AWRA Victorian Ride to Maffra November 20 – 21 2010
| Julie and I were joined by Ken and Christine, Lindsay, Steve, and
our new members Dean and Jenny to start the ride at Jeffrey Honda. After a chat with some of the guys from Jeffrey Honda, we made our way up into the Dandenongs and over to Cockatoo. Traffic was fairly light and we had a good run. We then crossed down to Launching Place. We soon turned off the Warburton Highway to head for Powelltown and our morning coffee at Noojee. |
 |
 |
Here we were joined by Tony and Robyn from Paynesville. They had ridden up to join us for the day even though we were heading back their way. A coffee at the Red Parrot Café and another chat before we headed off. Soon after leaving Noojee we were joined by a large semi carrying a dozer. Unfortunately he was in front of us up a very long hill with double lines. That did not stop some of our sports bike friends from wanting to push past. The ride from here on was one of many ridges and the views are fantastic. Now that we have had some decent rain, it was great to see all the green hills. Heading down through Warragul we made our way towards Korumburra (another great road) and turned off to Poowong and a quick stop at Nyora. Crossing the South Gippsland Highway we then headed down some back roads towards Wonthaggi. There are a whole lot of farm roads around here that carry little traffic but are an absolute pleasure to ride. You get some great views of the hills and the coast, so these are some of my favourites. TThe road from Glen Forbes to Dalyston was one I had ridden in the opposite direction some time before and one I knew people would enjoy. It was even better this way as you got more of the climb, the great corners and the great views. Wonthaggi was our stop for lunch and to top up the fuel. br /> On our way across towards Traralgon, I took a wrong turn and well, we added a bit extra to the trip as we just persevered with this new route. There is no U Turn tradition down in Victoria. At a quick stop in Yarram, Steve made the comment that my new personalised plates WNGIT were rather appropriate as I was certainly doing a bit of that today! Tony and Robyn said their goodbyes here and rode with us as far as Sale before they headed off for home. We continued our journey to Maffra to book in to our motel. We were going to get a few drinks before dinner however the motel staff advised us there was no package alcohol in town at the moment. Woolworths had just made the owner of the pub with the bottle shop very rich in order to get the liquor license, and it wasn’t re-opening for another few weeks. On the motel’s recommendation we went to the local club for dinner and had a very relaxing evening. The food was great and all enjoyed it. Sunday morning saw Dean and Jenny depart early as they had to get back home. The rest of us took the back road to Heyfield then a detour out to Licola, a road I had never taken before, however it had some good reviews . A very worthwhile diversion as the road was fantastic riding, and the views down into the valley were really something (we stopped for 20 minutes taking photo’s at one spot). Licola is a rarity in Victoria for two reasons. Firstly it is the only town left in Victoria without mains power. Secondly it is the only privately owned town. It was once a prosperous timber town, however it was sold back in the 1960’s to the Lions Club, who now operate a caravan park, general store and a range of cabins/bunkhouses. A very picturesque place right on the river. The road continues through Licola to Woods Point and eventually to Warburton, however this is a long trip and most of it is on dirt, so we retraced our way in. We continued on the back roads to Traralgon for lunch. Lindsay kindly shouted us all lunch at the local Nando’s restaurant which was a great finish to a most enjoyable weekend. The usual farewells were done after lunch and we all headed up the Princes Highway to make our way home. As always, ride safe. Craig |
 |