A perfect September ride to Lake Moogerah

Another interesting route put together by Ron Grant saw 16 of us meander down the backroads of SEQ popping into Jimboomba for coffee, Rathdowney for a Tinkle/twinkle? Lake Moogerah for the views and Boonah for Lunch.

Guess who's bike

We welcome Drew and Megan with their new arrival, a 360kg, 2004 Honda Goldwing...they looked a picture pair...with big smiles to boot.

 We also welcomed Jan on her first ride with her with her brightly coloured 250cc Yamaha (thx to Leigh McQ)

We headed off into a beautiful warm day for our ride....the Cornerman system was working well , ensuring no one got lost on this twisty ride. The wide open rural landscape was an enjoyable break from sububia.

I managed to wipe my contor movie SD care in this prep process so only a couple of pics

At Jimboomba we enjoyed an upgrade from the usual Macca's fair to enjoy some great "Cofee Club"service...it was quick service, good bike parking...definitely put on list

We managed to make it to Rathdowney with Jan , a new rider, struggling to keep up with the pace...she will be better for the experience and maybe next time we make sure she has a buddy who can stay with her...anyway with some quite challenging roads to coming out to Lake Moogerah it seemed safer for her to be escorted back home with some good km's under her belt.
So my abridged rided looked something like

The rest of the group headed for a great twisty ride on the Rathdowney-Boonah rd, diverting down past Mt Alford and onto Lake Moogerah

it was then onto Cafe 17? at Boonah for a great lunch then over to Centary Highway and home. Another great ride albeit a little shorter for me

"Winter Wonderland Tour"- day 3

The sun rose on a beautiful day 3 on the winter wonderland tour, we enjoyed a great cooked breakfast and took our time to leave the wonderful Hotel Cecil and headed for Kingaroy for morning tea.

we enjoyed a wacky morning tea at the golden arches..the boys look great in those glasses

With our stomach's and fuel tanks full we were off towards home, another wonderful ride...and when we came into Crows Nest we came across the local weekend markets and everyone took the opportunity to do some purchasing...Anita finally got the hat she was after and Des was happy with his Guzzi belt buckle.

SO we made our way off down the mountain to Esk for lunch , with our in-car photographer, Mike, taking some awesome pics of the bikes on the move.

 What a great way to finish a fantastic trip, great route, accommodation and people....

a post-script with the trip was a moment between Des and his luggage rack that has been the bain of his roadtripping.... threatening to bin the offending equipment.

How else can you finish a posting of a fantastic roadtrip but with a poem from our new found poet , Leigh...says it all

Winter Wonderland Tour - Day 2

After a long first day ,we enjoyed a good sleep and breakfast we were ready for an action packed day starting with a ride out to Cania Gorge. It was another beautiful blue sky day and after avoiding the obligatory "grey nomad" convoy's and a few grazing kangaroo's we made it to the lookout with some great Aussie vista's.

A great photographic opportunity was had by all....I don't know how that MX 5 got in the picture...and Anita and Dave were working hard on warming up Grahame's cold hands

As we were planning to ride back to Monto Danny remonstrated that we must go the real gorge if came here....but you know we are dressed to ride a motorcycle not walk km's into a ?>@#$ gorge...but thankfully he had his way and it was another highlight.

 During this time a real life drama was being played out ...with a miraculous ending...for some mysterious reason Phil's dropped has "Bandit" whilst getting off at the Gorge, snapping off his clutch leave in the worst possible way...immediately we all laid hands on the bike and prayed for a miracle...I mean healing is one thing but finding a replacement clutch is another thing...but guess what they were lead to the right plus where a guy happened to have an old Honda and $15 later, Phil was on the road!!!

the guardian Angel's on the back of the Ute

After all that drama we enjoyed a great morning tea at Rainbow Cafe back in Monto ....some would say enjoyed a little too much?

After our fill we headed off back down toward Gayndor...we needed to make up a little time to get to our Clovely estate wine tasting

Anita enjoying the BIG Manderine

We finally made it through to Clovely estates for an amazing afternoon of old bikes, great wine and community

It was then off to Wondai and "The Cecil Hotel"for the best value overnight stay in the world...for $50 we had a magnificent roast dinner, accommodation and a cooked breakfast. With bike secured in the back of the pub we settled in for a great night.

It was great to be in a placed that really value Motorcycle riders, we even had our tables reserved...how good is that

all power to Wondai ....we love "The Cecil Hotel"

 ...and so ended another fantastic day on the "winter wonderland tour"

"Winter Wonderland Tour" - Day 1 an early start

It was an early start for our first day of "Winter wonderland"road trip on a beautiful Brisbane Morning...and the ladies were rugged up.

Marjorie, Maree and Anita

With 19 adventurers in total , 10 bikes , 3 support vehicle we were ready for 1,200km of the most amazing blue sky riding and community ever.

As the city was waking we made our way onto the Gateway motorway for our quick run up north to our quick coffee stop at the big BP..... dave was still taking phone calls on his headset or just checking emails? We  then the run up Steve Irwin Way, Landsborough to Maleney for well deserved morning tea break

Wow how magnificent was the weather as we rode off down the hill to Kenilworth, then Gympie for a fuel stop and drink...and onto Kilkivan (thanks Des for the heads up) for lunch at the "left bank", Anita wondered what it was like to sit astride the mighty Kawasaki Custom.

oh...yes, its alway the young one with the flashy yellow sports bike that runs out of fuel.... no guage is always going to get you in trouble Reuben ...but there was plenty of help to the rescue.

After lunch it was great ride on the Kilkivan-Tansey rd shortcut ,then onto the Burnett Highway up to Gayndor for some of Maree's fantastic soup and crusty bread.

 True to form we had a little more drama with Leigh breaking his visor screw and whilst he was off looking for a replacement we headed off to the rest area for our soup...and we did tell Leigh didn't we? Anyway..after a futile search attempt and numerous calls we had to continue onto Monto without him. Unknowns to us he had headed off to Monto earlier with a broken phone...and had been enjoying some welcome refreshments at the Hotel Albert as we were worrying where he had got to.

So after the little interlude with the missing rider and empty fuel tank we were running into the afternoon sun directly into our eyes...difficult riding conditions but we finally made it to Monto,later than planned but grateful for a refreshing drink.
They say things come in threes...we already had two then we had to do the with the shortage in beds (so it was mattresses on the floor for the De-Bruin's, thx guys)....despite the VERY SLOW service we had a great night together...and Phil swore he would not order the calamari again!

Now check out day 1 video.....