We had a record number of girls for our “Heels on Wheels”
weekend away this year. The weather forecast was not very
promising but it wasn’t going to deter 11 keen ladies looking
forward to a great weekend of riding and fun: Chris,
Meagan, Tammie, Chris S, Lidia, Sue, Rowena, Jeanette, Deb,
Joyce, Kathy, Lorelle (visiting from SA). Jill arrived at the
last minute on her “L”s. 3 riders joined us in Pemberton from
Perth, giving us a total of 14!
We headed off to Frankland River for our first fuel stop for the
smaller tanks and “faster” riders. We had a quick coffee and
kept moving as it was quite cold and wet. Once we left Frankland
the sun came out and the day improved markedly. We regrouped at
Boyup Brook and then headed for Bridgetown. Well the heavens
opened and the wind howled, it was almost like being in another
zone! This wild weather persisted until we reached Bridgetown.
We all quickly headed to the 1912 restaurant for something hot
for lunch. The soup was popular and delicious.
Some people fuelled up again and then we headed to Pemberton as
it was getting late and quite overcast.
We were staying at the Gloucester Motel. Some people hadn’t been
there before. I had, but still managed to take the wrong turn,
but with a bit of conferring retraced our tracks and arrived to
see Tammie and Meagan waving us up the hill to the correct
entrance. We were met at the motel by Jo, with Kylie and Kaz
arriving a bit later from Perth.
A few girls then headed into town for “provisions” of the
liquid kind. Others made coffee and settled down outside
the motel rooms with chairs and recapped tales of the day. Jill
had done really well, especially in such trying weather
conditions.
When
the girls got back we all enjoyed a wine and then it was time
for everyone to shower and get ready for dinner. Meagan outdid
everyone in her purple ankle boots and coat to match. She
looked stunning. How did she get it all in her panniers?
We had been given a large table and had a room to ourselves.
A wise move as we were quite noisy by now... plus Kaz decided
to give an impromptu floor show!
The food was excellent and everyone was enjoying a wine or
two. But it had been a long day and everyone was heading to
bed by 11pm.
There were a few people that had a sleepless night due to
snoring “room-mates” or a couple in a neighbouring room
“making up” after a heated row early in evening!
Next morning, it was still raining when we got going. We went
into town for breakfast to a great coffee shop in the main
street.
We took the main road out to the Manjimup road to head to
Walpole. Jo, Kylie & Kaz were all going back to Perth.
It was a wet ride to Walpole but the weather cleared as we
arrived and there were a lot of partners and club members there
to meet us. We took over the verandah outside the coffee shop as
usual, then enjoyed a nice sunny ride back to Albany.
See you all next year, although Meagan is thinking about organizing a weekend away later this year. We will be looking forward to it.