A Skein of 6 (Google it) took off Tues 31st Oct heading south for the 'Snowy Ride' in Thredbo. Rod Mac 1200GS, Garry Cosmo 1200RS, Steve Pike 1200GS, Garry Walker Triumph Tiger 800, Ken Eddy R850 R, Brad Thompson KTM 1050.
So the plan was 4 days to Thredbo, 2-3 days in the Alpine Snowy area and 5-7 days to get home.
The Ride is a Cancer research fundraiser held Annually over the 1st weekend of November in Thredbo.
1st day took us via Maleny, Esk, Toowoomba, Leyburn and into Texas for overnight at 'The Stockmans Hotel' always a good value stay.
2nd Day down through Warialda, Manilla, Gunnedah, Coolah and overnight in Gulgong at the 'Commercial Hotel' an average hotel, our bikes did get locked up securely in garages.
3rd day saw us down into Hill End, Sofala into Bathurst for a couple of laps around Mt Panorama and then down via Trunkey Creek, Crookwell, Goulburn and into 'The Loaded Dog Hotel' in Tarago, and lots of visor cleaning !!
So on Friday 3rd Nov after 3 days of great riding weather it turned cold as we headed to Cooma and into Thredbo with light rain and snow on the mtns, with the temp around 10c in the middle of the day with snow visible from our accommodation at 'Lantern Apartments' in Thredbo.
Have used units these before and they provide fully s/c units and good value.
The weekend saw us have a couple of smaller rides to check out the scenery and snow and some of the 3000 bikes that get there, see other pics from Steve Pike and then Monday we packed up and left Thredbo with a change to our original plans of going over the Snowy Alpine region due to the cold, wet weather and snow forecast. We still ended up going through light rain and cold temps at 1500m height and 5.5c to get into Tumut before heading down to Tumbarumba in the wet to Corryong where it cleared up and we got into Tallangatta in sunshine, but cool, for a stay at the 'Victoria Hotel' where the bikes got stored undercover but the rooms did not have a lot of space, may not use this hotel again. By this stage one Geese had left us early for his trip home and a friend, another Steve, joined us on his Yamaha FJR 1300.
Tuesday saw us take one of the best motorbike roads in the area if not Victoria (Omeo Highway) From Tallangatta through Mitta Mitta up to Omeo going through 1200m height and down to 3.5c !! and a warm Brekky at 'Twinkles' café, Steve had to tinkle at Twinkles.
We headed down to Bruthen, through Orbost to Cann River and up to Delegate for our overnighter at the Delegate Hotel which is now showing it's 'use by' date sadly, it was good in the past and had character but needs some TLC now.
Wednesday saw us head into Bombala and Cathcart down to Pambula for warmth and along the Sapphire Coast with some great scenery and then to Guy and Suzie's at Tuross Head for a very warm welcome and great night with other bike riders that Guy and Suzie invited along. Steve tried out some other wheels in drag race with a powered bicycle !! (note...he lost) Due to the large number of men and women attending and multiples of the same name, all us visiting Geese were 'Steve' all the local males were 'Graham' and all the ladies were 'Suzie',..it was that sort of a night.
Garry C had scored a stone somewhere on the road between Delegate and Bobala and ended up with a hole in the radiator on the 1200 RS which caused lots of steam and water to issue forth about 5km out from Bombala, so sadly that was the end of his ride and his night at Tuross Head. Garry slipped back into Bombala for help from BMW Assist, who were partially helpful, the end result being a Tow Truck into Canberra and a flight home. It does pay to belong to RACQ.
Garry now has to wait for parts to arrive, apparently a lot of bike retailers are not keeping parts on hand in Australia.
Thursday morning came around and we left Guy and Suzie and travelled along the coast to Batemans Bay and up Misty Mountain to Braidwood for a coffee and where the Geese started to go their own ways from. 3 Geese left for points north via Goulburn and Oberon, the Blue Mtns and onto the Putty Road northward bound while 2 of us (Garry W and myself) slipped into Canberra to a see a friend with a large collection of Bikes,(Vincent HRD, Brough, Aerail Sq4, BSA etc....) cars and untold number of collectables and then into Goulburn for a stay at The Southern Railway Hotel' and yes we would stay there again, good value and meals $10.
Friday and away up through Taralga to Oberon and over to the Putty rd, Singleton and onto the Bucketts Way into Gloucester to stay at the 'Avon Hotel' won't do that Hotel again, very run down rooms and one bathroom. It seems a lot of effort went into replacing a hand basin in my hotel room, but not a lot of skill !!
Saturday and we got onto Thunderbolts Way with a brief stop at Carsons Lookout and into Walcha for Brekky at the Royal Hotel/Cafe then Armidale, Ebor and over to Dorrigo, the last 30k into Dorrigo in heavy cold cloud and misty rain, makes you wonder why we ride sometimes, from Dorrigo up via Tyringham to Grafton and via the Great Marlow rd and Riverbank rd alongside the Clarence River to Lawrence then Casino and into Kyogle for our last night at the Exchange Hotel, a definite yes for this Hotel.
Due to a 70th Bday function at the Hotel we decided to go up to the next Pub for a meal, only to find a large Wake in progress !! and another function was also being held at the top end of town, talk about the social hub of Nth NSW....
Sunday came around with heavy fog for the last day but the weather cleared by the time we got into Boonah for Brekky and we headed straight through Fernvale, Wivenhoe, Esk and then a change in the weather and a stop at Maleny to put on wet weather gear aaahhhh!!!!.
So in the end the original plan was pretty close to the mark with some changes, lots of good time and laughs, we dodged lots of wildlife, rode some of the best roads in the country, lots of bikes to look at, over 5000km travelled with no serious incidents, no wallet hurting exercises and everybody kept their licences:-).