ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

February 2021 Club News

Nannup Campout Ride

Detailed story and colour photos by Antoinet, black and white photos by John McK

Serious business - oh dear – it looks like some mechanical stuff going on here at Denmark.

Meanwhile, some of the other riders had a coffee break: Steve, Garry, Rob #147, John D and Bob.

Next, there was a meal break in Walpole - or is another yet another coffee break?

John D and Garry B pondering something. Is Andrew in trouble?

Steve enjoys a stop at the Northcliffe turnoff on his streamlined Ariel Leader.

While Bob gives his back a rest and chats to Garry and Rob.

Finally we made camp at Nannup with all the mob.

Next day, at Bridgetown on the ride home, it’s got to the sit-down stage for John McK with a bit of help again from someone called Ronnie.

Detailed story of the ride

Ronnie, Andrew and I had been talking for quite a while about a pre-1985's camping trip. We decided Nannup would be the place to go. It's a nice ride from Albany and also for the Perth members if they wanted to meet us there. The Nannup caravan park is always a nice place for camping and the Nannup hotel is close by to have a meal. And because I don't work Mondays anymore we decided to leave on the Saturday and come home on Monday.

Bob really wanted to come and we promised we would be there to look after him and help him as it was going to be his first time camping after the accident. Ronnie and I hadn't been away on a motorbike camping trip for ages so it took me a while to think what it was we needed to take along. I made a curry for Andrew, Bob and us so we could warm that up on the Saturday night and then it would be dinner at the hotel on Sunday night.

Bob just had two weeks of full-on physio and rehab at Fiona Stanley and he didn't get home until Friday afternoon. Ronnie and I went to Bob's after I finished work to help him get everything ready for the camping trip away. On Saturday morning we all met at the meeting point. Raelene and John Davis did back up and had their bikes on the trailers so they could enjoy a ride through the south west on Sunday.

We took off and I was riding behind Bob. On the south coast highway Andrew overtook us on his speedy fast 250 BMW. But only a minute later Andrew pulled over on the side of the road, apparently the 250 had just stopped. I kept going but some stopped to help out.

Luckily Andrew arrived safe in Denmark where we had our first stop.

When John McKinnon parked his BMW it backfired big time. Luckily none of the BMW's ended up on the trailer and after a nice coffee stop, lots of chatting and adjusting and fixing things on the bikes we were off again. Our next stop was Walpole where we had lunch in the park. This is what I love about traveling on the older bikes, you often get to have a break. Nice to chat and catch up with everybody, talk about what you have seen along the way and discussing any issues you have with your bike.

It is also interesting to listen to all the bike talk, even though I often don't understand what is being said. We had a quick stop at the Northcliffe turn off and then again in Manjimup. Bob was checking out all the public toilets along the way to see if they were wheelchair friendly. Denmark and Manjimup got a tick of approval.

We got to the caravan park in Nannup at about 4 pm and set up our tents. Happy hour is always a good time and we all enjoyed a beer or wine and some nibbles. Phillip and Bronwyn came over to say hello, they had hired some accommodation in town. We realised the toilet/bathroom wasn't wheelchair-friendly for Bob which was a big disappointment but we were very relieved when Bronwyn came back from a walk to the public toilets in the park next to the caravan park.

This toilet was wheelchair-friendly and Bob could use that one. Most of us headed over to the campers kitchen to heat up our meals and a few more drinks were consumed. It was about 10.30 pm when we went back to our tents.

Bob, Ronnie and I had a good laugh getting Bob into his sleeping bag but we managed to do it. The temperature dropped quite a bit that night and the next morning it was overcast. The weather forecast for Monday was very bad: a lot of rain, heaps of wind, some hail and thunderstorms.

We had a chat about our options and I rang the hotel to ask if they had a wheelchair-friendly room available for Bob but there was none, so we decided to head back home early. John McKinnon and Ron Allan decided to do the same so after breakfast we packed up all our gear and said goodbye to all the other ones, they were getting ready for the day's ride.

We filled up fuel and had a morning tea stop in Bridgetown and had left over bits and pieces in Frankland River for lunch. We thought the cafe was open for lunch but it wasn't. We got home at 4 pm and when the storm woke me up during the night I thought to myself: thank goodness we came home early!