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From Virginia USA to the Land Down Under. |
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Some people will go to extraordinary lengths to attend a Rally. How about flying out from LA to Brisbane to attend the Karuah River Rally! Run by the BMW Touring Club of NSW at the picturesque Frying Pan Creek Campsite situated in the Chichester State Forest, it is always a popular event with riders. This year being it’s 29th year was attended by interstate riders from Queensland, ACT and Victoria. Frank Cachia of Melbourne has the distinction of attending every one.
Our visitor, Meredith Hassall from Charlottesville Virginia, who by the way is an Associate Editor of OTL the official publication of the BMW Riders Association, arrived at the Brisbane International Terminal to experience eight days in a country that she had never visited before. In fact neither party knew what the other looked like so there we were, holding up a sign whilst fifteen hundred people (a number of flights had arrived at about the same time) emerged through the doorway. You see it had all come about via the net. Whilst discussing rallies it was mentioned that there was a good rally coming up in February so it would be an opportunity to come to the land of OZ. Meredith had been to Europe previously but was not sure about the long flight. However it did not take her too long to make up her mind. After a two and a half hour drive to the airport to fly the five hours to LA, the fourteen hour trip to Brisbane was a marathon in itself. Monday afternoon we took our guest to see the southern Gold Coast. Meredith was keen to put some sand between the toes at the beach and take in some fresh air. The following three days were spent in tourist mode before our departure on the Friday for the rally. Tuesday the three of us took a run down to Byron Bay and Ballina despite the inclement weather. It was an opportunity for Meredith to become accustomed to riding on the other side of the road. Seaworld was the venue for Wednesday where Meredith swam with the dolphins. What a great time we had. We were kids for the day. On the Thursday a visit to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was in order so that our guest could see first hand some of our unique birds and animals. Friday morning Alan & Cath arrived early on their K75S for the start of our trip south. The three of us were on board the two 90S’s and the 75/7. Bernie Williams arranged to accompany us as far as Murwillumbah, but once there we briefly lost Alan & Cath who thought that he had gone missing! The back roads via Uki, Kyogle & Casino were taken to Tenterfield for our first fuel stop. Uralla was our lunch stop where we turned off the highway to Walcha thence Gloucester via Thunderbolts Way.
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This is a great road for motorcyclists with plenty of twists and turns. At the southern end a sign reads:
Beware
Motorcyclists We all enjoyed the varied and interesting conversations over dinner at the nearby Golf Club. Tanya was delighted with her winning ticket in the fruit tray. After a hearty breakfast and our goodbyes we were on the road once again. We caught up with Pat later at the rally site. Upon our arrival we were greeted by Marie Pennykid of the NSW Club and Peter Mohle who is to be found at most rallies. The tent was quickly erected. It was time to socialise. We had come in via Main Creek Road which entails 14k of dirt but this year it was in the best condition we had seen it in the seven years we have attended this rally. Fortunately it did not rain as it can make the track quite interesting. Gradually the campsite filled with over three hundred in attendance. Apparently they ran out of badges. Ray Peake arrived later that morning then Ken Manteit turned up on his new GS so that made us quite a group.
Rob Wynne called in to see us on his trike and colour-matched teardrop caravan. What a great effort. The presentations were handed out accompanied by the usual screeching of the cockatoos at that time of the afternoon. Meredith was awarded longest distance female whilst Cath won longest distance pillion.
President Warren of the NSW Club presented Meredith with a number of mementos. Just as well she had an expanding suitcase as she had quite a collection by the time she left. The night was reasonably quiet as rallies go until late that night the circus arrived with one of the group tearing up and down the dirt track between the campers. It was probably not a problem if one was imbibed by alcohol or had the discernment to install ear plugs but for some, an interrupted sleep.
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There was no sleeping in on the Sunday morning. The cockatoos were at it again. By the time we packed up the queue for breakfast was getting longer by the minute so the decision was made to fill up our bikes and stomachs on the way through Gloucester on Bucketts Way. We weren’t the only ones with that idea. It was decided to make the most of the long weekend and spend Sunday night at Coffs Harbour. Retracing our earlier route to Uralla we then headed up the New England Highway to the Armidale turnoff. From Armidale we took the Waterfall Way to Ebor. From Ebor the weather ahead looked very ominous. As it turned out we were following a huge storm. The road was awash in places with very little rain to bother us. By the time we approached Dorrigo we were riding in the mist through aptly named ‘Misty Valley’. Doing the tourist bit again we visited the Sky Walk above the National Park where the views were somewhat obscured by the clouds. At the cafe we indulged in tea, scones and muffins. I think we cleaned the place out but it was nearly closing time after all. It was a short run down through Bellingen to the highway which would take us to Coffs and Aanuka Resort. First stop was a very refreshing dip in the pool. From the breakfast room next morning we witnessed a staff member pulling a rather large snake by the tail across the lawn and placing it in the bushy headland across the way. Monday morning we took the back road Orara Way to Grafton then on to Lawrence where we crossed the river on the Ferry arriving at the Scottish town of Maclean soon after. From there the highway took us to Woodburn where we turned off to Coraki, Lismore, Nimbin, Uki, Murwillumbah and home via Tomewin. Even though we are supposed to be in drought the countryside looked fantastic. Obviously there has been just enough rain to keep it green. It was back to reality on the Tuesday when we took Meredith to the Brisbane airport for her long trip home no doubt with lots of memories of Australia. Quietly she had admitted to having some trepidation about coming to a strange country to stay with strangers but as she herself said, as members of the BMW family, it would be alright. Overall we travelled over 2,000 klms. 09-HER
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