Not the Tassie Ride or The Great Northern Pub Tour of 2021 Part 1

In February-March plans were for another motorcycle trip around Tassie. COVID put an end to that with the uncertainty that it brings with snap closures and lockdowns. So the Tassie trip was cancelled and plans were made to head north instead. It not all bad at least Rick and my brother will be able to make this trip.

DAY1

The first day of the trip was going to be a big one, I was ready and raring to go and I left early at 6:45am to pick up Stu and the Callala Bay crew who stayed at Stu's last night to shorten the first day. From here our next meeting point was to be at Colo Height service station to pick up the rest of the crew.

We hit a few bits of road works en-route to meet the others and it was cool and pleasant out riding this morning despite this. We'd arrived within about 5 minutes of each other and the other guys were just having a coffee.

With greetings exchanged it was down to business. Bruce had bought himself a new MT-09 Tracer GT, Stu checked his chain tension then next minute out come the tool roll. What is it with these Tracers they overtighten the chains so that it is guitar string tight, same as the ones we hired in New Zealand.

No sooner had the chain been adjusted and we were on our way. Not much time for mucking around today as we had a lot of riding to do. So it was a quick Friday morning fang up the Putty Road. Brett, Dave and Myself had a very spirited ride on the 10 mile of twisties. Haven't had that much fun for a couple of years. Weekday rides are the best.

We picked up 5 more riders in Singleton at our fuel stop, which was only a quick slash of fuel and greetings then we were off to Gloucester for lunch via the Gresford goat track. I've said it before this road is a shit hole, but they have been fixing some sections. It would be no problem on one of the adventure bikes. We stopped briefly in Dungog for a wee break, and relieved the buttocks after the pounding received on the goat track.

Mmmm Africa Twin looks comfortable

A quick stop at the Gloucester bakery and café where I hoovered down a pie from the bakery. Brett had ordered a burger from the café, it was almost as big as his head. The kebabs were also gigantic sized and Doug couldn't finish his it just too big. Maybe should have called this post the great northern bakery and pub tour.....

Next up we headed up towards Wyndham and the back of Taree. We pulled in to fuel up for the last leg of the day. As we were waiting a local guy on a dirt bike thought it would be a great idea to wheelie out of the servo onto the road. What he didn't count on as he reached the road, was the hedge at the end of the servo blocked his view of a car coming the other way. It startled him and he dropped the front tyre back down but locked it up with a fist full of front brake and proceeded to hit the deck and almost roll underneath the car, seriously there would have been millimetres in it. All in his t-shirt and with no gloves. Troy and his brother went to help him pick up his bike. He was a bit shaken up, they later said he looked about 60. Damn old fool shoulda known better.

So from here we droned mindlessly up the freeway to Kempsey. Think I got so bored droning along at 110kmh that I could have shot myself in the head. From Kempsey we made our way out to Gladstone and the Heritage Hotel which sits on the waters of the Macleay River. Beautiful little spot to stop for an ice cold beer.

After we left Gladstone it kind of felt like we were going around in circles a bit. Doug had a great little back road route that allowed us to ride through some nice twisty bits and kept us well away from the highway until we got to our accommodation for tonight at the Ocean View Hotel in Urunga. It's a nice little spot, $50 rooms nice and clean with typical shared bathrooms. The top of the pub is a little bit of a maze of corridors.

Day 1 done and dusted at 655kms. Yeah I need a beer after that.

Ocean View Hotel - Urunga

A long day in saddle and some relaxing beers were a requirement. Many beers were had and tall tales told until the wee hours. The Ocean view did fantastic meals as well.

Day 1 Map Reference