Walhalla – Sunday September 1st 2002

Ron Johnston, Bandit 1200 (leader) Phil Richards CBR 1000 Pete Weyermayr, CBR 929

Ben Warden, CBR 929 Steve Philp & Lynn CBR 600 Mal & Karen CBR 600

Mark Easterbrook, Ducati 750 (rear rider) Liz Weyermayr, CBR 919

Fathers’ Day…. good weather, a few clouds, no rain, another good day for motor cycling. I thought there would be a reasonable turnout but I was wrong: only a few of us braved the elements. At the Yarra Glen departure point there was a lone Harley rider reading his newspaper at the table outside the shop when I arrived. I decided to exercise my Woolworths bladder before any of the others arrived. Upon returning a policeman on a BMW rushed to my assistance, and did a licence and rego check. On the ball for a Sunday but he didn’t bother checking the guy on the Harley. The officer disappeared.

Mark arrived and the nice officer reappeared to do a check. Eventually everybody arrived and were checked, including the guy on the Harley. I explained the day’s route, Waragul the first stop.

We took the back road to Healesville, hit the Hwy, then onto the Healesville Koo-Wee-Rup road to Launching Place, across the Hwy into Wickhams Rd, Parkinsons Rd, through Hoddles Creek to Yarra Junction. The road through here is tight and twisty with a steep uphill climb with a hairpin at the top and a nice run to the bottom. From here we headed to Warragul via Powelltown. I really enjoyed the road from Gladysdale through to the turn off at the Piedmont intersection, (left to Noojee, right to Warragul).

We stopped at the first Warragul servo for fuel and food. Pete and Liz left here while the rest of us carried on through Ellinbank to Yarragon, Trafalgar, and Moe to Tyers. At Tyers we turned left to go to Walhalla. The road is excellent. You can do some low flying: nice sweepers and a reasonable road surface. The final road intoWalhalla has had some resurfacing done but care needs to be taken due to the patches of gravel, particularly in the corners. We went past the land slip, the road now reduced to a single lane. Looks like they are trying to stabilise the rock face.

At the Thompson River bridge we stopped at the station and asked about the train. Missed it by 15 minutes. It was a 20 mins train trip to Walhalla proper, 20 mins there, then 20 mins back, and wait at the Thompson River station for an hour. We decided to go and have a look at the train at the Walhalla station and save ourselves $12.00. The station has good written information on the history of Walhalla as well as photos. It’s worth having a look when you have got more time. Later we went and got some lunch at the general store. It was quite peaceful sitting around and enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the place.

After lunch it was back to Rawson for fuel and then on to the Thompson Dam wall. It was about 18 km into the dam and the road was good value. It was wet in a couple of places due to it being in the shade all the time but would be worth another trip in the warmer weather. We stayed for about 10 mins and then headed back out.

At Erica they have put a traffic island in the middle of the town to smarten it up. I kept going and passed somebody on a BMW two-up (no it wasn’t Robbie and Kirsten). On to Tanjil South. Between Willowgrove and Hill End the sun was in our eyes; I couldn’t see anything at times. The next part of the ride was good, between Hill End and the turn of to Mt Baw Baw or Noojee; lots of twisties. Ben and I cornered marked and waited till a couple of the others caught up and then I carried on. There was a lot of traffic on the road due to people returning from Mt Baw Baw. Lots of cars to pass and sun to contend with all the way to Noojee.

We stopped at Noojee for a break. As we leaving we all got stopped and breathalysed. Phil, Steve and Lynn were going to leave the ride at Piedmont and go home through Warragul. Ben, Mark, Mal and Karen and myself headed back to Yarra Junction where we broke up. I hope every body enjoyed themselves. Good weather, good company, no incidents and about 450 kms for the day.

Ron Johnston (Suzuki Bandit 1200)