Wild Ride - Part I

The rain whittled our band down to the most rugged characters. We departed from Scrivener Street at approximately 5.30pm on Friday afternoon.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

I poured the water from my boots at Captain's Flat and then took the wrong road out of town. The sloppy clay was a poor excuse for a road but we battled on. Hope was still shining in Glynn's eyes as he posed in front of the Tallaganda State Forest. (At the time, I erroneously thought that it was the Deua National Park).

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

On a good day, texting and driving is a poor option. Watching a video on your camera while riding in slop is even worse. I lifted the CBR250R from my hardy companion and displayed its fresh coating of mud.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

This video may give you an idea of how slippery the road is! Could you keep this up for hours on end?

The light ran out and, compelled by imminent hypothermia-induced collapse, we made our camp on the side of a hill in an isolated sheep paddock. Glynn had a blaze going shortly so we dined on snags and a few beers while the wind picked up and the rain returned.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

Like a genuine Out-Door Idiot, I rigged up a hootchie that withstood all that the elements hurled at it. Glynn erected his hootchie in a surprisingly compact and sturdy manner.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

And so, we conclude the first chapter of our adventure into New South Wales' sparsely-populated South-East.

Wedding at Repentance Creek

Jenny and I flew to Brisbane en route to her Auntie's wedding in Norther NSW. Our contingent stopped in at Coolangatta for lunch and I took a dip. The water was cool but certainly not cold like on the South Coast. Development associated with Surfer's Paradise is visible in the background.

From ValBarry

The heat and humidity in Repentance Creek, NSW, were remarkable. I'm pictured with Jenny and some of her family who travelled to the wedding.

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Jen is amongst the women who tossed petals for her Auntie and her husband.

From ValBarry

The humidity had to give. Jen and I pitched our tent in a ditch that filled with water. I wallowed in a puddle on Sunday morning. Good trip, though.

From ValBarry

Movember climax

Steve was my Mo-Bro and we celebrated moustaches at the Canberra gala evening held last night at O'Malley's Irish Pub. (Homo-Bro not shown).

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Mo-Sistas rolled up and joined in the festivities. I love the mexican look!

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Dumas Street: Warmed Against the Odds

Adam and Jess hosted their housewarming on Saturday, the coldest day since September 4 this year. It was raining and the wind was gusting at up to 70km/h. We had a fun time, though, and trust that Dumas Street is thoroughly warmed now.

From 96Dumas

Half-litre Kaiserdom's were hitting the spot, especially since Steve, Jen and I rode push-bikes out the Rimsy's house.

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The Kaiserdom fits snugly into this custom beer-holder.

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Notice that the roof tilts slightly away from the house?

From 96Dumas

When Rimsy get's these glowing eyes, it means that he going to burn something!

From 96Dumas

See why Tracey is so worried!

Happy 25th birthday, Lenski

We celebrated Elene's 25th birthday with her at the Shaque D'Amour.

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Appropriately, Steve was on the MB's.

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Trace ran the Goon-of-Fortune.

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Here, I steal Ash's move and lunge into the background of this otherwise-fine photograph.

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Wrong way 'round

Ash and I took our moto's through farmland north of Canberra on Saturday afternoon, over great stretches of gravel.  Our route is shown below.  The most significant gravel section is between Cavan and the Murrumbidge River crossing.

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Interestingly, farmers frequently deter drivers from crossing their land by posting "private property - keep out" and "no through road" signs.  However their gates are wide open because they recognise that an easement on their property is active.  We used easements to cross farmland to Cavan en route to Wee Jasper.  We made it through despite signage giving contradictory advice.  From Cavan, we utilized a more conventional route to return to Canberra.

1980 Honda CB250

Ash has aqcuired a motorcycle, affectionately dubbed "Number 5" because of its startling reseblence to the famous robot from the 1986 sci-fi film.

Here, we strike the pose of an economical Thai family.

Bye, Leah Marley

Leah leaves us to start her professional medical career in Melbourne after an African trip.  In her honour, we sang karaoke.

We were at the Sunbox on the Monday night of our long long weekend.

We migrated to the Fox and kept on rocking 'til late.

Stonefest at UC

Stone-fest-er's and others gathered for lunch at UC last weekend.

I harvested my first crop of beans later that afternoon and ate them.

Kaleen Halloween

Nora hosted a Halloween party last weekend.

I'm a pimp (thanks Jen!) and Torsten is (evidently) a pirate.

A storm-trooper helmet spices up any outfit.

Renaissance princess meets pop princess.

Roberts' 27th birthday celebrations

Jenny and I rode the GS500 to Kensington on Saturday in order to toast Roberts' 27th birthday. Ross and Olga will share in that exquisite pleasure that is gaping at Hall and I in our bathers. Of course, they should already know that the most accurate way to judge time is by the Roberts-Beer method.

Plumbing has come some way since Todman avenue days: Roberts and I took turns to urging each to perform pool-tricks for treats.

Terrible cast by Roberts here.

Darlinghurst's Lord Roberts kept the food and beers up to us until mid-night and then we were thrown out because every barman worth his salt knows what happens to JB after midnight.

Robets vividly describes the day's harrassment.  (Very animated; so funny!)

The lads and I pose after our lengthy struggle with pool.

Two-day keg

This morning, I shot 491 in "standard pistol". The weather has been fantastic, so Jenny and I rode to Gundaroo on the GS. We drank Zeeholtz (pale ale and draught) and ate beer-battered chips at the Royal Hotel.

Steve, recently returned from Dunedin, helped us finish what little imitation Hoegaarden remained after Friday's Singstar evening. Steve went down in Scrabble but I know that he was playing his usual game and holding out for particular words with impact.

I selected a piece of Queensland coal that had been shipped to me by Scotty and prepared to incinerate it.

A little kerosene and I was in business. Wood burns well and so does coal. Honeycomb burns really well! (No bees were harmed).

Ball sports, week four

Squash with Marko, Mix, Louis and Jen on Sunday:
Covered in the previous post

Squash with Mix on Tuesday:
Early in this session, strings broke on my raquet. I immediately upgraded to a new Head Liquidmetal Raptor.
11-8, 11-2, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
Avg: 4.5

Squash with Torsten on Thursday:
The raptor tore some strips, early, from Torsten.
11-2, 11-8, 6-11, 11-10, 2-11, 1-11, 6-11, 9-11
Wins: 3/8

Squash with Ash on Friday:
2-11, 3-11, 8-11, 1-11
Avg: 3.5

Squash with Mikey on Friday:
8-11, 11-4, 1-11, 2-11
Wins: 1/4

Squash with Jenny on Friday:
11-4, 11-1, 11-2, 11-0, 11-1, 11-1, 11-1
Avg: 1.4

The Bathurst Squash Tournament

On Sunday, our party of five played a squash tournament at the Panthers Club in Bathurst. My final game was with Mixy and it was a total slog-fest.

It was a real blast (and totally free fun). I took four victories, Marko three, Mixy two, Louis one and Jen had a great time.

Having worked up a serious thirst over three hours, we quenched that thirst (and more) with Marko's latest dry lager brew poured from his new keg system.

In fact, we happily emptied the kegs. Sorry Lee!

We parked ourselves in the garage/make-shift bar and must have been some entertainment to pedestrians.

Floriade 2008

The wisteria on our doorstep was a prelude to our visit to the Floriade display in Canberra.

Like many visitors to Floriade this year, Jenny took some popcorn to go with the movie-themed day.

Jenny and I enjoy looking at bonsais.

I will continue to model my own flower bed on this ideal.

Rimsy, Jess, Miffy and their new house

Jenny and Miffy were instantly good friends.

Jess and Rimsy are living the Australian dream here in their own lovely house.

Ball sports, week three

Tennis with Hodgo on Sunday:
6-4P, 6-2P, 6-3P
Squash with Mix on Tuesday:
11-9, 11-5, 11-1, 11-1, 11-5, 11-0, 11-5, 11-1, 11-2, 11-1, 11-6
Avg: 2.7
Squash with Torsten on Thursday:
11-6, 2-11, 0-11, 2-11, 3-11, 6-11, 4-11, 1-11, 9-11, 4-11
Wins: 1/10
Squash with Ash on Friday:
2-11, 11-5, 6-11, 7-11, 7-11
Wins: 1/5
Squash with Mikey on Friday:
7-11, 6-11, 6-11
Avg: 6.3