Hi there, Dave & Sandra Hopley here, just recently joined the club and very keen for first weekend ride with the Upper Hunter group. Just so happened it was our 10th wedding anniversary as well, so we made arrangements with a friend to keep an eye on our 12 year old daughter and off we went.  6am get up on a Saturday morning (yuk), but what a glorious morning, no clouds, no wind and lots of sunshine........a perfect bike riding day. A pleasant ride to Singleton Macca’s to meet up with Keith and Sylvia, George and Gary on his 1 day old red Spyder. After the mandatory ooohs and aaahs over Gary’s new toy, off we went.  Next stop was Muswellbrook to collect more riders, we get there, but no one else, oh well 4 guys and 2 ladies will have to do. Morning tea break at Murrurundi for a very nice coffee and cake. From there thru Willow Tree, with a left turn towards Werris Creek then Barraba for light refreshments, the plan was to have lunch at one of the pubs, but they weren’t cooking on Saturdays, so a few packs of chips and a drink or two sort of filled the spot.  Next stop Inverell a bit over an hour or so away. Nice open roads, not much traffic except for a herd of cows grazing on both sides of the road while the farmer sat on her quad and watched them. Riding into Inverell was very impressed with how clean the town was, and distinct lack of cars.........that’s right, the shops close at 12:00 noon on Saturday, so everyone is doing other things.  Book into the motel, conveniently located within walking distance of the pub and RSL club, but first I need food, so Sandy and I head to Subway for a foot long while the others unpack and shower, then we are off to the pub for a few drinks. Later we headed to the RSL for dinner and a few more drinks. George and Gary headed back to the motel to watch the NRL game, while Keith, Sylvia, Sandy and I stayed for a few more drinks then sort of wandered back to the motel. I got to watch the last 10 minutes of the game, then fell asleep very easily.  Sunday morning, Sandy and I went for a few laps around Inverell checking out the local scenery, getting back to the motel just as the rest of the group were getting ready to leave.  Next stop, Uralla for breakfast, a pleasant 110 km ride. From there thru to Nundle where Gary went to get fuel only to find out they only had diesel, that’s not good when his gauge is showing very empty. The fuel station owner managed to get a few litres out of the pump, giving Gary enough fuel to go the 30 odd km back to the last fuel stop. From Nundle to Wallabadah was a bit of a rough road with lots of bumps and very ordinary road.  Gary stopped at the fuel station thinking he had a puncture, but he was not used to the different ride of the Spyder. After that we split up and went at our own pace, with sandy and I getting back to Rutherford.....ahhhh home sweet home. I learnt one thing from this ride............I need a better seat for my ST1100............any suggestions, call me on 0430949554...................cya next time
Dave and Sandy

The mystery begins with why only two bikes arrived at Singleton Maccas to take a ride! With 26 degrees expected and a clear sky the open road was there for the taking. Then it was expected Inverell or work had beckoned everybody else.  Where to go - Ron Thomson wanted to head to the sea water at Nelson Bay. Jim and Cathy wanted to head to Rouchel. Why Rouchel – because we had never been there before. So separate ways we went.  Jim and Cathy heading north called at Muswellbrook Tourist info centre to find a map of Rouchel. "You’ll know you’ve been there when the tar finishes!" said the volunteer.  Turning right at Segenhoe Inn the road twisted around the valley. It wasn’t a fast windy road – we had to dodge the road kill, causeways, cattle grids, cattle and the inevitable cow pats! The mystery had been solved as indeed the tar finished and the sign said Rouchel Brook.  The volunteer said there is a road from Rouchel to Singleton, but at the turn off it was gravel so no, that mystery trip didn’t happen.  Then into Glenbawn Dam for a look – another mystery solved, as we had never been here before either. Plenty of camping sites and lots of boats - water-skiing or fishing.  Back to Segenhoe Inn for lunch then open highway and some speed on the return journey.
Jim & Cathy

5 bikes and 8 bodies left Singleton Maccas and headed east along the highway to Hermitage Rd. We wove our way through the vineyards and up over Mount View. This was a really lovely ride up over the mountain. We then headed through to Paxton, Quarrabolong and down to Freeman Waterhole for smoko.  Back on our bikes after smoko we rode to Nelsons Bay via Toronto, Sandgate and Stockton.   After finding parking spots we enjoyed a lovely lunch. Some having seafood and others hamburgers whilst our new members enjoyed pizza.  We headed home along Richardson’s Rd and through the back of Maitland. The weather was perfect for riding and we all enjoyed a great day.
Max

What a great winter's day for a ride, a great roll up 16 bikes in all left Singleton Macca's for the Central Coast region of Patonga. We welcomed new members Bruce and Denise Black on their first ride with the branch, after they attended their first branch meeting on the 1st of August.  Bruce showed up on his brand new Road King with only 400K's on the clock. Poor old Brad and Jo, encountered some mechanical problems with their bike, namely a flat battery, and had to be pushed to start her up but we were soon on our way.  After a quick regroup at Wollombi where the temperature dropped down to 5 degrees it was on to Kulnura for morning tea. As usual this proved to be a very popular destination as there were a large number of bikes in attendance. I t was here that Donna reminded everybody that there was only three sleeps to go before they head off to America for the ride of a lifetime doing route 66. I reminded her that we had no more sleeps before we ride route F3. We all hope they have a great time, ride on the right side of the road when over there and return home safely.  From Kulnura, Ian Cochrane assumed the role of ride leader, using his trusty GPS as a guide, and steered us into Patonga for a nice lunch of fish and chips.  There was a bit of confusion as to where we were going to have lunch, I got the Maitre D to arrange a table of 16, but then it was decided that everybody wanted to get take away from the shop next door. Unfortunately no one told Brad and Jo and it wasn't until after we had finished that I went back into the pub, and there they were eating on their own. I noticed that some of our members also gave a free feed to a number of the locals, namely the pelicans, and seagulls, which as they usually do scavenged for the scraps.  We had an uneventful ride home stopping at Freeman's Waterhole to say our farewells, and bid adieu to our overseas travellers.  With the exception of a couple of minor hiccups a great day was enjoyed by all. 
Till next time Ciao.
Simmo.