Parkes 2015, Pt 1 to Parkes, Pt 2 the trip home

Thursday, Day 1 Adelaide to Hay

Just before 6:00am Kaylah (Dancing Pillion) and I were waiting in the drive as Michael (Rayman06) came down our street, 10 minutes later after a few goodbyes, we were on our way out of Adelaide via the outskirts of the city centre and the South Eastern Freeway (Princess Hwy).
It was a pretty cool start to the day and got even cooler between the Hahndorf and Mt Barker exits with a bit of light drizzle. As we came over the top of Whites Hill near Murray Bridge the sun was just starting to rise, I wish I had a photo, I’ve never seen the sun come up on the horizon so it looked like we were riding directly towards a massive moon. 15 minutes after that we pulled into Tailem Bend for a quick stretch and toilet stop, we were all feeling a bit cold but nothing like the 3 blokes on Harley Fergusons with open faced helmets and leather vests.



Next it was onto the Mallee Hwy heading for Pinnaroo and our 1^st fuel and coffee stop. Lameroo to Pinnaroo gave us our best corners for the day, there’s about 20km of nice sweeping bends to have a bit of fun with.  We got into Pinnaroo  about 8:30 and it was still pretty cool, 20 minutes later and we were back on the road and into Victoria where the roads got instantly rougher. Next stop was Ouyen for a quick stretch  and a call to Lyn (SuzySuzuki) to let her know we were about a hour away from Piangil.



At Piangil 2 Bandits became 3, we nearly had the full set, 1 Black, 1 Grey and 1 Blue,



After refueling the bikes and ourselves the 4 of us (3 bikes) headed off for Balranald and then the excitement that is the Hay Plains, what can I say, windy, straight, emus, plenty of road kill and don’t forget the 2 or 3 trees in 100km.

We had a toilet/stretch stop half way across the plains 







..............and finally we arrived at Hay happy to see some civilization again. A quick refuel ready for the next morning then it was onto the New Crown Hotel to meet up with Brian (madmax), Sam (spanna),  his better half Anna and Barry with his side kick Axle.
We were greeted by Brian, Sam and anna on the footpath as we pulled up. After checking in we put the bikes to bed in the publican’s shed for the night and down to the bar to get properly acquainted with everyone before a great feed in the dining room.

Barry_mcki, Axle and Dancing Pillion


 
Friday, Day 2 Hay to Parkes

Everyone was ready and met up at the Bakery just down the road for Egg & Bacon rolls about 7:00am, great feed, nice coffee and it was on the road, bound for Parkes, 3 Bandits had grown into 1 GSX and 5 ½ Bandits.
As we were heading out of Hay past the 80KMH sign Kaylah tells me “I forgot to do my helmet up”, she passed me 1 glove to hold while I tried to keep a constant speed up front, a minute or 2 later she was all done up and gloves back on.
1^st stretch break was in the middle of “Bum Fuck No-Where” to give all of the invalids with bad backs (me included) a chance to stretch….





…….there was a call of “where is the toilet” from one so after the 30ish KM into Goolgowie it was time for a quick detour off the highway while mother nature was attended to. 1^st Fuel stop was Rankins Springs, any further and Barry’s 1 ½ Bandits would have been stranded, for the rest of us it was a quick top up and we were back on our way.





Barry and Axle were leaving us at West Wyalong to take a detour to Canberra for a wedding, a nice stop in town to say good bye followed by lunch and a walk down the street……..







……. then back in the saddle for the last  140km to the Coachman Hotel Motel and the Suzuki Bandit Forum 2015 national meet.
We finally arrived, checked in, unpacked and within 10 minutes Kaylah locked our keys in the room. I nervously picked up a box of T shirts from reception, did a quick check of numbers, sizes, colours etc., and much to my relief they were all correct and I was pretty happy with the final printed version of the design.





After introducing ourselves to those already there and others as they arrived, s few of us walked over to Kinsela Suzuki and introduced ourselves to Joe Kinsela.  There was a couple of doubters as to the standard of the Coachman and it’s meals, those fears were dispelled pretty quickly as we all found the rooms comfy and clean and had very nice, reasonably priced meals (well done KiwiSteve)

Saturday, Day 3, Parkes


Even though I was one of 4 (IIRC) that made it to stumps on the 1^st night, Saturday morning I was glad I’d stopped drinking about 1 ½ hrs before the 1 am closing and still felt not to bad in the morning. Kaylah and I went next door and posted T shirts to Hervey Bay and Sydney. Soon after it was time for a group ride to Forbes to visit McFeeters Motor Museum. Tag pulled up next to us and just after he stopped went searching for the “smoke” from under his tank, a quick check with plenty of onlookers for assistance and luckily it was a loose hose clamp and still enough coolant. There was one notable absentee still struggling from the night before who hadn’t made it on the 1^st group ride.

The museum looked after us with a group entry price and included a guided tour, there was a lot a real gems mixed with a few “wtf were they thinking”, for anyone passing through that hasn’t seen it before, it’s worth a visit. We finished up with a coffee in the café next door before we road back to the coachman for lunch.

After lunch and the arrival of Barry & Axle we headed across the road for a group shot of everything Suzuki in front of Kinsela’s, somehow we ended up with a Invader infiltrating the photo shoot, a few of us did get a shot before Baz rode his overweight Bavarian steed into the lineup (at least we kept the Hondas out though), the mix of bikes was completed with Joe Kinsela’s own 2002 1200, that and Kiwi Steve’s 2006 (½ breed) 1200 were the only 2 air/oil cooled bikes there.



Soon after we headed out to the dish, a few were held up for a while to blow in the bag, we were hoping to get a group bike shot with the dish behind the bikes but the trees block it from the carpark and there’s no entry  to get them closer. A group shot without the bikes was the best we were going to get.



Sunday, Day 4 (morning in Parkes)
I woke about 6:00 am and soon after heard a couple of bikes start, I managed to get out the door in time to see Rayman06 leaving for the 850km ride Pinnaroo, soon after 1 by 1 everyone started leaving. 

SuzySuzuki, Kaylah and I had a relaxing morning as we only had a relatively short ride to Narandara, we were the last to leave and headed off about 9:30.
 





To be continued in the ride home…………………………….
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Sounds like a great trip ..... I look forward to reading about the rest of it 

Sunday, Day 4 Parkes to Narrandera


SuzySuzuki, Kaylah and I  were finally packed up and on the road about 9:30, 1^st stop was the Forbes visitors centre to find out where the cemetery and Ben Hall’s grave site were, after a chat with a couple of enthusiastic local ladies we were back on the bikes with maps and information. Ben Hall’s grave was easily found



Next we started the search for Ned Kelly’s sister Kate’s grave, it should have been easy ………………. If we’d read the signs ……………….



After walking in circles we finally stumbled upon her final resting place



Back on the road and taking a route that would give us something different to the trip up we headed for our 1^st fuel stop and lunch break at Grenfell. The roads there weren’t too bad, eventually we found a few bends to make it more interesting . While we were having lunch a local family was trying to sell us their town, we skipped the trip out to the mine but did sit with Henry Lawson in the main street for a few photos (Lyn has some pic’s of this) before heading off towards Narrandera again.
Next rest stop was Ariah Park where Lyn was really struggling (turned out to be a over inflated Air Hawk causing most of the issue) and I was getting pretty warm so discarded my Skins to try and cool down a bit (see separate thread in product review).  We didn’t have long to go now but the pain caused by Lyn’s Air Hawk and my back starting to stiffen up we had another 10-15 minute stretch at Grong Grong  about only 20 minutes from our destination. On the stretch from Ariah Park to Grong Grong just after we rejoined the Newell Hwy we were overtaken by a bloke on a Harley who gave us a massive thumbs up and the biggest bug filled smile I’ve ever seen (made Tag’s avatar’s teeth look clean )



We finally arrived at the Murrumbidgee Hotel, rooms were a bit cheaper than quoted, Lyn’s single was $30 and our twin was $35. They were basic, we were told to use the woman’s showers as the men’s were “pretty bad” , the women’s weren’t that great either but with the bikes safely locked up inside the drive through bottle shop and a friendly bar man for a chat it was still good value. They didn’t do meals on Sundays so we headed for the local Ex Serviceman’s club for a great feed.

Monday, Day 5, Narrandera to Swan Hill


Surprisingly, the beds were very comfy and after a great night’s sleep I headed off for a 4km walk around town, once we were all up and ready we all walked to a café a minute or so away for the best presented toasted sandwiches I’ve ever seen

We hit the road bound for Lyn’s home at Swan Hill, a quick photo opportunity stop for Lyn on the edge of town and we were headed for our first stretch/coffee at Jerilderie, then we headed towards Deniliquin via Conargo where we had a stop to check out the ruins of the local pub that burnt down last November



At Deniliquin we stopped for fuel and lunch before heading out towards Moulamien, the road was “Hay Plains” flat with a few more trees and the occasional bend, it was littered with the most road kill I’ve ever seen in one stretch, we made a conservative estimate of at least 50 dead Roos. We also encountered cattle grazing on the road side including one a bit before the main herd that crossed the road and decided to stare us down for a while, about a km or so of watered down red dirt road works and a flock of sheep being moved towards us down the road.
Last stop before Swan Hill was Moulamien for a stretch and drink, from there to Swan Hill the road started to get a few curves and it was a nice ride into Victoria.
We passed through the town and headed for Lyn’s where we were greeted by her hubby. That night Kaylah and I took Lyn’s ute into town and did the Sound & Light tour at the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement while Lyn stayed home to recuperate.

Tuesday, Day 6, Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement and onto Pinnaroo


We started the day heading back into the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, this time Lyn joined us for the morning.

 

 

We had a good look around the Settlement and after having lunch there we headed back to Lyn’s to shower/pack and head towards home with a last night stop in Pinnaroo

A quick refuel at Nyah and we were on the way, the roads were mostly flat with pretty thick Malle scrub up close to the roads, one stretch became single lane bitumen, luckily the few cars we did encounter moved over to give us the black stuff to ride on. We stopped in Ouyen at the Mallee Bakery for a Coffee and afternoon tea before the final leg to the Golden Grain Hotel at Pinnaroo.
 
The Golden Grain (the same pub Rayman06 had stayed at Sunday night after leaving Parkes) looked after us as well, 6 nights away and the bike was undercover every night

  

The Golden Grain has a great young couple as publicans (he’s 30, she 28) and they’ve run and owned it for 7 years as well as bringing 3 kids into the world as well, it was really good to see a young couple making a real good go of what can be a tough life. The rooms were clean, the shower was ok and the meals were great.

Wednesday, Day 7, Pinnaroo to Adelaide (Home)


We started the day with another bakery for breakfast, egg and bacon sandwiches  with a choice of Fried, Poached or Scrambled for the egg.
A old German bloke on his way home to SA from a rally stopped and had a yran with us cracking a few jokes

   
 
After the best Egg & Bacon we’d had all trip we were homeward bound………..



Other than one car that decided to hit the dirt coming towards us the swerve back onto the raod it was pretty uneventful, I really enjoyed the big sweepers between Lameroo and Geranium (maybe a bit too much )Not long before Tailem Bend I ran over some road kill as it came out the back of a semi I was following and about 150 km into the 250 km day we stopped at Tailem Bend for a coffee and stretch to the stench of burning flesh on my headers

  



It was time for the last 100km to home down the dual lane Princess Hwy to Swanport, over the Murray  and onto the South Eastern Freeway through the hills and into Adelaide, 2443km after we left home 6 ½ days earlier we pulled into the driveway ready for the big clean up.

I can’t wait until we do it again next year, Kaylah will be in year 12 so may not be able to afford the time off, perhaps if we can work it around a long weekend she might get away with it. I know she’d hate to miss it, we both met so many great people and made a lot of new friends, till Bandit Meet 2016, that’s it for me……………………………

Rayman06 and SuzySuzuki have a lot better photos than I've got for the trip over, SuzySuzuki has a lot more and better photos of the Parkes to Swan Hill leg of the home trip

ooh I don't know about that Chook, I think you got some great photos posted!
All I can add is the Narrandera rail bridge... Grenfell's Henry Lawson statue, and perhaps a couple more...if I could only remember HOW to post them!

Ok I kinda remember how to do this.... This was the easy one to find..

Here is Kaylah and I at Grenfell.







Narrandera's old railway bridge.







Lunch will be awhile.. Conargo Pub interior.







Finally got them locked up, at the Pioneer Settlement.

Chook wrote:

Good photo of Barry and Axl but what have you done to that poor child? She always looks so happy with that beautiful smile, a credit to her parents.


Thanks for a great story, love to see how others' journeys went.

Thanks for making the effort, good to get feedback on places to stay too and great photos.

Great write up mate and good photos. Sounds like you lot had a blast

Yeah a blast.. bloody windy plains lol

Re-Cycled wrote:


 She always looks so happy with that beautiful smile

She's a dancer, she's been programmed to smile regardless since she was 3 years old

Nice report and pics Chook. Pity you didn't stop for a fossick at Wedderburn - I see a bloke has picked up a gold nugget worth $135k.

Wedderburn was a bit out of the way

SuzySuzuki wrote:Wedderburn was a bit out of the way

Not that far out of the way if you can pick up a $135K nugget 

Great photos and write up Chook.

Wedderburn hey hmmm ,,

Here's one I took at the motor museum

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Ewok1958 wrote:Nice report and pics Chook. Pity you didn't stop for a fossick at Wedderburn - I see a bloke has picked up a gold nugget worth $135k.

Well! That settles it then. Next years meet is in Wedderburn. 

Bosco15 wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:Nice report and pics Chook. Pity you didn't stop for a fossick at Wedderburn - I see a bloke has picked up a gold nugget worth $135k.

Well! That settles it then. Next years meet is in Wedderburn. 

LOL, and as we'll all be trying to get rich there will be no time for riding, drinking, talking shit..................

Nah, we're not going to Wedderburn

Axel & I finally got home at 8am this morning after covering 3750kms on the Bandit and a further 860km sailing on the ferry, we're both glad to be back.

Even ran into Paul getting on the boat coming home, seems he recognised me out of all the bikes at Port Melbourne, don't know how ?

It was a great trip, good to meet up with everyone and weather was kind for most of it.  Now I have to start putting the bike back together, starting with moving the Yoshi down a tad

Did the trailer load of Aldi products make it back to Tassie Barry?

Hmm, that would be a "yes" then!

barry_mcki wrote:

Even ran into Paul getting on the boat coming home, seems he recognised me out of all the bikes at Port Melbourne, don't know how ?

That's 4 of us that can confirm he's real now 

Yep, one of the bottles of tomato paste had a loose lid, but luckily it didn't make too much of a mess, everything else made it home safely including the 18 blocks of chocolate

As for the bike, the casuality list is one cracked lower fairing, one "ventilated left pannier and interior bag, one "shortend" handbrake cable, three worn to the markers tyres (replaced in Melbourne thanks to Madmax's suggestion to use Bryners Suzuki in Seaford - great guys).  I think my Yoshi needs repacking as it seems to be a lot louder, and I have a feeling I picked up some dirty fuel so a Gus-insectomy of the fuel pump and filter is on the cards.  Oh, and I lost part of my wedding ring.


What happens when you idle too long with a hot motor and a short exhaust can


That twisted bit of wire was my handbrake cable for the sidecar

Couple other more happier photos:


The "twisties" between Hay and Parkes


The lineup


Ewok's answering service

barry_mcki wrote:



The "twisties" between Hay and Parkes

There were a lot more "twisties" on that stretch than Balranald to Hay the day before, even Hay to Goolgowi was bendy compared to that!

It's good to hear your trip after Parkes was far less destructive than the 1st couple of days

Good to see you & Axle the navigator (guide dog) got home safely Barry

Shame we missed you Barry - what date was that (I'm thinking we were probably in Canberra).