Hickeys Creek Ride

I was tootling round town on my DR650, when I noted a heap of ADV type riders at the halfway shop.

They gave me some incentive to go home, pack my bag and head up river.

Imagine my surprise when I encountered the group on the Hickeys Creek Road.

Imagine their surprise when a dirty old DR650 dusted them all, power sliding all the way into Taylors Arm.

A bit of local knowledge goes a long way, and I have done the run to the TA Pub quite a few times now.

A young fellow on the KTM990 reckoned he had some bad fuel, or he would have "given me a run".

"Excuses, excuses" said I.

The rest of the group pulled in much later so we shared a beer and talked bikes.

They were up from Singleton and passing through to Bellingen for an overnight stay.

We parted ways and I headed back out through Collombatti.

A great way to spend an afternoon.

Bridge Parts

These big buggers stop traffic for a while when they go through.

I can't wait to see the bypass completed.

I might get some sleep without the trucks roaring past all night.

The 14.5 kilometre Kempsey bypass project is part of the 40 kilometre Kempsey to Eungai project, which extends from the existing dual carriageway south of Kempsey to the existing dual carriageway at Eungai Rail.

The bridge over the Macleay River and Floodplain will be 3.2 kilometres long on completion, making it the longest bridge in Australia.

Maria River to Thompson's Tower Ride

I showed Eric a few trails down through Maria River National Park. 

Fairly similar to the ride I did with Kingy the other week.

This time we headed south to Kundabung via Farrawells Road. 

We looped up through Kundabung Road and crossed the Highway.

We went into Scrubby Creek Road and on to Thompsons Tower Lookout. 

Some massive puddles and great views of Mount Banda Banda. 

I hope to be on top of Banda Banda in a week or so.

Coffs Harbour - Woolgoolga Ride

My day started typically with another broken computer.

The client couldn't understand why it would cost $200 to fix a $700 computer.

Simple. The new hard drive is $120 delivered. That's cost to me.

I had to run diagnostics on memory and hard drive to ascertain the issue.

The client requested I recover data from the failed drive.

I have to fit the drive and reinstall windows and all applications, then copy the data back.

So it would appear Im working for a little over $10 an hour.

The client think's he's getting a raw deal. Somehow I think I am.

Bugger it, I think I'll go for a ride on my motorcycle.

Kingy and I stopped at CoffsMotorsports and Ag.
We had a good yak with Derek and ordered some parts.
Derek wants to sell his business, so if you have a knack for bikes and 350k contact me.

Then we went to visit my Nanna at Woolgoolga. 
She's just turned 96 but is as sharp as a tack.
I dropped off a few bits and pieces and we had a good talk.
The work on the highway north of Coffs Harbour is massive.
Good to see our tax dollar being utilised for good purpose.

Next stop was Coffs Motorcycles & Lawn Care for some more parts.
 I had a look at some of the newer (and older) bikes on the floor.

On the way home I noticed a cop car pulled in at a sawmill.
There was a huge plume of funny smelling smoke coming from a fire out the back.
I don't know why but I felt a bit giggly and light headed for a while.

I'm pretty sure I smelt the same smoky smell coming out of this van near the roadworks.

The Kempsey Bypass seems to be cracking along nicely too.
We will all be pleased to see this one open.

I did a bit of lane filtering but stopped when I saw this vehicle up front.
Some of them don't have a sense of humor when overtaken.
Even at a standstill.

Ennis Road to Willi Willi Loop

After our epic ride at Greta's Birthday weekend,

 we needed a little lap in the bush just to wind down.

Leo, Nick - Al - Kingy and I decided to loop out of Ingalba State Forest again.

Alas, it was not to be. Al's DRZ400 started making expensive noises on Ennis Road.

The mighty DR650SE once again towed a broken motorcycle out of the scrub.

We found a friendly property owner who let us leave the bike,

 then Leo, Nick and I continued round Toorooka  to Willi Willi.