A big thanks to Jono for organising this weekend. I am sure everyone thoroughly enjoyed every moment. The ride up kept the group sort of together with a few deciding to travel a bit faster than others but all coming together at stops. We did a short cut to the station that took in about 40 km of dirt rather than go the long way on the tar via Yalgoo. Kim on his K1600 GT bit down , grimaced and also tackled this with great skill handling the big monolith. This set him up as practice for handling the last 18 km of dirt into the station. The group arrived at about 3.30 in the afternoon with Jono finding some beers for everyone which went down well as the last few hours of the ride found the temp warming up creating a cold beer thirst. The girls arrived eventually with some of us ( take note Doris) getting a bit concerned as it was getting close to 6pm. They had been having a great time in Janice's V8 all wheel drive Volvo flitting around the countryside checking out wildflowers. Meanwhile the blokes had drunk all Jono's beer and had ventured down to the homestead to meet Mike and Helen and get some more beers.
Mike showed us his "green hornet" a Cessna type of aeroplane which he explained in mouth opening detail how he had pranged it a few weeks back and it was now a write off. He has now written off 3 planes now following prangs at the station and has a sore back and lots of stories to show for it.He is waiting for the insurance to pay out for another plane. Helen was busy in the kitchen getting the food ready for our group and the numerous other caravaners and campers who were also guests at the station. They were both very likeable, friendly and real outback characters.
The meal was something else , with a continuous supply of freshly cooked pizza from the pizza oven which a French backpacker who used to work for them constructed a few years back, garlic bread, salads, potato bake and so much food even Jamie was done over. Much wine was also consumed with a few feeling a bit seedy the next morning, this and the heavy snoring going on denying others sleep was the probable cause for various peoples unwellness.
A heavy bacon and egg breakfast with all the trimmings got us all going again. As Jono mentioned the group split up into 3 groups. Kim took the girls for a drive in the Volvo, Jono took a bunch riding the station tracks and I headed off to Cue to check out the meteorite crater and Big Bell mine site. Out in the middle of n- where after travelling about 40 kms on the dirt on the way to Cue as I approached an intersection "lo and behold" there was Jono and the station rider group who were now heading in the opposite direction parked up having a chinwag. They were going to head down to Yalgoo where I had just come from and then come back the same way after fueling up and check out Chinaman rock which was on the way to Cue. Without a definite plan and Chinaman rock only being about 20 km up the track I thought maybe give my original plans a miss as Cue was another 160 km on dirt and just check out Chinaman rock. I mentioned that I now probably was just going to Chinaman Rock and put it to the group that why not go there first. The group then fragmented when Jono, Nev, Dinga and Peter took off leaving the rest of us thinking it was a better idea to check out the rock then go onto Yalgoo rather than come back this way again. Colin led Jamie , Kots and myself sitting on about 90-100km/hr on the gravel looking for the signpost "Chinaman Rock". The problem was no sign or we hadn't seen it due to the rate and concentration needed to follow the lead rider. After travelling about 45 km we stopped and decided that Chinaman Rock must have been that rock about 20 kms back, so we turned around and went back and checked out this rock which we then we presumed it had to be Chinaman rock. It was not in the same scale as Uluru but was quite spectacular in its own right when we checked it out. We then decided to head back to Yalgoo and check out the Jokers tunnel. At the petrol servo Colin asked one of the locals how do you get to it. He said just go about 20 kms up the road and you will see the sign. Off the group went with Colin leading, again going quite quickly. Jamie and Kots who were following me suddenly disappeared and were nowhere to be seen behind us when we waited . Jamie was saying at the servo something about needing to fill up so Col and myself presumed they had gone back to fill up. Wrong! Following Col and 40 kms now approaching and the sign to Jokers tunnel nowhere to be seen we decided this guy at the servo had given us a "bum steer" so we headed back only to see a sign just out of Yalgoo which given was a bit hard to read had "JokersTunnel 10 km" in a weathered scrawl. Col decided he really wanted to see it and took off to check it out. I had had enough of travelling excessive distances to look at tourist features so headed home and left Col to check out the Tunnel. The blue sky had now turned into angry storm clouds as I headed back to the station and sure enough the rain started and it lasted for about 10 minutes then persisted as light scattered drizzle. When I got back to the station it had basically cleared up with just clouds and the angry bit now more to the SW
As Jono mentioned there was some drama with keys. Janice and Terri Anne went horse riding following their drive with Kim and Doris. When they got back Janice put this pod thingy bob that allows the Volvo security system to be activated in her pocket thinking it was safe tucked up in her pocket. Coming back from the horse ride they had a shower and a few drinks and waited for Col to turn up. When he arrived he wanted to get something out of the Volvo. BUT the thingy bob that Janice had put in her pocket was not there any more. Much panic arose from Mr and Mrs DB they couldn't find this thingy bob anywhere. A search party was sent into action with a number of people trying to cover the ground where the horse riding took place but still no thingy thing was found. Colin managed to use a key to open the boot crawl thru a opening and get the operating manual. This pod must be present so that one can disarm the security system to make the Volvo open doors , unlock the drive system and allow engine start up. Well what happens now, the Volvo was now marooned at Gabyon station and the girls were going to be stuck there and Bill, Nev and Colin were not going to have anyone to cook diner when they got home. Using a Sat phone we contacted the RAC. And Colin convinced them they could pick up a spare thingy bob he had at home that one of the kids would find and give it to them to courier it up to the station. This plan was accepted by the RAC and put into action. Ask Col what happened next, I won't go into it here but all ended well. Much alcohol was consumed as the stress levels were fairly high as a result of the Volvo incident, but it didn't curtail the camaraderie for the rest of the night with everyone enjoying the lamb chops and lots of other yummy food prepared by Mike and Helen.
Monday morning saw Jono, Kots, Peter, Nev, Dinger and Jamie who was going off somewhere else, heading off in the wee hours and the rest of us who weren't overly excited by the 4* temp, taking it easy following the noisy departure of the early ride group then having a leisurely breakfast. The girls departed first in the Volvo then myself, Kim , Col and Geoff who had turned up on his brand new now very dirty Harley D on the Sunday all finally departing. Col and myself did the Coalseem park gravel which was a terrible dirt road to ride on with lots of corrugations, soft patches and loose gravel. The scenery was nice though. Kim and Geoff who decided to give any more dirt a wide berth kept to the tar and we met up again at Mingnew and continued home. We arrived back at about 4pm.
A Great weekend. This is what owning a BMW and being part of the BMWMCCWA is all about.
This is just too much...