Tarra Bulga National Park Sunday 26^th September, 2010

Henry Wright	Triumph 675	Damir Djikic (2/3 rear)	Honda CBR1000
Chris Tran	Yamaha R1	Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000
Andy Beattie (2^nd ride)	Suzuki SV1000	Ian Payne (1/3 rear)	Honda CBR1000
Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000	Tim Emons	Honda CBR1000
Paul Sorenson	Suzuki SV650	Rob Zivkovic	Honda CBR1000
Cindy Lee	Suzuki GSXR750	Ron Johnston	Honda CBF1000
Michael Zrb	Kawasaki ZX10	Ben Warden	Honda CBR954
Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX12R	Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600
Pierre Ong	Ducati 1098	Jean Eldridge	Honda CBR600
19 bikes, 19 people		Dennis Lindemann (leader)	Honda CBR600

The last time I ventured down through Tarra Bulga National Park with the Club I recall a cold, wet ride, struggling to make out detail on the greasy, shiny road surface through a fogged up visor, expecting to lose traction and slide down the road at any moment. Then Marty shot past mid-corner and vanished from sight a few corners later...

I’d pencilled in Dennis’ ride on the kitchen calendar in advance to ensure I had the day free. What I hadn’t banked on was hosting a house full of friends from all over the countryside to watch the first attempt at the 2010 AFL Grand Final the day before, most of whom ended up staying the night.

A quick check of the forecast revealed a sunny, windless and 20 degree day. Perfect. I got my gear on, said my farewells to the awakening crowd, and made tracks to Berwick feeling surprisingly fit after the extended indulgences the day before. A healthy crowd was gathering and I noticed Chris Tran roll in on a fine looking R1. Concerned we had another case of Peter Jones syndrome, I made some enquiries - he’d simply borrowed it from a friend for the day. Where can I find friends like that?

The numbers continued to grow steadily until Dennis gave us the spiel and we departed east via the freeway along the well worn route through Tynong to Longwarry, then mixed it up a bit using the Longwarry Drouin Road instead of the usual back way. Nice little diversion; I don’t recall taking that road before.

After Drouin and Lardner we up the ante on the Warragul Korumburra Road, noting alas, yet another great road getting rougher every week. I had a great time chasing Dennis through here, watching him reveal where the big bumps were and slowly reeling him in on the fast sweepers, then watching the 600 pulling away again in the tighter stuff.

I corner marked at the bottom of the hill in Korumburra, then decided to put the bike on the side stand and wander over to chat to Dennis. I misjudged the gutter height and my bike started to overbalance, my stumpy legs too short to hold it together before it passed the point of no return. Ever so slowly I dropped the ‘Blade on its side, then repositioned my legs to pick it up again just in time for Ben, Misho and others to catch me in the act. First stuff-up of the day wins the article write-up...

A large Ulysses group were in town and the queue in the bakery reached the door. There was enough leather inside to make the local cows nervous. Not fond of having to wait to spend money, I convinced myself I’d eaten enough rubbish the day before and could probably do with skipping morning tea, so I went back out.

Cindy Lee arrived on her recently acquired GSXR750, her first Club outing since dispensing with the VTR250 near Blackwood earlier in the year. The crowd diminished and so did my willpower. Soon I was feasting on a tasty mini-pizza from the bakery’s pie warmer. Ian left us here and Damir took over as rear rider.

After the break we headed towards Kongwak in perfect weather conditions: blue skies and sunny, not too cold and not too hot, catching occasional glimpses of the horizon between the rolling Gippsland hills. We took a left and wound our way down to Outtrim, dodging plenty of gravel on the corners, then on to the flats through Leongatha South, and towards Koonwarra, before following a great series of roads around Pound Creek, Buffalo and into Fish Creek. I found it difficult to discern between the back roads and highways in this neck of the woods, so I threw caution to the wind, cranked open the throttle and had some fun.

Dennis led us through Foster and took more good back roads via Port Franklin to Toora, where I corner marked and was treated to a double V-twin sonic treat as Andy and Pierre both rounded the corner and gave the throttle some...

We regrouped at the Silcock Hill picnic ground at the base of the Toora wind farm, and took in the clear views down to Corner Inlet and beyond to the distant peaks of Wilson Range on the Prom.

After the obligatory group photo, we wound our way further North where I found it difficult to watch the road instead of the wind turbines towering above us, through Hazel Park, past the turnoff to Agnes Falls – somewhere I haven’t visited for many years now, and made a mental note to return with the kids sometime.

The afternoon’s growing confusion started when Chris Pointon waved goodbye to the corner markers at Welshpool as he had already notified Dennis and Damir that he was heading home from here. Misho followed and made it as far as Inverloch before turning around to high-tail it over 100km back to Yarram where we had all enjoyed a leisurely lunch except for Pina who was feeling stranded without her belongings (including lunch) which were venturing around the countryside in Misho’s Ventura bag. Rob decided a short black with 12 sugars would see him through the afternoon.

The chaos became more widespread after lunch. Ben and Pina waited in Yarram for Misho, then Ben would lead them back to the safety of the flock. The bulk of the group headed off, then Rob took off soon after. Henry and myself geared up and left with Damir rear riding in tow. We passed the turnoff to Tarra-Bulga National Park, but there were no corner markers, so we continued straight on. When we passed the Traralgon road I pulled over and explained my concerns to Henry and Damir. We doubled back into Yarram and checked in with Ben who confirmed we should take the first left towards the National Park.

We did, and at the next corner we found Jean and Pierre corner marking. My only concern now was if the corner markers had left the previous corner before Rob had reached it then he would be on his way to Sale now. Nothing we could do about it, he’d be long gone by now. Then I noticed Pierre and Henry had gone straight past the next turn we were supposed to take – missing corner markers again! (Ron and Cliff need to take a good hard look at themselves, to use the footy parlance ...Ed.)

We continued on until the next T-intersection near Won Wron. No markers here either, so I elected myself temporary leader and doubled back through thick clouds of bugs to where we were supposed to have turned. We made our way through the National Park towards Balook on the tight and narrow twisty road, exercising enough caution to ensure I didn’t become a 4WD’s hood ornament, yet mindful of the roar of Pierre’s Ducati not far from my tail.

We stopped at the T-intersection at the top to regroup before continuing. Before I knew it, Jean had passed and continued on. We had to turn left further up the road and Jean had presumably gone straight, but I had a suspicion it turned to dirt not much further up that way and that he would return soon and get back on track. The road opened up here and we blasted through the open sweepers through the burnt out forest and eventually emerged in Traralgon.

We consulted Henry’s sat-nav to confirm our route, and continued on to meet up with the first group in Tyers. Minutes later Group 3 arrived – Ben, Pina and Misho, with Jean in tow. A quick look around confirmed that Rob wasn’t on his way to Sale – he must have left Yarram just before the corner markers went AWOL. Organised chaos, but all present and accounted for in the end.

We enjoyed a spirited run down the Old Sale Road, moving aside as Misho and Cliff blast past, eager to mark the next corner. I sat on Dennis’ tail through the Crossover sweepers, then took it easy through Jindivick. Ben cruised past soon after and I couldn’t refuse the invitation to chase him through the hilly sweepers, and on to ride’s end at Longwarry North.

Thanks Dennis for putting together a great ride and thanks to Ian and Damir for sharing duties at the rear. No incidents apart from a good dose of confusion (and my bike having a brief rest on its side...). All bikes, helmets and jackets were plastered with bugs confirming the onset of spring. Official ride length - 410km.

Tim Emons