An Amazing Day in September - our ride 17/9/11

This ride was one of those that will not fade from the memory too easily... a large group of bikers, the bluest of blue skies, a warming temp and some great roads to be riden

..a great photo..and more bike to meet on the road

....and of course  some awesome first timers including

Dereck and his "Cool" Harley 883

Ben..his Honda and all that leather

the ladies - Veronica & Sahara and Dad - Tuli on the monster 1600 Boulevard

So , after everyone caught up, we headed off down the freeway to Nerang and the temp went up towards 30 deg, stopped for a cold drink and some of us took the opportunity to pop into a RSPCA opp shop to get a cool T-Shirt.
Then it was off to the beautiful Numimbah Valley.....first the twisty's then onto the beautiful valley and hills in the background

Now it doesn't get better than this.... hanging behind a harley....great road and scenary and heading toward the border and a break.

Caught up with Paul on his new/old suzuki..looked good but I don't know about the skull motif on the bike.

Dave thinks Paul's bike is OK... but think Pauls really like Dereks Harley

Then it was down the hill into NSW and a little detour to the quaint old loggin town of Tyalgum. We luv to catchup at Flutterby's, waitresses all dressed up in period costume...a bit hot on a day like this

wonder what are the Boy's and Veronica looking at...???

Before we left Tyalgum we came across an amazing lady who had ridden down from Cairns , on her way to a new job in Camberra......all in 4 weeks, now thats a biker!!!

Then we had to endure beautiful countryside and curving roads through Murwillumbah to the Tumbulgum Pub for lunch. Larry caught up with us there with his new Triumph sprint. After a relaxing feed we took Ben's advice and headed back into the hinterland ...following Sam on this new run ....a great little prologue before we hit the freeway and home.

A ride to remember, with a great group of bikers for sure ..... to re-live the run check out the video below

August ride - Blues skies and repaired roads

Ah.... it was another crystal clear morning in the wonderful SEQ, if not a little nippy, as a big crew and our back up vehicle (aka...Johns MG) headed off for morning tea at Esk via Wivenhoe Dam.

We welcomed Sam to his first ride with the crazy crew.... will include a picture in future...but did finally get pics of Johan and Helena...who did not have best memories last time they did this ride having got a flat near Wivenhoe and spending 3 hours waiting for RACQ...this time Helena had her own bike and I think they had a great time.

Off on the boring motorway out to Ipswitch ....check numbers at Blacksoil then off the Warrego Hway to Esk....with a stop off at Wivenho Dam for some leg stretching but ahhh...that big blue sky

Our morning tea stop at our usual Esk Bakery was great, some warm coffee and one of their awesome pies. Then it was off on the repaired Esk-Hampton Rd with a little diverion to "Perseverance Dam" with Larry ( in his new triumph leather Jacket) giving us a little run down on the bikes...looking forward to seeing your the "Sprint" when it gets out of the repair shop..those driveways can be treacherous.

After some leg stretching at Perseverance we then motored off for lunch at the "Farmers Arms" at Hampton..what a great ride , some twisties and great scenery...and of course that big blue sky.

Yes this photo did include a few ringin's, seems like veryone and their Honda club were out for a ride on this day......by the way would highly recommend the "Farmers Arms" tuker..well its a lot more than that...a great menu!!

Oh, Leo left holding the bag for Magna.... its about time you got her a decent seat for your Kwaka.

So after a sumptuous lunch we headed back through Highfields then down the mountain through Murphy's Creek...still signs of flood damage but road repaired and not a lot of visible damage.

One can only imaging what that wall of water was like....a nightmare in such an idylic setting.

We hit the highway and off home.....another great ride.....with some great people...in a great part of the world...it can't get any better than that.

Ckeck out the following video for a little bit of a taste.......click HERE

Queen Mary Falls- amazing June winters ride

Not sure if it was the Church working bee or the riding destination but had a great turnout for our June winter ride up to Queen Mary Falls.

We welcome some new riders and bikes, Richard & his Honda,

Rhubern & Hoysong sports,

Wayne & his Buell as well as Chris & Don on

their cruisers.

.......then we headed off on a beautiful clear day down the highway to Been

leigh then cross to Tamborine. We finally made it to Beaudessert Macca's for a coffee and breakfast break after some battery problems and losing 3 riders who followed the wrong group.

Following some coffee and pancakes we headed down the road to Boonah where we said goodbye to some bikers who had to get back for various reasons....as the rest of us pointed our bikes toward Queen Mary Falls.

The Boys enjoying the sights on the deck at Queen Mary Falls....how blue is that sky!

Think of a caption for this photo of David.....think he said "can't find my keys anywhere"

You can check out some video of the ride HERE

May's O'Reilly's ride nippy but Exhilarating

We finally had a clear Saturday in May for our ride ....... cool but exhilarating as we welcomed a few newbies, David's new BMW 1300 and our support vehicle ( restored MG) with John and Paul.

We headed off to Canungra for some hot food and a chat, Pete caught up with us on his cross over dirt bike.

After some good tucka at the "Outpost" (David agreed!!) we mounted

up for the ride up the mountain...the weather still held up thankfully as we know how treacherous and can get with rain on the mount..particularly on those metal cattle grids. As we made our way up the valley and start to go up the mountain, rounding the initial bends, we were confronted by large obstacles left by a friendly cow...the trick is to weave your way through successfully...and we all did well.

So here's a quick video of our run up the mountain, through so many changes in Vista, really awe inspiring.... those one lane roads with no guard rail really does keep you in touch with your own mortality. Some of the lads went on the forest high walk and a mandatory cup of coffee. It was then back down the mountain to the Alpaca farm for lunch on the awesome deck overlooking the valley.

With lunch over we all meandered off home via various means....only to confront some rain as we all made it home, thankfully not whilst we were on the mountain which can be treacherous.

So , one more amazing ride...got to stretch our legs, some unbelievable landscapes and as usual a great "Band of Bikers".

Another rainy Saturday - a short ride 19th March

Looking out the window at Mt Cotton it was overcast with forecast of rain, getting heavier through the day.....would I stay tucked in bed or meet other hardy souls for a ride, so kitted up and headed off on the new bike, and yes...two hardy souls (thanks Ken & Geoff). Geoff was there to show us his brand new Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Voyager...Kawasaki's taking over.

Not wanting to venture too far with rain approaching we set off down the freeway to Jacobs Well. Hoping for a big breakfast we headed for the marina but due to a disappearing caterer we ended up with vegemite & toast.... just made our day.

So back on the road as the rain came tumbling down........ the 900 custom ran well but missed the screen ( will rectify that in the future)...and a little envious of Geoff's loungeroom on wheels.

We will definitely get to go up to O'Reillys in April.

Bitter Sweet ride through Brisbane Valley - 19th February 2011

The sun was shining, the green machine was fresh out of the shop and sparkling, time for a ride in the great southeast. We welcomed some newbies to our group on this ride, Peter on his new Yamaha V Star 650 and John And Jan in their restored MG (yes....a car on our ride...we will have to rename our rides to "by any means").

We headed off on our 300km trip down the Gateway,

onto Logan motorway on our trip out to our first stop at Wivenhoe Dam. The impact of the floods was immediately visible, the breadth and hight of the flood waters was both awefull and awe inspiring...weaving our way through Fernvale, passed closed and washed out roads up to Esk for morning tea. A change of plans due to a closed esk to Hampton rd saw us head up to Toogoolawah, across to Somerset dam....some great back roads for bikes. A petrol stop at Kilcoy then across through Woodford ,up the winding road to Mt Mee and home.

To check out our route click HERE

Now thats what we call a wash out....now we know why the the esk-hampton rd was closed

Wild Hogs Road Trip - 4th to 6th dec 2010

Well, our bags were packed, bikes polished and fuel tanks filled...the tree amigo's (Paul,Dave & Ken) were ready for our 1,200km road trip. So it was off to Beaudesert to Macca's for brekky and to try and get all our headset talking together

It rained for most of the way to Bellingen so it was great to arrive at the Federal Hotel and find our room and have a nice hot shower. We were there to catchup up with an old mate and had a great night.With our bellies full of a healthy food we headed of to Kyogle via the "Lions Road" ,one of our favorite ( in the dry).... as you guessed, the rain started to fall as we made our way into the mountains. As we crossed one of those rickety old bridges it was really pouring and unfortunately the mighty green machin

e's front wheel hit a bad part of the road.... and , well it proceed to buck me off ( amazing how your life can flash before your eyes in a split second),thankfully the big crash bars protected the key bits and with the help of Dave (never ride alone) and a passing phone,we were able to get it up and running. A quick check and we felt we could make it to Kyogle for a full check ( despite a few scrapes,bruises and sprains).....well it survived another 1,000km, the engine never running better but the rest of bike has a lot of scrapes & dents.

The fun began we were working who was going to share the queen size bed that nigh

t, having pleaded injury privileges fo

r the single bed...so Dave and Ken were the lucky couple. It hardly seem I had put my he

ad onto the pillow,stuffed in the earplugs (you will know if you have ever heard Dave snore)...when there was stiring from the queen size bed..with bleary eyes I asked what time it was ..4:30am was the reply, I promptly rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

Finally in Bellingen we found the tru faith....thats "ecofaith"?

So having had an early wakeup and a hint clearing weather we loaded the bikes

up again and continued on our roadtrip...along Waterfall Way up to Dorrigo ...so off we went climbing through the mist, landslides,pass the water fall to emerge up on the amazing plateau to Dorrigo and the "the worlds smallest bike museum" for on of Juan's great breakfasts.

From Dorrigo we journey through some amazing landscape, 14 deg C, mist, was something out of something out of the "Lord of the rings" and down to Ebor to check out the road conditions on our way to Inverell then onto our overnight stop at Emmerville.

What a fantastic trip through Ebor, Guyra, Tingha (home of some good leag

ue players) and Inverell. First time to Inverell , not sure the fact that the sun was out it seeme

d a very pretty town, we caught lunch at the riverwalk cafe.

We left Inverell ,down to Glen Innes before going of the main track for Emmerville, a former mining town of 400 people. A great ride...one of the highlights of the trip. We stayed at the Club Hotel ..a pub built in the late 1800's... three separate rooms, we were there for "pizza" Sunday...and could walk around the town in 30 min, fly's and all.

check out some pics HERE

After a great night we left for home, through Deep Water, morning tea at Tenterfield....off the beaten track at Tabulam, weaving our way along narrow country roads with a little drizzle along the way. A final fill up at Woodenbong and off down the range, a bit slippery for my liking but a great ride in the dry. It was magic bursting out of the rainforest's onto the plains...a closure to our trip...we had a fantastic time, great memories ..... hope to see you next on next years Wild Hog road trip.

You can check out this great trip on Google Maps HERE

Paul Cav