An OzSTOC Club Member was also putting on a RTE for a combined 21st Birthday celebration, and the NSW OzSTOC Xmas party, so I timed my visit to be able to drop in and say G'day here as well.
I am loving the new little trailer "Old Red" and always look forward to getting out touring with it, and stopping at new and wonderful places.
Packing and loading is always another fun part of hitting the road.
The ride plan was to get to Denman, overnight camp there, and then ride down the famous and awesome Old Putty Road to get me to the party destination.
I took my new travel camera with me, and after I took 3 or 4 shots, the battery died, and as I cannot use my phone camera whilst riding, I didn't get as many mobile pics as I usually like.
Anyways - a few hundred kays into the trip and the first stop was the nice Queensland country town of Warwick to top up the tank, reduce the volume in another, and get a great coffee from one of the little coffee shops I always stop at there.
More easy motoring in temps around 30*C until I stop in to see some great friends at Guyra whom also co-run the Aussie Honda ST Owners Club (OzSTOC) now for a chat and coffee. It is here that Chris asks if I'd like to try his Russell Day Long seat until I pass back through these ways in a couple of days... "Hell YEAH!" was the emphatic answer... have a gander at this thing...
It is like slippers for your posterior!
I was soon on my way again and feeling the constant heat. I was keeping well hydrated, but the temps had been well over 30*C for hours now, so I decided to take a little break. I had been through towns like Armidale, Bendemeer and Tamworth and found a great spot to park the rig and have a lay down for 15 odd mins. Got this shot at the time (Murrundi)...
Made it to Denman later, found the caravan park where I was camping and settled in for the afternoon/evening...
I'd picked up a steak and other supplies at Muswellbrook (the major town before Denman) and got ready to cook dinner.... some more candid shots...
You can see why I like camping!
Had a great night's sleep and was woken by the Aussie bush alarm clock - Galahs! At least it was a reasonable hour! On with the billy and start the packing up process.
I motored out of the camp site and made my way down the Golden Highway through Jerry's Plains and on to the Putty Rd. Very nice place to be ... I couldn't help grinning at how good this is compared to being at work!
Although the weather was slightly inclement, this didn't diminish the quality of the ride, and the road wasn't really wet, only damp. I stopped in at the Grey Gum Cafe for bacon & eggs and a nice coffee - which resides roughly half way along the Putty Rd. While I was ordering, and lady caught my attention. She was pointing at me saying "I've got your flag!" I replied "You have, haven't you?" She retrieved it....
Anyways - time for the last leg of the trip down.
A great, but uneventful run down to the venue. I arrived amongst all the usual fanfare and pomp and ceremony... well... the kids and a rabbit rushed out to see me anyway!
... and I began to set up my camp - with plenty of enthusiastic help.
Here is Club Member Growly arriving on his Boulevarde and towing his awesome Tourlite camper...
There was a fierce competition among attendees for "Best Camp" and the sledging, baggings and trash talking was in full swing. I didn't partake though - unsportsmanlike! *cough cough*
Here are some pics of the assortment of animals and campsites which graced this wonderful venue....
This bottom pic shows the eating/cooking area to the left - it doesn't show the goats, chickens and dog - quite a menagerie!
Onesie (whose 21st birthday party it was) welded up a fantastic BBQ, and you can see his father, Joe here making good use of it. The grub was fantastic all weekend! (Kebabs were to die for!)
There was OzSTOC cake...
Flags.... and even a mobile boom box..
Oh... and don't forget the DONUT MACHINE! They were delish!
A great party rang on into the night - we even had fireworks as part of our "best camp" display - but above is pictured Rodney - the eventual winner. Well played sir, well played!
Brekky consisted of fabulous pancakes, and some bacon. Tim decided he needed to increase productivity and had both together... ewwww!
After such a fantastic night at such a fantastic venue with such fantastic people, I'd really like to thank Jordy (Onesie) and his family for putting on such a memorable spread. Nothing was too much trouble, and the lengths they went to to ensure their guests had a bonza time were enormous. On behalf of OzSTOC - thanks team!
It was also great to meet regular and new Club members where enduring friendships are instantly formed.
Well people packed up and started leaving at their own leisure - good byes were said, and fair travels were bade.
I now had the other bit of business to attend to in this region - to see a great mate who is battling through a nasty brain cancer episode.
Growly and I made our way to his place and had the most awesome morning tea with our old pal. He was chuffed we stopped by, and we were extremely glad we did too. We were raving about how fun it was for hundreds of kms afterwards! Well done Pat.
We made our way out of Sydney up to the Blue Mountains and enjoyed the scenery immensely. Would love to see the speed limit raised a little though to take full advantage of the wonderful roads we were riding. We arrived at the famous Mt Panorama Racing Circuit at Bathurst and fancied a lap or two - even if we were towing trailers! But we got there and the circuit was closed for some media event, although we did get to see several legendary racing cars from the hey days, and we were allowed on the main straight....
We had a bite to eat, a coffee, and said our farewells and parted company in Bathurst as Growly heads south to home, and I head north.
I get a fantastic ride from here too - through the Wollemi National Park along the Bylong Valley Way...
I was enjoying exceptional fuel economy when considering I was towing a trailer and fully packed for touring... these pics show a return of around 51mpg or 18km/litre... (the trip meter shows kms travelled) ....
I stopped for the night at Bendemeer and had a nice kip...
I made a last stop to see Chris and Jean in Guyra again to return the loaner seat, then continued on my way home with only a last fuel splash.
2,309kms for the weekend that was full of great riding and even better friends.
Cheers, Diesel
