Day 4
Request denied, Derek. The show must go on! :scull:
Day 4
Taken the day before as we approached Queenstown.
Morning dawned in Queestown foggy and damp. The plan was to head east toward Derwent Bridge, take a gander at The Wall and then down to New Norfolk where we would stay the night.
Before hitting the highway we headed south to take a gander at the south end of Lake Burbury, moving in and out of fog banks until we climbed high enough. The views were amazing and the photos don't do it justice with the tricky shadow and light.
Got one above the fog though.
We headed down to the lake from the mountains but the valley was shrouded in fog and we turned around and headed back to town.
The fog had mostly cleared by the time we returned to town and another sunny day emerged from the gloom. How lucky are we? We started the twisty climb over the mountain to Gormanston when disaster struck. It was a few corners in when I head the unmistakable sound of a Bimmer hitting the tarmac. I knew because I'd head this before in Strahan and luckily I wasn't wearing earplugs. I was second last in the group and I turned my head to see tail gunner Crusty on the tarmac next to his prone bike. I quickly swung around and went to see if he was OK. Fortunately he was OK bar some scrapes and bruises and the bike was saved by the crash bars (you listening, Charley?), leaving a set of very impressive scrapes on the road.
Honestly, what some people will do to get out of being tail gunner! Says his front TKC went out from under him. Pffft.
Anyways I did the right thing and took some photos, then helped Derek get his bike upright. Except in the wrong order. Damn!
The drama didn't end there. Crusty was OK to ride and we headed up the mountain to the lookout above Gormanston, near a big hole in the ground where I met some of the others who had not know of Derek's demise. Very pretty place.
We'd been there a few minutes when an ambulance and a copper came roaring up the road and stopped at the lookout, asking Derek if he was the old geezer reported to have been in a motorcycle accident. This puzzled us because no cars had come past us when Crusty binned it so no one could have possibly called it in. Crusty admitted that he might be said geezer and that he didn't need help. The cop and ambulance asked if he was sure and then headed quickly off in case there was another 'older gentleman' in a bike crash. Couldn't possibly be two could there?
We head back to the main road and continued the journey. The mystery unfolds in this video. Get a load of the serenity!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb8wOmyTrRQ
The old geezer by the side of the road and nearly run over by the slow driving idjit was none other than Hans, 'The Ghost who Rides'. He had a low speed off coming out of that corner where we found him and was searching for missing XT vitals, and it was he whom was reported to the emergency services. He was fine, being an incredibly tough bugger, and Pete helped him quickly fix his bike. Another mystery solved!
We continued on down the highway to Derwent Bridge. A cracker of a road with fast bits, twisty bits and loads of eye candy. I gave the Katoom some berries and caught up with Andrew, who promptly turned up the heat in the twisties and left me behind. Note to self - get better at slow corners.
I found Andrew at a little touristy lookout thingy by the side of the road near Derwent Bridge where we waited for the others.
Mixed emotions in this photo. Poor Derek looks like he'd just fallen off a motorcycle!
We grabbed some tucker at Derwent Bridge then went to see
The Wall in the Wilderness.
Amazing wood carvings of local history on huge walls, as well as incredibly life-like wooden sculptures. Its a very solemn place, like a mausoleum to a lost way of life. A must see if you pass through Derwent Bridge.
We continued on the highway toward New Norfolk where four of us took a little dirt interlude while Doug and Crusty decided to take the fast route and head for town and get some rest. Back in the KTMs element, it was a pleasant ride through some forest and past a lake, where we stopped for a gander.
Le Awesome!
Further down Victoria Valley road the valley opened up into an amazing Strathbogies-like landscape, except on a grand scale. The road was fabulous and the riding fast. Bags of fun. I stopped to let the other catch up
Pete took us down another little dirt bit as Andrew headed direct to town. This was mostly fun, but the road turned to thick monster marbley gravel and being quite tired after a full day, this wasn't very welcome. Fortunately there wasn't much of this, and we headed along the back road to new Norfolk, stopping off in Ellendale for refreshments and a rest at the milk bar.
The Junction Motel at New Norfolk had a restaurant with an all you-can-eat buffet thing going which was actually very good, and we all had a slap up meal. Hans showed up during the meal and shouted us some drinks. Cheers Hans!
Another awesome day in the bag!
The route.
Morning
Afternoon
Overall