Two night riders (the stayers):
Ian & Sally
Paterson (ride leader) his trusty blue ‘wing
Al & Lyn
Munday Kawasaki GTR 1000
Chris & Maream
Dietzel Kawasaki GTR 1400
David Greig & nobody else (ride
scribe) the still gorgeous Triumph Thunderbird
One night riders (1 night raiders):
Andrew & Kathryn
Campbell Honda Goldwing – but a different blue
Peter Arday (club
comedian) Honda ST1300
Trevor
McLeod Yamaha FJR1300
Brian
Agius Honda ST1100
Seeing as this is ‘el presidentes’
ride it seems most fitting to start the ride report with one of Ian’s
famous ‘true stories’…………. the difference the time of
course, is that this is a TRUE story AND it involves said el
presidente
It goes something like this - & of
course we don’t let facts get in the way of a good yarn, do we?
The Paterson’s, it seems, were only a
few metre’s from home & had indeed not even left their street
when the unthinkable happened. Immediately upon turning out of their
street Ian’s mirrors were filled with the dreaded colourful red &
blue light display often associated with the constabulary – yes
members, Ian had been busted for failing to adequately stop at the
STOP sign! In his own words “…. but nobody ever stops there &
it shouldn’t be a stop sign anyway – ridiculous…..” says Ian.
But wait, there’s more folks, yes
indeedy…… upon fessing up to the ‘crime’ & being asked by
the young lady constable for his driver’s license, Ian decided to
instead present his AMEX card – we can all only surmise that our
illustrious President was indeed set on paying his fine on the spot
possibly only to be told they are not empowered to collect fines on
the spot……. of course he may also have been attempting to bribe
the good lady constable…… hmmmmm.
The upshot is Ian actually escaped with
a warning “not to do it again” to which he duly promised! A
footnote from Sally is that Ian had the shakes for quite some time
after that, but he must have calmed down by the time they arrived at
Caltex Hume.
So once the Paterson’s had arrived –
very close to the allotted start time, if not actually late &
after regaling us of his antics with the local Police Ian gathered us
around & outlined the route we’d take to Mallacoota – down
the Monaro to Cooma - to - Nimmitabel (compulsory pie & coffee) –
to Bemboka (actually a couple of k’s past Bemboka hang a right) –
to Candelo – join the Princes at Wolumla – then down the Princes
to Eden for lunch. Then after lunch on the Princes again to Genoa &
then left to Mallacoota. This all sounded pretty good to most of us
as they had been there before, but to me it was all gooble-dee-gook!
Some 20 minutes late the small band of
Ulysses brothers & their sisters mounted our trusty steads and
headed down the Monaro.
An uneventful & boring ride to Cooma
– taking the Polo Flat by pass we, collectively arrived at
Nimmitabel & enjoyed an excellent coffee, pie & chat -
although ‘some’ of us (namely the ladies reneged on the pie &
had a cake) at the bakery.
After 30 odd minutes we mounted up again
& headed departed for the lunch stop at Eden. The route down
through Candelo was pretty damn good although there was more traffic
that I was expecting, especially the ‘goose’ in the orange XR
Falcon – what a goober!
I have no idea what the name of the
lunch joint was but my ‘fush & chups’ was not too bad &
the location overlooking the local marina was pretty neat.
At precisely 1335 (or was that 1340?) we
again mounted up & went looking for a servo to fuel up. At
precisely 1350 we departed Eden for our final destination –
thereinafter I didn’t take notice of time as it was simply time to
get it done & crack open the beers for by now it was getting
bloody warm!
So warm in fact that beers were held
over in favour of a dip in the pull (that’s pool to you Aussies).
Where, you guessed it – Ian broke out the budgie smugglers!
 |
| Evidently this form of attire is an improvement over past performance ....egads! |
But
I’m told this year’s style is a significant improvement on
previous attires Ian has modelled. After the swim we gathered around
a picnic table, shared some nibbles or snacks (or whatever you guys
call them) & cracked a couple of stubbies while we contemplated
where we would go for dinner. Based on previous visits down that
way, the local Golf Club was agreed upon. Such is the way these
days, the Club put on a courtesy van & we had door-to-door
service & the meal was reasonable although not up to Ian &
Sally’s last visit there – the large mob of ‘roo’s
entertained us for a short while although the ladies payed unusual
attention to a couple of large & a little over zealous boy roo’s . By 2015 the courtesy bus
was back & we headed back to our digs where pretty much everyone
turned in for the night – must have been the big ride!
Sunday dawned – thank goodness
otherwise we’d be dead, & after a totally uninspiring breakfast
we set the 1-night ‘raiders’ on their way & the 2 night
‘stayers’ prepared for the scheduled ‘cruise’ on the lakes
(or should that be estuaries?). We had intended on walking to the
jetty as ‘el presidente’ had confidently stated it wasn’t even
a couple of k’s away – well strategic use of a number of smart
phones soon corrected that point showing it was more like 4 or 5 k’s
away & while we may have got there ok, getting back was another
issue, especially given it was expected to VERY hot later in the day
– which it turned out to be! Ian & Sally, having done the
cruise previously, abstained so the rest of us proceeded to enjoy a
couple of hours on the briny – very nice it was to! Mental note to
self – fishing next time!
 |
| The Mob on the Porkie Bess |
Such was the heat, we had another dip in
the pool & finished the afternoon “conserving our energy” –
some might say ‘nana napping’ before meeting in the bar to decide
on that night’s dining establishment, which turned out being the
pub as it happens. At precisely 2030 dinner was adjourned in favour
of Downton Abbey & what-have-ewe’s on the telly so we all bid
our goodnights but agreed we’d head off at 0800 Monday & stop
at Cann River for breakfast before making our way to Cooma &
Canberra via Bombala.
After a reasonable brekky at Cann River
we headed off toward Bombala – what an outstanding piece of road,
especially out of Cann River. After a brief leg stretch at Bombala
we decided on a detour through Maffra to Cooma – this was a great
run, except for a mob middle-aged Muppet’s on Harley’s, &
other makes who may have had some technology we didn’t know about
as their ability to see round corners & over hills was
exceptional – glad to see muppets exist in Oz as well!
Lunch at the Lott in Cooma was pretty
good & at roughly 1250 we bid our farewells headed for home.
What can I say. Even though numbers
were down on what I was expecting it was yet another enjoyable
Canberra Ulysses Club ride. Special thanks to Ian for leading the
ride & to everyone for making the effort. I for one really enjoy
the overnight rides as you really get to know people better.
