloves. Each to their own. The group then headed off towards Newcastle and evening social events. Wish you well for good riding tomorrow.

This didn't quite read right so I fixed it in the spirit of things.......

Glad you made it too. Its reading like a sort of rolling weekend trip where people kind of come in and join for a bit. Makes for a great event and it makes excellent reading from here.

Wonder how the heads will be in the morning......

Meantime I got my new rear shockie on thanks to some lateral inspiration on the part of 88 on how to do a solo rear shock installation without a main stand so going to head out for a short ride with my son for ice cream by the waters edge. Best I can do here.

Morning in Greta (Gaz's place).

Looking forward to today's ride. 

Great kameraderie last night, and Paul lasted till after 11pm, to the surprise of several experience cross-world fliers. 

Bill

Garry cooking the bacon.

First time I've put an image in from an iPad! I thought it was supposed to be hard, so I haven't tried before.

Today we had lunch at the MacQuarie Arms Hotel, Windsor. Upon arrival I insulted by 4 Harley riders. Being who I am, I defended the Honour of BMW (with the help of Klompy).
At 12:30pm the rest arrived (right on time). We went into the Beer Garden for lunch and a yak.
A good time was had by all.

BTW beware we have a member who likes to park his bike so close you can't get a cigarette between the bikes 

We had a great evening last night. Quite a few beers, and Guiness were consumed. BAE fitted in very well and was quite at home with the Ozzie banter and jesting and humour interspersed with lots of K-talk. We had what is becoming a regulare hook-up with Olaf via Skype. Gaz presented BAE with a live redback spider captive in a Vegimite jar. Had some fun with that .
The spread prepared by Ruth was amazing.
Thanks to Gaz and Ruth for a great evening at Chez Gaz.

I didn't participate in the ride this weekend, but I was just checking out the rain radar and it looks like the Hunter Krew may be getting a little wet on the ride back home this afternoon. Safe journey.
Cheers

Well you shouldn't be smoking anyway Adrian.
Caught em all by surprise when the Krew rocked up at the Grey Gums there I was. Gaz rode right past my K1100 and Margs K75 but Smithy saw them and the cat was out of the bag. Good to meet Paul and see the Krew and now we are in Scone having got drowned in a thunder storm just near singleton and waited at a servo till it passed then got into something dry but only made another few km before we gave in and turned into a motel.

larrikin wrote:BTW beware we have a member who likes to park his bike so close you can't get a cigarette between the bikes 

It was close wasn't it . 
Guided in by senior aircraftsman Herr Klompy . 

Good to see you made it along Larrikan. 
The doormen were good too .

No Grey Gum pics?

Al

Now we need to do our sums. How many members of the forum has Paul met in one weekend in Australia?
Considering we have a "small" country we have 2 coming from Queensland as well many from the hosting state. Rick and Marg would take out the greatest distance travelled award.
I would suggest that someone has a few ales with Paul and then ask him to name all the members he has met.... in order and describe each and name the left handers.

Kaptain Holister wrote:Gaz presented BAE with a live redback spider captive in a Vegimite jar. Had some fun with that .

The little lady that Gaz introduced me to - what more could I wish for? A K bike, great Kamaraderie with the Krew, a few Koldies and a Kute little Kompanion for the evening! 

A totally amazing weekend - once I gather my thoughts and have download a few pics / video I'm sure I'll be providing my account of what really happened. Fabulous turnout by the Krew and some very unexpected, but hugely welcome, surprise appearances.

A massive thank you to Rosskko for the loan bike, for Gaz and Ruth for their amazing hospitality/organisation and to all the Krew that made the effort to ride with me or get themselves to one of the select watering holes along the route over the weekend.

Rain did stop play this afternoon - but, being appropriately dressed for such possibilities, it did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm, although my bargain Aldi boots are clearly not monsoon proof!

Just for you Al - a Grey Gums gathering (minus Klompy who had raced off on a special mission...)


Thanks for the challenge Ainsjac....I'll get back to you on that one soon!

I'm just drying off from the run home . As mentioned by Nigel a few of us were accompanied by the rain on our trip back to Newcastle. Smithy and Tom peeled away near the Doyalson exit , I'm guessing they headed up the east side of Lake Macquarie.

Al, everyone had their cameras out at Grey Gums , should be some good pics up here shortly .
The vast expanse of sandpit in the driveway provided for some excitement as we ventured into the parking area . 

The entrance to Grey Gums Cafe, showing it caters for the international community. The Union Jack flying for our mate Paul .
The United States of America standing alongside , being the next port of call for the sKroll, not long now TWB.

This is a brilliant thread and a great read.  I am really envious of Paul and think the Aussie K Krew have done a stunning job of showing international hospitality and friendliness.  Fantastic, well done!

We woke up to a heavy frost in the UK although the sun is now out and attempting to bring a bit of warmth and Spring feeling to this Sunday morning.  Looks like our winter weather has gone down under...   

Any chance you managed to play a K Krew 'Tag' on your travels? 

Regards
Nigel

Hi All;
Had a great weekend with old friends and new friends....special mention to the wonderful Ruth proprietor of the famous "Kasa Del Gaza" who spoilt us all rotten...thank you very much. :O)


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Hello all, hope all who participated in our BAE weekend enjoyed it as much as Ruth and I.

I arrived home this evening about 6:20pm cold and wet after the heavens opened at Springwood on the four of us who had planned on going up the Blue Mountains to the Three Sisters lookout. Klompy pulled into a service station to put on his wet weather gear and declared "enough - I'm off home", said his goodbyes and he was away. Dale, Paul and I had a mini conference and our fearless visitor clad in his usual riding gear, fully waterproof you see, was prepared to wait a while to see if the downpour subsided but Dale's local knowledge indicated that it was unlikely to abate for a while and the top of the mountains where we were headed had been shrouded in fog when he left home. Considering how dark it was getting we decided to pull up stumps and head for home (or hotel as the case may be). So after fitting another fuse to the RT tail light circuit Paul and I headed down towards Sydney and Dale waved goodbye to ride back up into the fog.

Paul's tail light was still operating when I peeled off onto the M7 to head north. My journey home had varied conditions from raining heavy to raining lightly and being clad in my summer jacket, jeans and spray jacket I needed to stop at the service centre about 70 kms south of Newcastle to empty the water out of my boots and get a hot coffee into me before attacking the last leg. All part of the experience isn't it?

Here is a couple of pics of Paul enjoying his first look at an Aussie beach after lunch at Catherine Hill Bay.




And the meticulous preparations for the group shot at the Grey Gums Cafe.


Cheers

Apologies for sideways picture. 
Smithy deserves Kudos for scraping a peg, but if you're going to do it on grass, perhaps you should get a GS.

Bill

Lunch at Catherine Hill Bay


Gaz and Ruth's hospitality in Greta.

The view from the back door of Gaz's place. Very different, I'm sure, to anything BAE has at home.
Smithy was the only one brave enough to try out the pool.


Gaz is really dedicated to the whole K phenomenon!

Our kind waitress at the Grey Gum café recognised Ed's inner child, and arranged a bib for him.


Yet another demonstration of Ed's kommitment to the Krew.
(And Tom's waning kommitment, since he rode his R100R today, though I must konfess to being the kause of that. Yesterday I refused to believe it actually runs, since I'd only seen it parked in his shed.)

The Aussie Krew did BAE proud on his jaunt to the glorious antipodes. Lots of participation and enkouragement all round, but particular thanks to Rosskko for the provision of the K (and others for helping to have it ready and functioning), and to Gaz and Ruth for the organisation and great hospitality in Greta. Part of what makes this forum such a great thing.

I did notice that Paul's BAE polo shirt was white on Saturday, but had become black on Sunday. There is no truth to the rumour that it is related to the reputed bath habits (or lack of) of the English.  

Paul, it was a pleasure to meet you and share the kameraderie and the ride.

Bill

GroverK wrote:The Union Jack flying for our mate Paul .

Paul did politely point out to the management that it was flying upside down.

We Aussies had two potential takes on that:
1. Quite appropriate given that we are downunder.
2. With the Brexit vote on soon, and a flag flown upside down being an internationally recognised distress signal, some may say distress is appropriate - some being distressed if GB leaves the EU, some being distressed if GB doesn't leave the EU.

Mind you, most Aussies wouldn't know if the Union flag was upside down or not! (Me included, though I do at least recognise that its not symmetrical.)

Bill

I enjoyed reading this post. Nice pictures.

BAE had a bit of nicer weather than when he came to Nova Scotia.
He didn't get the opportunity to ride in Canada because I don't own a skidoo..

Here is BAE at the beach in Australia :


Here is BAE at the beach in Canada  (This Friday all the kids had a snow day. They had to close the schools because of a storm and bad driving conditions)

This picture was taken on April 17 and everything already started to melt. 

I don't understand something.....
In Australia, it was nice and warm and BAE is fully dressed.
In Canada it was cold and BAE wear only a t-shirt.

Crazy Frog wrote:I don't understand something.....
In Australia, it was nice and warm and BAE is fully dressed.
In Canada it was cold and BAE wear only a t-shirt.

A temporary side effect caused by the disruption to the space/time reality when venturing down under - the inversion effeKt...and also provides a little protection from drop-bears, I hear. 

There's no explaining the t-shirt in the cold though, but it proved to be an effective polar bear deterrent.

This is a great read

I wonder where Paul will venture next ?

Paul's small friend with the red strip on the back of her coat seemed pleased to be back in the wood pile this morning after her weekend in the vegemite jar doing her part for international relations. As they say in the movies "no animals were injured while completing this scene".

Cheers

G'day All, Thank you Gaz and Ruth for a great evening. It was very enjoyable especially Paul meeting our red backed friend. Sunday was a great ride and a fantastic surprise to see Rick and Marg there at the Grey Gum café. Rick's excuse is sort of plausible in that he didn't feel like eating worms. A very sly move coming down to meet us. Always good to meet the faces behind the name namely Klompy and the Larrikin. All in all a very nice weekend and thanks to Gaz and Paul for being responsible. The ride home was a little wet having to pour the water out of the boots on getting home.
Thank you all for a great weekend. Cheers Tom

Phew! That's a relief Gaz. I thought she may have gone pop onder your boot.  
I dare say she would've survived the trip back to the UK with Paul sealed inside that pressurised Vegimite jar at 33,000ft but would've faced inevitable extermination at Hethrow customs.

it was a great to catch up with all on Saturday and Sunday looks like it was a gas... here is my minor photographic offering



Roskko tinkering



Bill, Ross and Paul on the ferry




at the PITS

Kaptain Holister wrote:BAE fitted in very well and was quite at home with the Ozzie banter and jesting and humour....

Yeah - he does alright for a Pom    We knoocked the corners off him in Ireland for yiz 


Seriously tho' - looks like an amazing adventure. I'm green with envy  . Can't wait to see you back this side Paul for an account on person over a Guinness!

88 wrote:Seriously tho' - looks like an amazing adventure. I'm green with envy  . Can't wait to see you back this side Paul for an account on person over a Guinness!

You can cure the envy by coming over yourself. Just a quick trip on the tube.

I'm sure Paul's account will be worth listening to as he describes the strange habits of the downunder Krew, but there's nothing like experiencing it yourself.  

Bill

indian036 wrote:
Our kind waitress at the Grey Gum café recognised Ed's inner child, and arranged a bib for him.

Just catching the Krumbs .......

The Krew gathering for morning muster at Chez Gaz.


Bill surveying the damage to Smithy's footpeg after a "down" moment on Saturday evening.


Guided tour by Gaz through the Hunter Valley wineries


Preparing for one of the many regular concerts held in the vineyards.


Going through Broke. Right turn Clyde.


A suspicious looking kitchen in a "house halfway" down the Putty Road.
Glad I wasn't too hungry at this stage. 



Paul is at it again , can't keep a good bloke down . 


Raising of the forum sKroll at the Grey Gum Cafe, Putty .


Time for the Krew to head south to Windsor and the MacQuarie Arms to meet up with RT, Dale and Larrikan.


The skies were gathering momentum for the afternoons festivities.


Lunch break .


RT, Gaz and Larrikan waiting for the band to kick in .





Some tight parking executed , Blues blending into one . The LT has a frame number designation of an "RS" and thought it could mix it with the other RS's on the lot.


It was a top day out with the Krew with some new faces as well.

Born Again Eccentric wrote:

TacKler wrote:

GroverK wrote:Maybe I should put a taxi sign above the Kart , and give the poor bloke a free lift.

Uber K?

GroverK & TacKler, I like your thinking....


(apologies for the wilful cloning of one of your Tassie pics Ed!)

Might still be something in this concept after all.....     Uber in Newcastle

He's been here less than a week and already he's tried to escape the compound. I understand he'll be out on parole on Friday.

Met with Paul for a sunrise ride across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this morning. Not a lot of traffic. Timing was about a minute too early but the view over the Opera house with the sunrise in the background was awesome. Headed to Milsons Point to check out the bridge up close from below and then a nice coffee and back to the city.

A bride too far?

Bridge over the Rider K?

Lovely shot.

As for CF comment about the t shirt in the ice......cant beat these Born Again Eccentrics.

In fairness to you guys [and some nice ladies too] down under you have really put on one great show and some great photographs. Hope some of you make it up here over the next few years while we still have our marbles.

Maybe Paul might make it over to us for 88 [Will's] Lecarrow Ride on weekend of 20 May to show some video clips......If he even decides to come back.

Hey Olaf, you raise a couple of good points in your last post.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:A bride too far?

I've had two, just wondering how many is too far?

And this sounds very pleasant.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:Bride over the Rider K?
Lovely shot.

Cheers mate!

Gaz80 wrote:Hey Olaf, you raise a couple of good points in your last post.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:A bride too far?

I've had two, just wondering how many is too far?

And this sounds very pleasant.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:Bride over the Rider K?
Lovely shot.

Cheers mate!

That was supposed to be a play on Bridge over the River Kwai but a typo Krept in.

On a more serious note though would be nice if any of you guys do make it up here.

Hopefully we can offer some good hospitality and some nice places to see. Exact choice tends to be weather dependent as Paul will have told you about his camping last year. Instead of travelling to Kerry as planned we went the exact opposite way across the Wicklow Mountains and Sally Gap [ask Indian036 about that] in lovely sunshine but it Kost him a K. The good thing is we never run out of nice places to go, just like you guys have. 

We can't offer the same weather and it was nice of you to stir up the rain last weekend just to make sure Paul felt at home. We do have an Irish solution to the rain problem, its called the 'pub'. According to folklore they were established to allow a traveller seek shelter from weather and enjoy some sustenance. In accordance with that tradition we used to have until quite recently what was referred to a 'bone fide traveller' as in if you were in a rural area more than 3 miles from home you could have your drink any time. 3 Irish miles being about an hours walk to the pub......

Olaf, the play on words was great and I think your typo has definitely topped Rickmeister's "Loffee" which we also had a lot of fun with.

Cheers

That sounds like we need to get down to West Cork and Kerry and catch some of these disused railway bridges. This was taken under one last Sunday morning around about the time you guys were in rain. Monthly breakfast meet up at a place called the Viaduct.

Warren C wrote:


Bill, Ross and Paul on the ferry

I'm guessing the Berowra river crossing , would have been a nice ride through the Galston Gorge from Castle Hill to the PITS.

From Castle Hill it was the usual city PITB, but close to Berowra Waters and onwards was very pleasant riding. 

Bill

Where has the week gone? Just enough time left to wrap up the works meeting and then head out for the flight home on Friday afternoon.

Very reluctantly, I returned Rosskko's K100 RT this evening....a total of 530 miles ridden during a truly memorable week. A huge thank you to Rosskko & Sandra and Garry & Ruth and all of the Krew met along the way...also known as:

Ainsjac, Al58, Basic2, DaleRT, Gaz80, GroverK, Indian036, Kaptain Hollister, Klompy the Grey Brick, Larrikin, Marg, Marie, RickG, Rickmeister, Rosskko, RT, Smithy, TacKler, Tom Grabau, Warren C and Waz. Yes folks....thats 21 of the Krew and me! 

Time to pack and go...but I will be back. If I had known Australia was this good, I'd have stolen a hankie long ago (sorry Larrikin - I mean I would have stolen my third hankie long ago!)

Cheers to you all.

Gatherings of the Krew are always good. Adding an international component only makes it better. 

Great to have you join us, Paul. 

Bill

Born Again Eccentric wrote:
Time to pack and go...but I will be back. If I had known Australia was this good, I'd have stolen a hankie long ago (sorry Larrikin - I mean I would have stolen my third hankie long ago!)

Cheers to you all.

We stopped taking Pommie Crims years ago.