The Australian Bike Friday Club Weekend - Part 1

The Australian Bike Friday Club  (ABFC) weekend was scheduled from Thursday 31st March to Sunday 3rd April 2001 but for me it started on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon I put Louis into kennels for a week.  Normally he just trots off with the girl and doesn't look back but last Tuesday he didn't want to go.  He pulled back and whined and in the end the girl sat down next to him while I drove off. Not a good start.

Back home I packed my bike in the boot of my Honda Jazz and all my other gear in the area behind the front seats made available by flipping up the rear seats and i went to bed early.  My neighbour, S, drives a bus to and from the Brisbane Airport and had warned me that I should try and be over the Gateway Bridge near Brisbane before 5.00am.  There was a lot of traffic being diverted onto the Gateway Motorway because of roads damaged during the January floods and by 6.00am there could be delays.  I set my alarm for 3.00am and intended to be on my way by 4.00am.  I fact I woke up early and was off by 2.45am with a 470Km drive to Grafton in NSW ahead of me.

The weather forecast for both Southern Queensland and Northern NSW was horrible with heavy rain and storms and as I backed out of the garage the deluge began.  For most of the way to my first stop just the other side of the Gateway Bridge the rain was continuous and heavy.  knew that I had been over the bridge as my toll e-tag beeped and I was aware of the climb but my view was restricted to the lights of the traffic ahead of me and heavy spray. The following picture shows the bridge on a better day when it was being duplicated.

My next stop was at a lay bye in NSW where I stopped for an orange juice and a banana.  I was joined by a flock of chickens just pecking around next to the Pacific Highway which is National Highway One.

A few of my companions.

As I got within 50Km of Grafton the weather improved and it was quite sunny as I pulled into the Grafton Shopping Mall for a proper breakfast.  It was about 9.00am Queensland time but 10.00am NSW time as they have Daylight Saving.  The drive with stops had taken about six and a quarter hours which was quite good considering the weather.

After breakfast  drove four kilometres out of Grafton to the Grafton Gateway Village where the ABFC were meeting.  In spite of it only being 11.00am I was allowed to check in and pitch my tent.

Note the little bit of my blue ground sheet sticking out to the right - more in Part 3.

I met up with Margaret Day the founder of the ABFC who I have known for twenty years from my time riding bicycles in Adelaide South Australia.

Margaret and her husband, Graham packing one of their Bike Fridays into a suitcase. 

I was told that there was a "bring your own" barbecue scheduled for 6.00pm most nights ot the meeting so I drove back to Grafton for some supplies which I stored in the camp kitchen fridge.  During the afternoon I met some of the othe ABFC members who were setting up camp beside me.

The barbecue was a great social gathering and I had a nice steak with salad washed down with ginger beer.  Most of the members had arrived early so it was a crowded affair.  I decided to go out early next day to buy a small table and folding chair to ease the seating problems.

I was back in my tent by 8.30pm and although I haven't camped for over ten years slept quite well.

End of Part 1