ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

June 2021 Club News

Week Away March 2021 Ride

by Chester Powell (with asides by Trudy)

On Saturday the riders met at Mercer Road. They were Kim, Phil, Chester, Andrew and Garry. Steve and Chris were two-up and Carol was backup. We set off via Millbrook Road to Albany Highway and the Grocery Store Café in Cranbrook for an extended coffee break. Then we were off to Gnowangerup with a short stop at the Pootenup School where Steve had to be disciplined by President Kim for a misdemeanour.

John Davis joined us here for lunch at the road house.

After lunch, John took us on a tour of the industrial area of Gnowangerup where there are some serious engineering businesses and then out to the airport where he is digging a huge dam with his bulldozer and excavator.

Next stop was the Malleyfowl Café in Ongerup for an ice-cream. This was most welcome as it was now 35 degrees. We pushed on to Lake Grace where we all set up camp at the local caravan park and walked across the road to the pub for tea which was mostly pretty good.

Sunday saw us heading north around 9 am along the “Tin Horse Highway” where we shared morning tea in the gazebo in Kulin’s main street as there were no shops open.

It was then on to the ice-cream shop at Wickepin as it was now 36 degrees. (Any excuse!). Lunch was at the Narrogin Bakery then on to Williams for a fuel stop. This is where Wes joined us.

We arrived at the Quindanning Pub about 4pm, just the right time for a welcoming beer. We celebrated Garry’s 71st birthday with a cake and candles provided by Carol.

On Monday morning JD took off on his Matchless as his airport hole needed a few more metres taken out of the bottom.

The rest of us were off, north-bound again this morning to Dwellingup Bakery for coffee and cake. Much cooler riding weather today. It was 22 degrees - perfect! (So no ice-cream? What a surprise!)

Garry took the lead and took us on some back roads to Collie visiting Wellington Dam on the way.

What an amazing sight with the huge mural on the dam wall - fantastic. Next it was on to Balingup on the scenic, twisty hill road for lunch.

We had a quick stop at Gnomeville and then more back roads took us through Donnybrook and Capel arriving at the Busselton RAC Holiday Park where we set up camp. Huw and Elina met us here. We had a bbq get-together in the camp kitchen.

The RAC park was very neat and tidy with really good facilities. Tuesday was a free day, so most of us took a walk out to the end of the Busselton jetty. Here we took a tour of the aquarium - well worth the visit despite the long walk. The train had been fully booked with school excursions.

Steve, Chris and a couple of others conserved their energy by taking the train trip back to shore. Wednesday saw Wes make an early run back to Bremer on his Ducati, upsetting the local self-appointed caretaker of the park. He thought it was a “Kwaka”.

We assured him that Wes would get a serious talking-to and then he was happy. The rest of us left at a more civilised hour riding from cape to cape lighthouses visiting Yanchep and Canal Rocks.

Taking some back roads we headed back to Busselton. It was a great ride though beautiful country. On Thursday, Huw departed for home while the rest of us headed off travelling down Sues Road stopping at Sues Bridge on the Blackwood for a short break. We then rode on to Nannup on the Brockman Highway for an extended morning tea and a visit to a few of the shops.

We took the long way to Manjimup and visited the lithium mine in Greenbushes. We arrived in Manjimup in the late afternoon.

It was a short walk to the pub for tea. We had a great time and meal thanks to Kim.

On Friday, Steve and Chris joined Kim riding back to Albany. It was a lazy day for the rest of us. We all did our own thing in the morning but met up for lunch in Pemberton. We decided to visit the Big Brook Dam on the way back to Manjimup. It's a lovely spot amongst the big timber and we stopped at Fonty’s Pool for an ice cream. (Well I never - it must have been at least 40 degrees!)

On Saturday morning we loaded Garry’s bike onto the trailer as Carol was catching the bus to Perth. Garry was taking over the backup work. We had two stops on the way back to Albany - morning tea at Lake Muir and a quick stop at Rocky Gully for me to reminisce about my youth.

We arrived in Albany by midday. It was a very pleasant week away – riding great roads with good company. Thanks goes to Garry for organising it and a huge thanks to Carol for doing the backup duties. Apart from Garry’s bike on the last day, the trailer was only used to carry our four eskies with the refreshments.