2016 National Meet

Day 1 Adelaide to Warrnambool


The day started stinking hot, it was over 25 degrees when I left Adelaide at 6:00am, the first few hours where boring main highways but good road surface, onec I crossed into Vic the scenery was better, a few corners but the roads were shit, ruts over a foot deep in some places. By the time I got to Warrnambool I was riding in light showers, soon after I checked in it rained steadily for a few hours

Day 2 Warrnambool to madmax's vis Great Ocean Rd


The day was stinking hot, I left as the sun came up, hit a few cool patches in the mountains but generally sweated like a pig all day.
Up to Apollo Bay was great with not much other traffic, Apollo Bay to Queenscliff was pretty busy, even got stuck behind a HD tractor for about 20 minutes that caught the cars on the straights but had thjem pulling away from him around the bends 
Managed to get to the ferry terminal and have my booking brought forward
Arrived at madmax's around 3:00ish (?), it was good to catch up with spanna called when he called in for a couple of quiet beers that evening.

Day 4, Carrum Downs to PI + Day 5 - 1st day on the Island



then there was 3



a small detour to pick up a swag and we were on our way .....



Awesome beach just a short walk from the Palace









A ride out to The Nobbies with Hammy and B2







then we stopped into the track for a bit of a look

The last batch of photos isn't displaying n my PC Chook.  Might just be me though.

Day 8 Philip Island to Omeo

Lead by madmax, Hammy, B1, B2 and myself headed off from the Island Palce for a night in Omeo, the Golden Age was booked out when we got there (would have had no where for B1 and willow anyway) so they recommended the Hilltop which accommodated B1 and Willow in his swag on the lawns for $10 inc hot cooked breakfast and use of the showers, the rest of us ended upstairs in a double room each, great value, best shower for the whole trip, great food and the "Southern States" had no problems letting the Banana Benders feel good about themselves at the pool table

Chook wrote:Saturday and Sunday Race Days

Ewok and Tag arguing the pros and cons of Black(&gold) versus Silver

Day 9 Omeo to Mansfield

Tuesday saw us all leave Omeo for Falls Creek and then on to Bright where Hammy and B2 split to head North, the rest of us continued onto Mansfield for the night

Ewok1958 wrote:The last batch of photos isn't displaying n my PC Chook.  Might just be me though.

I've swapped from Tinypic to Photobucket, not sure if that makes a difference or not?

Nice photos mate.

Chook wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:The last batch of photos isn't displaying n my PC Chook.  Might just be me though.

I've swapped from Tinypic to Photobucket, not sure if that makes a difference or not?

Both work for me

Second lot are broken for me too

reddog wrote:Second lot are broken for me too

try now, I found one folder was locked private

Ewok1958 wrote:The last batch of photos isn't displaying n my PC Chook.  Might just be me though.

https://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b427/Ian_Button1964

Re-Cycled wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:The last batch of photos isn't displaying n my PC Chook.  Might just be me though.

https://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b427/Ian_Button1964

Got it. Ta!

One lot isn't showing up for me now, not sure why but I'll start that lot from scratch tonight, 1st day back to work today, not looking forward to it one little bit 

Great stuff Chook, and I must say that those two days heading north was some of the best time on the road.  The way south was  also great, but a little bit hot at times.
Now I'm following 2W on the GOR and I'm getting an itchy bum again.  Or that could just be the curry. Hope you have a good day at work.  

Hammy wrote:Hope you have a good day at work.  

I'd been doing a different job temporally for "up to 12 months"
Car at home, start an finish there.
Flexible hours (had to work both ways)
I had rearranged a lot of my life around the various start/finish times.
I was losing a bit financially with no country travel but picked up a better quality of life

Last Thursday walking down High St in Northcote I got a call to say I had been taken back by my substantive area as they were so shortly staffed

Must say I'm pretty pissed off atm

Race day (x2) photos should be there now

Day 10 Mansfield to Northcote

Barry (and Willow) decided to head straight for Melbourne without all the hills and twisties, Barry had done the job of Hercules steering his outfit around the twisties, the heat, altitude and extra load of his rig was giving him some overheating issues so he decided it was better to be safe than sorry

madmax lead me on a memorable day from Mansfiels to Jamiueson, ionto Eildon the Reefton Spur then Warburton before we headed our own ways into Melbourne suburbia 





















I finally arrived at Northcote where I was spending 2 nights, this was the artwork straight across from the appartment I was staying at

Day 11 in Melbourne + Day 12 Melbourne to the Grampians

After a brief stay in Melbourne catching up with a friend, doing the washing etc and a trip to Tullamarine to visit the new home of the Mighty Bombers on the Thursday it was back on the raod a bit after 7:00am, 1st stop, United Westgate to refuel and meet up with madmax, then it was off to Melton to say farewell to Barry & Willow before headed to the Grampians by a less than conventional route






































Then there was the Frances Hotel

Loved following your ride Chook. One of the hardest things is to take the time to stop and take the pics (especially in a group). Love your work.

There's no photos of my final day back to Adelaide, it was boring, hot, humid, occasional shower until I came through the Heysen Tunnels and was hit by what felt like a blast furnace, it was a bit of a anti climax after 2 weeks of sensational company, roads, scenery, racing. I did manage to beat the rain that stopped the Clipsal 500 and flooded Fringe Festival venues in the city, time to start saving for 2017

I still think the Grampians would be a awesome spot for a meet, since seeing a small part of it in 2 days I want to go back and experience more, we just need to get a few more Victorians off their arses and onto their bikes and a few more Northerners (NSW & QLD) and South Aussies willing to spend a bit of time travelling more than a couple hundred km's, the Distances Hammy and B2 put in as well as Tag and Ewok to ride up and meet them, plus the effort Barry puts in to come to the mainland put a lot to shame, this is one of the best forums on the net and it's worth celebrating

The locals all say the best time to visit there is Sept to late Nov / early Dec, food for thought for the future

Some nice photos chook!!

In your last group of photos, what is the mountain scene, 10th photo from the bottom, directly above the 2 bikes photo?

Halls Gap
We stayed there the previous night