I swirled into Muchea and noticed the two Daves circulating like two lost farts in a thunderstorm. I filled up in Muchea and got into a queue as long as a Centre Link Monday morning picket, some people in front of me doing their monthly shopping and only one till open. Time slipped away and the two Daves asked me to lead the way to Bindoon. How difficult could it be? When I asked a local he told me that the old road was blocked and by "going back to the tee, then turning left, going under the highway, go to the next tee and turn right, under the highway again, then carry on for 5 kays and turn right (or was it left????) was too much for my already full brain, so we hammered through to Gin Gin and rode into Bindoon a bit late.
There were about 20 bikes at Bindoon, all saddling up, so Cookie then led the way, east of GNH, almost as far as Toodyay, then turning north up to Bolgart, Calingiri and Wongan Hills, where some of the persistent boys wrestled with the card machine at that servo and we pushed on. Unfortunately, the corner marshalling broke down at this point and poor old Keiron sailed off past the Moora turnoff and would have ended up in Meekatharra, if Ross Ashton had not gone haring off after him.
Lunch was a jovial affair in Moora, during which time Cookie contacted the Gero mob to meet us at Warradadgee instead of Coorow, as the series of minor blunders had cost a bit of time. We swooped on Waradadgee at about 2.30 and met up with a smiling contingent from the "North". led by the effervescent Clayton Cream. The juggernaut now headed on for the last furlong, past Cervantes, not a breath of wind and by now the temperature was a magnificent 23. The boys all piled into the Leeman Caravan Park , which was certainly in a very fine setting. Some of the lads went for a pint and an emperor snapper at he Community Centre but some others cooked their own tea on site, including Max Wright who seemed to have brought up a host of tasty snacks, which the troops greedily dug into.
Our cabin had a smell of cats pee in it, so I asked Pieter Geldenhuys to brew some coffee and pour whisky into each cup but the smell did not go away. We tried opening the windows but there no wind. Dave Sarolea gave out some tangerines, which we opened up but that didn't help either. Eventually, Dinga Bell ran his R75 at about 4000rpm and blew exhaust fumes into the room and the two smells sort of cancelled each other out, for a while. The other airhead rider, Guy Davies, on the ammo box R100 had a suspected glowing red alternator light but his battery didn't seem to lose charge over the duration of the trip.
The next morning, we walked on the beach, at sunrise and gave Dinga's 750 battery a jump start from his jump start pack, vowing to buy a new battery as soon as he gets to Geraldton. The boys then headed south to Jurien for breakfast and thereafter, everybody headed off in different directions. A great effort by Cookie to drum up so much support for the ride, Let's see some more more big rides from this Club.
I met my good mate Dave Alderson, in Guilderton for lunch, a longtime Bindoon resident, who told me that the Bindoon servo has been taken over by new ownership and the prices are no longer 20% more than Perth prices! You gotta keep your ear to the ground!
