Like all the best laid plans it started off by going wrong - due to a lot of heavy rain and soggy road shoulders (bloody Main Roads - thanks Kris) we decided to forget about going out through Greenvale to Charters Towers. So we headed off down the Bruce Hwy and then out to Charters before heading south on the inland road to Clermont. The road was deserted as usual, but not really very exciting providing the cruise control will plenty of use. Although the road is long and straight because it is a "real bush" road I always find that it makes a great start to the trip because it is such a change from everywhere I normally ride.

As usual the GSX was proving to be the fuel miser getting up towards 20km per litre with the BM and the Bandit sitting between 14 & 15 km per litre. The Bandit only has a 19 litter fuel tank with reserve coming in with about 4 litres to go, so the whole trip had to be planned around 200km fuel stops - which for Mal with his 20 year old seat foam proved to just about his pain threshold !!!! Ah the wonders of Mr Corbin and his seats - if anyone is thinking about buying one - take it from me they are worth twice the price.

The first night was spent in Clermont, Mal and Pogo opting to put their tents up while I rented a bed in a caravan for the night - having sworn only to camp at the Mountain and then only under sufferance. The first day was leisurely 845km leaving plenty of time to sample all the night time attractions that Clermont has to offer.

Day two dawned Queensland perfect and we headed off early for Emerald then on to Rolleston where we took the Carnarvon Development Road south towards Roma. By now the road is getting more fun with the odd flowing twisty bit, but the increase in fun meant the Bandit hit reserve about 4km past a Roma 90km sign - so it was quick double back to Injune, refuel and then catch up with the others - that little playtime resulted in a fuel return of 11km per litre - but boy was it fun. By the time we arrived in Roma it was still early so we decided to push on to back towards the coast and Miles so in the morning we could start on the real trip - NSW.

Next morning we headed south to Goondiwindi and then across the border where the Government has decided that dying during the holiday period is worse than any other time - and to stop people crashing put double demerit points on speeding over the Easter break.

Now if you look at a map of NSW heading south from Goondiwindi the two major routes are the Newell Hwy to the west and the New England Hwy to the east. Both of these Hwys are loaded with trucks and people trying to spoil motorcyclists fun so we opted for a central route. From Goondi we headed for a small dot on the map shown as North Star - well as we headed for North Star I wondered what we had done as the road degenerated into one lane of low quality bitumen - suddenly after 20km or so it changed into the most awesome, well maintained, twisting playground for bikes. It was as if the first 20km were left crappy to scare away "folks from the outside". From North Star we followed the road south to Warilda, through Bingara, refuelled at Barraba then onto Manilla (not a cheap hooker to be seen but apparently there had been a big bike meet the weekend before) then we rejoined the real world at Tamworth. At some points the pace really picked up with the Bandit really enjoying the twistys and as usual it was no surprise to see Pogo using his higher skill level to stick the GSX to my rear wheel but to find Mal sitting there too, still with his Nolan flip front up stuffing whatever road kill he had managed to pick at the last town, was a bit of a shock - he obviously had no respect for the age or reputation of the RT !!!!!

The chance we took on the back road had well and truly paid off we all had a ball and outside of the towns we would have been pushed to have seen 10 cars in about 300km of fun. For anyone trying to get a bike south in NSW with hassles this has to be one of the best ways to go.

From Tamworth we had to head a little west before dropping down towards Bathurst so we once again opted for the back roads. We headed out to Werris Creek and then were supposed to cut across to Caroona then on across towards Bomera - unfortunately Mal (I’m not lost - just geographically indisposed) missed a turn whilst navigating which cost a 30km detour. Eventually he got us back to the right road only to find that the last section of the road to Caroona wasn’t bitumen as shown, but a formed gravel road with 2 inches of loose stones on top of it - as we entered it we saw a fellow on a Trixie sitting reading his map scratching his head - we later met him in a pub and he reckoned his map showed bitumen too. As we hit the loose stones the Bandit began to bob and weave as only a bike on fat 17" wheels front and back can so I backed right off. Now Pogo is a bit of a "crusty demon of dirt" and loves a bit of dirt road thrashing on a road bike but after a couple of km even he had to ease off as Mal disappeared into the distance pushing along about 400kgs of fully loaded teutonic fibreglass barn door at an indecent speed and loving every minute of it. It took me about 20 mins to catch up but Mal was still grinning from ear to ear - it must be something to do with old age and cheating death.

Because of Mal getting us lost - sorry indisposed - it was a bit of battle to limp the Bandit into the nearest fuel at our overnight at Coolah - in the end I got 285km out of tank with about 1/2 litre left in the middle - having been passed by the Trixie whilst in fuel conservation mode - it’s rider having had as much fun as the Bandit on the loose stones.

Coolah was a very sociable place to spend the night - there were quite a few other Bathurst travellers in town. Coolah is also the home of the Black Stump at least now I have been to the Black Stump and back.

Next morning as we left Coolah we picked up with a large group of Queenslanders moving at speed in the right direction - real mixture of Gold Wings and sportsbikes. We played with them until Gulgong where they branched off to the Hwy and we headed for the back roads. I didn’t find out if they were going to Bathurst or Philip Island but they were very well equipped - seldom have I seen so much Givi luggage in one spot !!!!!!

The other group may have had the luggage but once again we had the road - the back road through Mudgee, past Lake Windamere, turning off at Ilford across the mountains through Sofala to Bathurst was another gem - minimal traffic, maximum twisties. Our maps showed a short section of dirt but it was now all bitumen and a such fun.

So after 3 1/2 days we were setting up camp on the Top of the Mountain and I think the best word to sum it up is COLD. During our 5 nights there it usually dropped down to 4 or 5 degrees overnight - we met up with a couple of friends riding a 916 and Monster and the first group purchase was $30 worth of firewood from the NSW Rural Fire Service - that was money very well spent as it lasted almost to the end of the stay.