Central West Tour Day 2
18 November 2013 / Con Mitsos
My weekend began Friday night, feeling anxious and somewhat unsure. The thought of spending the weekend with likeminded people eased my anxiety. Unknown roads (to me that is) filled with hot tarmac, loose gravel (ouch! my car now having lost its innocence), more twists and turns than a Stephen King novel without a navigator to interrupt my level of concentration. Wow, what a weekend away.
Never having been on a run of this magnitude there was so much happening, on the road and especially in my head. What a rush! It began with a 6.30am meet-up with the boys for a coffee to start Day 1 but from there it was a complete blur to me until I found myself in Bathurst in the afternoon with a grin from ear to ear. Unbelievable!
Apart from paying homage to The Mountain, Day 2 saw me driving roads I never knew existed. I did not know where I was until we reached Goulburn having driven some fantastic back roads through towns and villages with names sounding like something out of a spaghetti western: The Lagoon; Wisemans Creek; Shooter Hill; Porters Retreat and The Paling Yards just before we dropped into the Abercrombie Gorge and on to a town I had heard of but didn’t know where to find it. Taralga is a dead quite town with a long wide main street with two pubs and some shops with verandas supported by uprights like in Tombstone where we found thousands of horses parked up in rows in the form of new and vintage motor cycles.
After coffee and chat with our two wheeled friends we remounted a four wheel chargers and drove down to Goulburn to say our farewells at Sutton Forrest. For those who haven't been on a run like this, it's a must do! With people such as Michael at the helm making it all the more enjoyable, beginning to end. Great fun!
A big thanks to all the guys for making it a fun and memorable weekend for a newbie. I have now wrapped my car in plastic, think about my Certificate of Commendation award from the Presidents Picnic, shrug my shoulders and to get ready for the next gravel onslaught.