Home Aus Biker News Bike News Rides Other Stuff Events Tech Links

Poker Run Trip

I'd been watching the weather forecasts for a couple of weeks and it all still said rain on the weekend in Brisbane, but what the hell it cant be too bad, so after managing to lever myself away from the office after getting up at 3.30 to finish some work,  I took off at about 9am on Friday.

Most of the boys had left at 6am, but I decided to forgo that little pleasure seeing it was 5degrees here at that time of the day, and I left in pleasant sunshine.

First stop was Buledelah about 3 hrs later where I filled up, jees only $30 for gas and $15 for a litre of oil! which was to become almost the norm for the weekend...of course they only had  10w-40 so that lasted all the way to the next stop...

....which was my favorite little bakery/cafe just as you get into Macksville which is pretty close to being exactly half way between Sydney and Brisbane.

Christ I was sore now, took a couple of minutes for the back to uncurl and the fingers to let go of the bars, but after a mini pizza and two large coffee's I was ready to forge on.

Tho it might not have looked like it

After filling up and adding some 20w50 this time, it was back into it...

Weather was still great, but as its was 3 pm ish, the traffic was starting to build up a bit around the towns which are a bit closer together up that way...

I'd rang my mate who lives near Woodburn, bout another 2 1/2 hours away, and he'd offered to let me stay there, and it sounded like a bloody good offer!

All I had to do was get through the big mess of traffic and roadworks that seem to be about 50kms either side of Coffs Harbour, that slows you to 80km/hr and bounces your kidneys into mousse...

But eventually you get through it all and the road to Grafton and then Woodburn isnt too bad...

So just on dusk I pulled into Woodburn and waited for Jub  to come and show me to his house..

After a good meal (thanks Sue) and a drink or two I slept like a baby...

Cant say I'm keen on my bike from that angle, that rear guard might need replacing sometime.

Next morning the weather wasn't quite so crash hot, and not long after leaving I was in the rain for the 250km trip to Brisbane..

But at least it wasn't too cold, and running up the freeway on the Gold Coast I ran into a couple of the boys who pulled in at Logan to meet a couple of chapters who were heading into the pub at Tingalpa for the start of the poker run.

Great to see a few NZ members over

After relaxing for an hour or so and deciding the rain wasn't gonna stop anytime soon it was on the road again...

for a ride in quite a downpour...

So it was down to the pub for a while where it was decided in everyone's interest to postpone the actual poker run for a few weeks..

So we left the pub, rode 100yards, and were road blocked so Mr. plod could take a few photos for pinning on his bed head...

Someone insisting that no ,they  do not want a date with a policeman...

Back to the pad and time to park up and indulge in a beverage or two...

After a number of hours I put my head down, and woke at 4 in the morning to start the trip back at 5am...at least it had stopped raining.

So three of us took off into the dark for the next 2 hours down the freeway and on to Ballina. The trip back was a lot more pleasant, stopping every couple of hours or so beats pushing on alone getting every mile out of my long range tanks, I didnt get half as sore going home...and we did the 1000 odd km in an easy 12 hours...

Thanks to Frank for a lot of the pics