Day Two Out With the Oldies

Still posting all back to front.

On Saturday we went out with the old bikes again, despite having lots at home that we should have been doing. Grab a cuppa, as I’ve lots of photos to share.

As the rally runs for a week of day trips, there are different bikes out each day.  On Saturday this gorgeous Henderson outfit appeared.

There was also a second early Henderson.  You should have heard this one run.  It sounded beautiful and looked terrific.

The day’s run took us out to Burraga, which is about 70kms south of Bathurst.  It is a lovely drive out now that the road is sealed.  The last section was only completed a few years ago.

We travelled out through Perthville past the little church.

Through the tunnel of elms.  They will really be at the golden best in a week or so.

We travelled through some lovely grazing country. Nice quiet roads for riding on.

As we climbed towards the higher country it was starting to look quite wintery.

Next we headed through the Bull Hills.  This is 5kms of lovely sweeping bends. Mick reckons it is the best stretch of motorcycling road in NSW.  He may be a little biased as he grew up just a bit further out than there.

As you get further out you start to get into the pine forests.

Then finally around the bend and into Burraga for lunch.  Burraga is at the end of the earth.  Mick reckons next stop after Burraga is Melbourne.

Sorry the next photo is crooked, but you get that taking a snap over your shoulder as the bike is turning. LOL.

Mick’s family used to attend lots of country dances in the area we travelled through when he was a kid.  He and a mate managed to climb onto the roof at one Burraga dance and put a row of bungers under the edge of the galvanised iron roof of the hall.  When they went off there was no denying that they were the culprits, as they were still on the roof.  I believe they copped a bit of a hiding over that one.

Our lunch was at the little football club.  It is a lovely setting and quite unexpected in such a small village.

The bikes looked great parked under the gum trees.  As you can see, we took Snubby out for the run today.

I was quite taken with this BMW.  This is a similar model to Olga if she was still a solo.  It looked quite striking in the white with the blue seat.

More bikes in the bush setting.

It’s funny how most of the really old bikes are ridden by old blokes.

On the way home we left the main group and detoured through Mount David, which is where Mick grew up.

Up over this hill is his family’s old property.

The road passes right through their old place.  It is looking an absolute picture this year.  

Then we headed back  to Rockley.

For a quiet ale with a couple of mates.

Before taking the short cut across some dirt roads to home.

 

It was a very enjoyable day out and everything that needed doing was still there when we got home.  Oh well, it is an extra long weekend, so there is still time.

Easter Sunday

I seem to be doing things back to front here, posting about Anzac Day before Easter.

We had a lovely day at home yesterday.  The weather was just perfect, after the previous couple of days being a bit overcast.

Firstly, I had to open my Easter Swap Gift from Sabine in Austria. I had waited very patiently for the big day to open it. These are the lovely goodies that were hiding inside the parcel.

I was very spoilt.  I had to open the little eggs and test one out and then find a cute little bowl to put them in.  Sabine  brought a nice bright spring feel to our Easter.  The tea towel goes well with some pot holders and placemats I made a while back.

I made a little Easter display on the sideboard in the dining room and these gifts added to it nicely.

Thanks so much for the gifts Sabine.

See the little chooky sitting in the vase of flowers (and also in the photo of the swap gifts).  Well, initially Mick’s comment was “What is that?”  Before long though, he was sitting there making the little chicken tap dance and spin around with legs swirling.  I’d have loved to have taken a photo.  He was like a little kid with a new toy.  So funny to watch.

As the weather was so still, it was a good chance to oil the windmill.  There is nothing worse than hearing it squeak in feral weather. 

It is quite a way off the ground. A breeze picked up just after he finished, so it was good timing.

The dam was looking a picture, but poor old Biggles found the  big walk down there quite tiring.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter too.

By the way, we have been tracking the progress of the container taking Olga to England.  She should arrive at Felixstowe in the UK today.  How exciting!

Anzac Day

This morning we went into town for the Dawn Service.

It is a special time with my Dad, who served at Singapore in WWII.

That’s Dad third from the left looking slightly to his left.

As usual, this morning he had a shoe box full of about a hundred rosemary sprigs that he handed out to everyone.

My brother and his family join him for the march in the morning and then in the afternoon Mum attends the service with him at the old Army Camp just out of town, where he trained.  It is a big day for Dad, but one he wouldn’t miss for quids.

Meet Sophia

She is a nice Italian girl who looks good in red.  She will have her 18th birthday next week.  We can’t believe that we’ve had her for so long.  It certainly doesn’t seem like it.  She has been on many adventures with us and even travelled to Western Australia and back in the late 90s.  Sophia is a 1993 Moto Guzzi Mille GT 1000.  There were only 36 imported into Australia and of those only two were red.  All the others are black.  We feel she is pretty special.

The Vintage Motorcycle Club has a week long rally around Bathurst each Easter and we try to tag along on Good Friday.  The run is always to Oberon and then on to Tarana. Today we took Sophia out for the ride.

I haven’t been on her since Easter two years ago.  The leathers still fit…..just.  I was wondering how I would go on a solo after such a long time.  Would I be nervous?  Would I still enjoy being on the back?  Would I feel the need to hang on?  When we first got a sidecar everyone asked did I prefer the solo or the outfit, to which I always replied that I like both.

Well, I can safely say that it is like riding a bike (pardon the pun). It just felt right and I enjoyed the ride so very much.  I didn’t feel the need to hang on  and I can still honestly say that I like both.  It helps that the lovely girl is very comfortable and I trust Mick as a rider.  Mostly we just toodled along, but at a couple of spots Mick gave her her head and cleared out some cobwebs. Sophia ran beautifully and she sounded sooo good.  The weather was perfect for riding – cool enough to need some layers, but without feeling like Michelin woman.

As always, there was a wide variety of old bikes.

This year there were just over 200 entries, so it is growing each year.

There were 5  Suzuki Rotary bikes from the 70s.  This was quite something, as there were only ever 6000 made.  They were quite a radical design for their time that didn’t really take off and I had a sit on one.  They seem to be one of those bikes that people either love or hate.

One thing about being on a solo is that I can’t take photos while we are travelling along, so I haven’t many of the beautiful autumn scenery.  We did pull over at one spot though, which had some glorious coloured trees.

Don’t you just want to follow that road.

The run finished at Tarana where we had a yummy lunch in the cafe before heading home.

We should be doing things at home tomorrow but we might just head out with all the oldies again.  This time we will take Snubby out for the run and go to Burraga. 

Just Playing

Yesterday was a glorious autumn day, so I had a wander around the yard and played with Mick’s camera.  It has lots of bells and whistles and I still have quite a bit to learn.  Mostly I think I will stick with my little point and shoot.

The dahlias are at their best at the moment, but as we had our first couple of frosts last week their days will be numbered for this season.  I bought a few more bulbs in spring so we have a nice mix of colours now.

The Manchurian pear is just starting to turn.

As is the white cedar.

Remember when I found some green acorns on our oak tree back here.  Well, they are all on the ground now.  A second oak is a bit slower, as they are still hanging on the tree with green caps.

I played with the collage in Picasa.  Zoom in to have a closer look at the wonderful colour at the moment.

I know the photos are too small to really see in this next two collages, but they remind me of a ticker tape quilt with all the colours.

Like I said, just playing.

Afternoon Tea

My goodness!  Two posts in one day, very unlike me.

The other day Tracy shared the recipe for a lovely looking Pear and Honey Cake.  As I picked our huge crop of 7 pears last weekend I thought I’d try it out.

Scrummy.  Thanks Tracy, the cake went down a treat for afternoon tea and the recipe has been filed in my folder to use again.

I’ve Got Mail

I’ve received a couple of those little red and white cards from the Post Office recently.  They are always exciting.

Firstly, this arrived a few weeks ago.  Slack me hasn’t got around to taking a photo till now.

These were from the lovely Loulee as a giveaway for her 400th blog post.  The key ring for my car was looking a bit tired and had “Summer” written on it.  Now I have a nice winter replacement.   How fiddly would that be to knit.  (Tony, notice the Subaru key -I’ll even say it with a Kiwi accent for you. LOL)

Have a closer look at the cute little flower brooch.

It is made from paper, so I’d better make sure it doesn’t go through the wash.  I wore it to Nundle, so a little bit of Lou could be there with us all.  I know she was thinking of us.

And finally a lovely big pincushion, which will get lots of use.

Thanks for the lovelies Lou.

Last week this parcel arrived all the way from Austria.  I’ve never received mail from there before.

This parcel has come from Sabine and is for the Easter Swap arranged by Jewells.  I’m going to be very strong and not open it until Easter Sunday……….I’ll try very hard to wait till then.