thanks smithy ..was yet another great meet of the krew , at somewhere closer for me to visit with the guys from south of here .
yet again you have made a spectacular hosting event with fantastic support to a hungry and interesting group of blokes , also thanks to warren and kay and his mate gary for making the support of the event so easy for all of us ,and joining in .
for rick and myself (travelling together from near the queensland border , we arrived at smithys narrowly missing a huge storm passing through the district , for us a dry ride in taking the shot cut through the tabramurra road to smithys ...but as weather deteriorated were afraid for Gaz , apparently waiting it out south of Guyra ...moonbies (near tamworth area, some 100 ks south ) and the expected travels of Tackler leaving late from Brisbane ..into a world of wet for him along the path.
tackler arrived later than expected ...but in reasonably good spirits considering the poor weather , I had just put my head down for the night but awoke to the k75 arriving way after midnight (time shift with nsw being n daylight savings ..loosing an hour in time over the border for us queenslanders )
I sat with him for a few welcoming sips of warmth restoring komeraderie before we felt the desperation and need of some sleep before the ride day planed for the next day .
was a bonus to be in the garage during the wet night out side , tom and bill camped out in tents ...hardy folks indeed during the rain overnight
I found a little crook of a spot between the k1100 and the Honda deep in the bowls of smiths garage ..to rest my weary head as the rain kept on coming ...sweet !
next morning all was good as the blokes saddled up for the ride after some quick toast tea and extras , tom this time on a r bike as the k 75s were having issues ...interesting bike all the same and very welcome to see him .
ulis r1200 thingy was incedible not my cup of tea ...but an awesome ride machine . as we later stretched our legs together along the lower reaches of the mann river valley and into grafton and the coastal regions
but before then the stretch across the highlands of the table lands traveling as a group was really fantastic , up and over "Ben Lomond " is always a blast .then into "Glenn" (glen innes ) for the morning tea ...then out to the rasburry lookout .all awesome and without incident , but to admire the road ahead and enjoy the ride together .
a few pics from rasburry before the steep descent into the humidity of the lower valleys and eventually the coastal region ....some good corners along the way ..for some marred by a blooming caravan setup doing the expected hold up of traffic on the way down ...
at the lower crossing of the mann river . Uli and hooked up and charged for the coast ...the r an awesome machine was keeping track of old gerty ...but I had to wait for him to catch up after a few ..awkward trucks and corners things ...
we arrived in grafton and headed directly for the "crown hotel " a great meal and a few refreshing drinks , before heading out to find some "purple rain" ie jacaranda trees shedding their flowers
by chance there were some dragon boat races occurring on the river front as we were preparing to leave
mm what grafton is famous for ...purple rain and streets
I was worried that the inclement weather the night before , had stripped the flowers and colour that we were hoping to experience ..but it looked great ..I hope you think so too .
and off up the water falls way ...wow...you just have to experience this path ...iv stopped a few times there to take pics of the awesome wriggly road ...but with wet weather coming in ...riders interspersed at irregular intervals , rough entry and wet weather gear changes in preparation for the after noon the group was spread out quite far ...racing the corners was n my mind til ...whoops slippery stuff started happening and the regular har dive into and out of corners became a survival , and safety consideration...grin
smithy post the arrival of the group to Ebor
heres the falls as we attended it ...with low clouds rumbling over the hills around
some good viewing
before heading off due west and towards Guyra and home for the night some 80 + ks off in intermittent rain ..
we passed a truck coming the opposie way, twb and pam directly behind me ...the wake of the truck approaching was absolutely a wash of thick water from ground level to 12 feet over all lanes ...omg what an experience of being washed out of the landscape ..that water was soo thick ,, pam said later ..."omg hes gone " before being washed out themselves ....freaky stuff
later that nigh all dried off ...craig got creative ... yeah ok ... something to share with others perhaps ...
,lets see your "K" insignia ....
an other great night with friends with good food, good tales and grog .... before the next day
for me .. unfortunately ...after propping gerty up for a fluids check of oil in sump. gearbox, diff ...etc ... the poor old girl took a tumble whilst I was away from her side ...the left hand foot of the centre stand sunk into the mud and she toppled over hard on her side ....destroying the right hand side everything .....crap ...Q!!@! ./..after an hour of so I had stipped the fairing made repairs . reassembledas best we could and made road worthy with ...100mph gaffer tape...lol in " tackler preferred choice of colour" to suit his k75 ...lol
off we are ...north this time ...oh ...bugga fuel pump had dislodged as well ..quick strip down and plug the thing in again ...and caught up with the guys 80 k north at the servo glenn innes again ... a good run over the hills of the distinctly lonesome terrain had us in Tenterfield (Tenterfield saddler ) for a nice brunch ... before heading home into Queensland
rick g and twb heading off at ricks home town , stanthorpe , me nd tackler keeping going along the path , tackler dropping off pace time to time ... a rest was needed ...and enjoyed ...before thundering through warwick and into the coastal regions yet again on the way home ...
a great weekend had by many
thanks to everybody that attended ...was great to meet you all again
and sincere thanks to the smithys for a great occasion to be shared and their considerable efforts to make us all welcome
thanks mate !