THOMMO'S PILGRIMAGE

by Thommo

I crawled out of bed at 0245 QLD time with the intention of leaving at 0300, but like all plans it didn't survive its first contact with the enemy. Turning the telly on wasn't the best of things to do when I had a deadline to meet -- that deadline being to join Whale at 1300 in Warialda, about 800km away.

I didn't end up going through the front gate until a few minutes past 0400. Out the back road to Mt Morgan, via the Razorback Road, saves a bit of time. The Mt Morgan Range is nice, short, sharp and sweet, but sometimes you just want to avoid the time and distance that involves doing it.

Brand spanking new Z6C rear, thanks to BIKE ME!

Once through the Mount, it was up and at 'em. There was not a roo to be seen until after the sun was up and then only the odd dead one. I made a quick stop at Miles to top the tanks up and inhale a quick breakfast before heading on to Goondiwindi. At Goondiwindi I stopped for a Mars Bar and sent a message to Whale letting him know where I was.

From Goondiwindi, you go through Boggabilla and follow the Bruxner Highway for a few kilometres before turning off and heading for North Star. This road is a rough and narrow. One little dip in particular snuck up on me and was sharper than it looked: oops!, stay on the gas, up on the pegs and ride it through. Some roads have caught me napping, as the scars on the exhaust pipes and centre stand will attest.

From North Star through to Warialda is nice and fast with very little traffic. I had told Whale I would be there around 1300, and I wasn't all that far out, arriving there 1255. Whale rolled on in while I was looking for a more obvious place to wait for him. A quick yack later we left for Tamworth, via a small detour up the lookout at Manilla.

The lookout at Manila

At Tamworth we both fuelled up. I didn't really need to: I still had enough fuel to make it right through to Scone, so I only filled the main tank up and left the auxiliary low. Just south of Tamworth we hit road works. The water truck had only just been through, so the bikes got dirty really quickly.

They hadn't finished the new bridge into Nundle. As we forded the creek, Whale, ever so delicate that he is, made a real spectacle of himself by lifting his feet off the pegs into the air around his ears so his feet wouldn't get wet going through about 6 inches of water.

We made a quick stop at the pub to wet our parched throats. We were glad to get out of there. A couple of yokels decided that we would be good company. We didn't feel the same about them.

Whale with all his friends...

From Nundle, I had left myself at the mercy of the Quollmeister and Whale. Quolly had informed us that we should go via the dirt to Gundy and then on into Scone. I like dirt roads but the FJR doesn't, but it sure as hell wasn't going to stop me from going that way! I was glad that we did go that way, it's one beaut road and the views are bloody fantastic. It made me want to be on something like a DR650 or even my 600 Bandit, which doesn't mind running dirt roads at all. I really have got to get some dosh together somehow and get myself a DR, whack on a 30l Safari tank and tour down those roads with the Prime Minister of Quollstralia as my guiding angel.