Barry, with a special exemption to ride a Harley-Davidson, returned to Sydney, (a green bottle) while for the rest of us, Day 2 took us from Gloucester to Kootingal. At breakfast at The Roadies Café, it was decided to delete the section via Wauchope and the Oxley Highway. The rain that fell overnight, and continued during the day would have made that section unpleasant and possibly dangerous.
Maps
- intended trip
- actual trip
- [Again, the default imperial measurements can be changed to metric, under Settings on the map.]
We awoke at the Roundabout Inn to the sound of jackhammers. Actually, it was the plumbing; jackhammers would have been significantly quieter.
Those who needed to refuel used the nearby BP servo. Unfortunately, Brett could not get his KTM restarted. A group tried to push start it, and eventually, it fired up again.
Ready to go!
Well, no. On taking off, Brett stalled the bike and could not restart it. At this stage we had all left for Walcha. Almost all. Thankfully, Richard was still there (are we surprised?). He stayed with Brett, who used the services of a local mechanic to get it started again. It turned out to be a loose battery terminal lead.
2 Green bottles down. [At least for a few hours while we had lunch at Walcha.]
Photos at Gloucester (including Day 1’s) are here.
The ride from Gloucester was cold, raining, and foggy. Many riders had to stop on several occasions to demist the inside of their visors and their glasses, and wipe the rain off the outside of the visors and glasses (from having to lift the visor to see). I, for one, could only see the red lights of the car in front to follow.
We stayed quite some time at the motorbike-themed Walcha Royal Café — the day’s ride had been shortened and we had plenty of time; it was still wet and rainy outside; and we waited for Richard and Brett.
For photos at Walcha click here.
On the section to Bendemeer, I was glad that I overtook Adrian; his eagle eyes noticed that my rear mudguard was about to fall off. Some cable ties at Kootingal worked a treat for the rest of the trip.
Our overnight stay was at the Kootingal Hotel, a very popular hotel with a true country feel to it –> much laughter and conviviality, with a relaxed atmosphere. [But they didn’t sell Port!]
Greg P noticed the popularity and booked a table in the bistro. Thanks Greg!
Baileys and Oozo were substituted for the absence of Port.
Much discussion was conducted on the disparity of riding speeds and the need to keep up, rules 1, 2, and 3.
Click here for photos at Kootingal (including the morning of Day 3).
Travelling statistics
- Distance: 224km
- Moving time: 2½ hours
- Maximum speed: 140kph
- Average speed: 86kph
[Note that these stats are approximate, and taken from my Suzuki, and are mine only. Other riders will have different statistics. In particular, the maximum speed does not imply that we travel at these speeds. In fact, we generally aim to ride at the speed limit. The average speed verifies that this is the case.]
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