WE had a huge turn-out for the overnight ride &
poker run to the Gnowangerup Pub in October. Martin, the publican, who has a
Harley and 4 others rode to Albany from Gnowangerup to join us on the run.
We
were also joined by Peter, a Dutch bloke, who had shipped his bike out from
Holland, a Honda Translap V-Twin, and was near the end of his four month tour of
Australia when he decided to join us. We'd previously met him in Broome and he
was staying with Merv & Debbie in Albany.
The weather was perfect, the
first cards were dealt out by Chris and Tricia, then its off to Manypeaks for
the second card, then Kamballup, via the South Stirlings. Unfortunately three
of our group, Wayne, Terry and Jim, got lost at South Stirlings! They
turned left instead of right and travelled along a gravel road which eventually
took them to, yep you guessed it, Manypeaks! I get a few digs about getting
lost in Katanning, but I think South Stirlings goes one better ha ha!
Back
with the main group, the next card was at Bluff Knoll - there seemed to be less
people again, and looking around we couldn't see the Gnowangerup riders or a
couple from Albany. Andrew & Sue then turned up and when we returned to
the main road the Gnowangerup riders were waiting at the Bluff Knoll
cafe. On to Amelup for the next card and there were the missing trio, a bit
dusty, but I think they had an enjoyable ride. And all this time the Dutch
guy didn't take a wrong turn!
Then it was off to the Gnowangerup pub for a
well deserved drink. There were about another 14 people from the BMW Club who
were joining us for the evening. Eventually all were allocated their
rooms and it was down to some serious socialising. The meal we had was
excellent, the pub has a great dining room, complemented by matching old
furniture.
After the meal, some stayed in the dining room, chatting the night
away, others in the bar. Darts was the game of the night, playing Shanghai,
there was quite a crowd playing, including Kathy from Perth, who went into some
sort of gymnastic dance whenever she got a decent score. Wayne managed to
actually score shanghai - treble, double and single in three darts - he must
have had just the right mixture at the time.
There was a band in one of the
rooms, played a bit of blues and rock 'n roll, some dancing was attempted late
at night, but the maori guy playing lead guitar was worth sitting down and
listening to - as I did just before midnight about the same time Terry did a
burnout by the window where I was sitting, adding the smell of burnt rubber to
the atmosphere.
Next morning most were up early waiting for the cooked
breakfast, sausages, bacon, beans, spahgetti, eggs etc. This was then
followed by Martin handing out of some great prizes for the poker run. These
included a Mick Doohan picture,
(click on the links to see pictures of winners) Glenfiddich,
Sam Cougar bottle complete with hip
flask, stubbie holders etc and BMW parts (courtesy of Gunner from
Motts). Shortly it was time to hit the road, with riders going in different
directions, the weather was once again perfect. Riding towards the Stirlings, I
thought, what a great weekend!
See ya, Bob & Chris.
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