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Saturday 8,2006
Day 2 at Flock Hill. Saturday started for us with breakfast at the Lodge Restaurant. It was good to see many familiar faces and it was also a good opportunity to talk to people we hadn’t met before. During the morning more and more riders turned up, some set up tents while others moved into their pre-booked rooms.
Tommy decided to change the rear tyre on Rosa’s bike. It didn’t take long a he had plenty of help. It is not as easy as it looks, when you haven’t got all the fancy machinery. Getting the bead to seat proved to be impossible with a hand pump. What we needed was a compressor. I guessed that wit so many BMWs around there must be at least half a dozen compressors here, sure enough the third person I asked had one. Thanks to Kevin’s air compressor the tyre could be pumped up properly.
Next came the first official event, Dick, Peter and other helpers had stake out a course that was to be ridden a slowly as possible. We all practiced a bit, but when I saw Wayne take off, or should I say crawl along on his R1150GS, I new that I had no chance at all. I must admit of having un-sportsman like thoughts when he stalled his bike what seemed like three hours into the course. My turn. I had a reasonable start, but could not maintain concentration and stalled the bike well before Wayne had. The next competitor wasn’t much more successful. However, a guy on an R100GS, who shall remain nameless (I forgot his name) showed us how it should be done. This guy made time go backwards. At this rate he wasn’t going to make dinner. He easily won the event. After his performance I chickened out for a re-run.
Time passed quickly as it does during those occasions. After lunch Bernd, Tommy, Rosa, Gerda and I decided to go for a walk on the farm, while others went out for a treasure hunt ride. We headed of east and went up the side of the hill to get a better view of the surroundings. What a beautiful setting. I can see why Flock Hill and the surrounding area was picked as a setting for the lion, the witch and the wardrobe.
We ended up following a path the got more overgrown by the minute and we had to climb over a logs etc. until we got back onto a path that led us back to the lodge.
As it was too soon to return we decided to walk down to Lake Pearson. First we had a small creek to cross. It was just that little bit to wide to jump and also just a little bit to cold to walk through. We ended up using a couple of logs and a few strategically placed rocks to build a crossing for us. Some made it across dry,
others didn’t.
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The distance to the lake was deceiving, as we had to cross a perfectly flat sheep paddock to get to the lake. The wind was blowing so hard that it hurt our ears as it whistled past. The lake seemed to be a bit low ob water and judging by the look of the fisherman we met also low on fish. We managed to make our way up to the main road and walked back to the lodge, it became clear that we had covered quite a distance, but who would
complain in a setting like this.
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Soon it was time for dinner and people started milling around, sharing stories and keeping the bar busy. The dinner was of a buffet style and we had roast and salmon as well as a good desert.
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After dinner the official part of the evening started, first with a prize giving followed by the raffle. As I seem to have the early stages of Alzheimer’s I can’t recall all the details. I seem to remember that Wayne and Helen Cann won the treasure hunt. The raffle was as popular as always with excellent prizes on display. I seem to remember that Kevin won the helmet, I don’t recall who won the Savannah boots as I had wanted to win those �. I know that Rosa won a riding gear cleaning kit, must have been beginners luck.
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At this point I must mention that Dick Tucker and Peter Zink did an excellent job organizing the event. Thank you also to the Odells who had organized the ride. Dick held a bit of a clean out sale and kept the evening flowing with easy entertaining manner. It is always good to have such an enthusiastic executive.
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As was to be expected, the evening continued until late at night. Gerda and I could not keep up until the end.
The next day we met again at breakfast. Some people looked more tired than others.
After breakfast some people headed of home. It was a little bit sad to see everybody leave as it reduced the buzz of the last couple of days to a more laid back feeling. This feeling didn’t last long as we soon realized that there was a nice little group who where staying for another night.
I had been talking to Rob Hargreaves who had mentioned that he would to a tour to Lake Coleridge. I had been looking at doing the loop touching Lake Coleridge while still in Auckland, so I ran the idea past the others. Bernd, Tommy and Rosa said that they would come along. Gerda had to ride pillion as the CS is not an ideal gravel bike and later we were glad we hadn’t taken it along.
Although it may bore you by now, the scenery kept on getting better, or perhaps different and equally good would be a better description. Anyway, we needed petrol and some food for lunch. This we managed to get in Springfield. Prior to reaching Sprinfield my speed had crept up just a little bit, as the road had become deceptively straight. Sure enough the next car was a patrol car. I could see its brake lights come on after it had gone past. But I was lucky, either it was going to stop there for more prey, or it had mercy on me.
Having gassed up and purchased some food we were ready for the road again. Soon we were into some pretty scenery again, sorry. I can’t get over the fact how much variation there is within such a small area.
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The road up to Lake Coleridge from the south is almost completely sealed. Our first stop was the part of the lake with the intake for the power station. It was time for some photos and a picnic. It was pretty windy up there, and you could have surfed the breakers.
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We decided that we wanted more and continued up a road along the side of Lake Coleridge. By now we were well into the gravel roads. We got to a camp ground by the side of the lake.
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The gravel had been pretty loose and deep the last couple of k’s and it went pretty quiet on the intercom when I nearly washed out once or twice. Just as we arrived Rob and his wife came the other way on their R100GS. We had a bit of a chat and then they carried on again. It wasn’t long before we were underway as well.
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We took the road past Lake Lyndon back to Highway 73. It’s gravel all the way, I won’t mention the scenery. We did take some photos here as well. Just before we got back onto 73 we caught up with Rob again.
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Here it was also time to say good bye to Bernd who was heading off for a job on a farm near Christchurch. We then headed back to Flock Hill, but not before another photo stop. (sorry modem people).
The last evening at Flock Hill was spent eating Spaghetti and having a bit of a talk, tomorrow we would say
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