Day 1 Thursday – 29.9.22

 

Woke up with the alarm at 5am, packed my bag (taking out the thermals cos…well…I won’t need them – famous last words…hohum!), packed my bike, had breakfast and then headed off to meet Kel (Ned Scooby) at Nudgee for a coffee and to discuss how we are getting there.  Well seeing as I have a new Forcite Helmet with super dooper GPS, I thought we should just follow what the lady in the helmet said.

So off we go, me on my Harley 1200 Custom Sportster and Kel on her Scooter.  The weather was overcast but I was confident that we were going to have a dry time.  Everyone else wasn’t as confident but we were prepared so we were just excited to get there.

Kel, Dinosaur and I.

While we were riding, I realised I couldn’t get the video to record in my awesome helmet (which turned out to be user error) so I didn’t get any footage riding down.

We ended up stopping at the border for some mandatory pics and somewhere along the line we stopped to take dinosaur pics.

Queensland – New South Wales Border

The ride down was so relaxing.  We just moseyed along and when we got to Tamworth we decided to register at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre first where the whole event is held and get our goodie bag.

Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre

Once we registered and had a quick look, we got back on the bikes going back 20kms to my Hotel…Kootingal Hotel. 

Kootingal Hotel

By this time it was about 6pm so we were ready for a drink, a feed, shower and sleep. Let me tell you Kootingal Hotel has the best food and the most wonderful staff.  It isn’t 5 Star accommodation, but it is clean, comfortable and great people.  I would say the food is 5 Star though.

This was my Parmigiana.

We met Jack who was the Manager and soon to be taking it over. He was awesome and so helpful. I felt like I had been there for weeks.  

While we were having our drink, we met more bikers who were there for dinner and one of them was Barry from Across the Ditch Motorcycle Tours.. He takes people from Australia to New Zealand and does bike tours. I knew I just had to interview him.  Which happened on Day 4.

After food, yum yum. We went up to the room, had a shower and went to sleep.

The room had double bunks and really was comfortable, more comfy than my bed at home.

 

DAY 2 Friday – 30.9.22

 

Kel had booked a tent for three nights so she stayed last night at the Hotel.  We headed off to the bakery for breakfast at “That Bakery Stop”.  They did the best toastie sandwiches and coffee. If you are in Tamworth, check them out…they were really friendly too and busy.

We also stopped at the Golden Guitar. Couldn’t come to Tamworth without checking it out…great photo op!

Golden Guitar, Tamworth

The Big Golden Guitar is 12 metres tall and weighs half a tonne.  When you are in Tamworth, have a stop-off and check it out.  It stands outside the Tourist Centre which includes the Nathional Guitar Museum, Country Music Wax Museum and the Golden Guitar Cafe oh and a souvenir shop.  Here is a link to find out more about it.  Destination Tamworth.https://www.destinationtamworth.com.au/operator/big-golden-guitar/

 

The Golden Guitar Plaque

 

We then headed to the camping area at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre to get Ned (Kel) set up.  There we met Kyle who ran the camping area.  A lot of work for one man but he was always smiling and accommodating (see what I did there, accommodation…accommodating…sorry. Lol). His business is Wallaroo Camping Hire and this is a pic of one of his glamping tents. This has two singles in but there are other options.

 

Glamping Tent

https://www.wallaroocampinghire.com/

We also went for a ride to the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum.  What an amazing place.

The wonderful Craig gave us an interview and  tour and explained about the 50+ motorcycles.  This is a private collection of all sorts of bikes and includes Ducati, Triumph, Velocette, Laverda, a 1924 Harley postie bike and a rare limited edition F4 MV Augusta and more.  Such beautiful classics that have all been restored.

 

We then went back to the Venue for food and to listen to the Bands.  The bands were awesome and there were lots of chairs for people to just sit and listen. And also to dance or in Ned’s case to do headstands. Hahaha.

Damnation

 Tonight they had the Bands Absolute Creedence Experience, Tribute to Women of Rock (brilliant) and Damnation – ACDC Bon Scottt tribute band.   I left about 10pm and rode the 20kms to the Hotel.  Remember I said I took my thermals out of my packing? OMG!

 

DAY 3 Saturday – 1.10.22

 

Ned had booked us in to a guided ride to Barrabra today.  Great ride and the silo art was just amazing.  I had never really been into this but wow they really are impressive.  Got to Barrabra and had some lunch then it started to rain so after lunch everyone found their own way back.  There was more entertainment starting at 1pm but some of it was cancelled.

Silo Art at Barrabra

 

There were the HOG Chapter Games which I didn’t get to see.  It was only for H.O.G  members and I feel this should have been opened to all types of bikes to make it more inclusive.

Tonight was the Equine Spectacular.  The animals were cute and the comedy was pretty good.

 

Day 4 Sunday 4.10.22

 

I was heading out to Gunnedah today. I wanted to go cos a couple of old friends used to live there and I wanted to go for a ride to see it, but I ended just riding local and went to visit the Harley Shop in town.

Then I went back to the Venue for the motorcycle display. I missed the Show and Shine! I really wanted to see that.  Doh!  

Found Barry and we did an interview regarding Across the Ditch Motorcycle Tours.  If you haven’t ridden around New Zealand and you have always wanted to, check out our interview.

 

Also caught up with Ned and our new friends and listened to the bands again.

 

Day 5 Monday 5.10.22

 

Today was the National Thunder Run.  There would have been about 300 bikes.   It was a 35km ride around the town with people lining the street.  To see the all the kids smiling faces and waving and screaming was definitely a sight to see. It was on the news and Ned was interviewed. Hahaha. 

 

Courtesy Channel 7 News.

We picked up Ned’s gear from the tent and headed back to the Hotel for the final night here.  There is a cool common room with a lounge, television, microwave, fridge, toaster and tea and coffee facilities.  So we just relaxed in there, microwaved our dinner and then went to sleep.

 

Day 6 Tuesday 6.10.22

 

Well we got up early packed the bikes and headed home.  We ended up having breakfast at Black Mountain Petrol Station.  The bacon and eggs were awesome.  Doesn’t look much from the outside but the food is goood.

Got home 10 hrs later and then the rain and floods started.  We were so lucky.  It was flooding before we got there.  We had brilliant weather while we were there and then it went downhill when we got back.

 

CONCLUSION

I heard a few complaints from some patrons and I know some left early cos they were underwhelmed. I also know a lot of the stall holders and food vans cancelled due to the uncertainty of the weather which was disappointing but understandable.  The bands were fantastic.

I heard someone say that it was advertised as a mini Sturgis which I didn’t see but I don’t believe it was ever going to be that wild.

I went expecting nothing and I had a great time.  Yes, things can be tweeked to be better and I truly hope the organisers send everyone on their email list a feedback questionnaire so people can honestly say what they thought.

The amount of work and preparation that went into making this successful was huge.  The security was on point. I don’t believe there were any major issues and there were no accidents that I heard of.  Talking to the locals, I believe the majority were grateful that we were there supporting Tamworth and the surrounding country towns.

I am looking forward to going to their 2^nd event just to compare and hopefully the weather forecast will be better so more people attend.

So overall, for me personally, I had a great time and met some great people.

Thank you Tamworth for putting on a enjoyable few days. This was the first time I had been to Tamworth but I will be back.  Such a beautiful town and wonderful locals.

This is a video of my honest opinion of the event. 

Stay Upright 

LJ