Riders: Nick & Lisa – GSXR600 (leader) Ben & Julie – ZXR750

During the week I’d had a phone call from Volvi who was ride captain of the YIDS Motorcycle Club. He’d seen our Club Homepage on the Internet and wanted to know more about it and would come to meet us at the Hallam pickup. So, although not going on the ride, he had braved the bleak weather conditions on his ST1100 and also bought along Marcel & Brenda on a BMW K100RS, and Pearl riding a big Kawasaki ZZR1100.

After some discussion with the YIDS group we left Hallam in wet, cold and foggy conditions. Rob confessed he didn’t even like bringing the RC45 out on overcast days let alone in these conditions, but the VFR had a flat tyre. We headed for the South Gippsland Highway and then a variety of Peninsula roads passing through South Cranbourne, Tyabb and Hastings where we stopped at the bakery and warmed up over a coffee. It looked a bit brighter so maybe the weather would get better as the day wore on!

After a leisurely stop we were off again, this time through Bittern, Merricks and the coast road to Cape Schank. Although the weather conditions had improved, Nick was keeping the speed in check, more for his pillions benefit than anything else, as this was only the second time that Lisa had been on a bike! We reached the Cape Schank turn-off and proceeded to the car-park to book our tour. When fronting up, we were told not to expect too much as the low cloud and sea mist had just about obscured the coastal view completely. Imagine our surprise after walking down the path to the Lighthouse Station Reserve to find the sun shining brightly!

Our guide arrived and took us up into the 21 metre high tower, then onto the balcony where we had a 360-degree view of the surrounding area. Back inside, he explained that the buildings were originally built in 1859, with the light converted to electricity in 1939. It has a lead crystal lens with a replacement value of close to $4 million dollars. The light revolves on a bed of liquid mercury, another costly item worth about $3 million dollars! Incredibly, the small, 12 volt, 1000 watt, halogen lamp is visible 27 miles (43 km) out to sea and blinks the letter M in Morse code. About this time we started to lose all faith in our guide as he began to point out ordinary objects and explain their purpose, for example, the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall is for putting out fires, etc.!This was later reinforced in the museum when we discovered that the lighthouse actually blinks out the letter "L".

Afterwards we had a look around the Museum, took some photos, then headed back to the bikes. The weather was now very pleasant so a few of us decided on a walk along the boardwalk down to the sea. Rob set off for home while the rest stayed to play 20 questions with our guide. Ben, Julie and I headed for the boardwalk with the guide’s words trailing after us; "Whose bike’s the fastest? Who can do a mono? What’s that turtle back thing for?" After our walk and photos we returned to find him still at it, with Jack having put in his earplugs, and Nick refusing to answer any more questions. We quickly departed for the inviting Arthur’s Seat road only to find it immersed in heavy, thick fog. We decided to stop anyway and have a drink. During this stop a Moto Guzzi California pulled up. It was Graham Maizey; he had been out with the Club on the Maldon ride a few weeks ago. After a bit of a chat we headed down the foggy hill then along the coast to Mornington where the ride broke up.

Thanks to Nick for a well thought out ride. It was very informative with an interesting destination.