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| Five Beemers in a row. |
Luckily by Friday of the Ulysses Odyssey
weekend, the hail was gone and the skies had cleared the way for a good ride to
Denmark. We were up at 5am and on our way by 8am. Ten minutes later we were stopped
on the side of the road, re-balancing the Red Devil’s luggage as the tent had
been tied on top of the wrong pannier. I was thinking of soldiering on, but the
F650GS was complaining, rather loudly, every time I stopped. Then we were off,
wind in our hair and the heated grips on full bore. We stopped for a TaT (Tea
and Toilet) just outside Harvey. In an act of pure frustration, for causing me
to ask for assistance to deploy my side stand, I had the Red Devil’s camel toe
(side stand extension plate) ceremoniously removed right there and then in the
car park.
We were in Bridgetown for lunch, shivering
into our cup-a-soup and sheltering from the fine mist that had descended on the
valley. We rode on through Manjimup and Walpole, the tall trees distracting our
minds from the freezing maximum temperature. In the end we were riding in our
full wet weather gear to prevent the cold from seeping right through to the
bone. By 3:30pm we were at the Odyssey venue. I spent some time fussing over
whether the Red Devil was sinking into the soft grass; perhaps the camel toe
had been removed rather prematurely! Then I served tea as someone had forgotten
to pack the bottle of port. The Ocean Beach Holiday Park
is a great facility, with a well appointed camp kitchen and spotless ablutions,
where no one has to queue.
We headed into town for an early dinner and
managed to snag the last table at the local Indian restaurant. As we sipped a
glass of local wine, a master chef served Onion Bhaji, Seekh Kebab, Lamb and
Lentils and a Kashmiri Naan to die for; all at a reasonable price too. A couple
of coppers had set a trap on the highway, but they let us off as we rode home;
there was nothing to worry about anyway.
We slept like babies in the simplicity of
our little tent. The dawn chorus gave us permission to get out of bed at 6am,
the camp kitchen making an ideal escape from the cold morning air. Over
breakfast we caught up with many an adventure and at 9am we joined an
unofficial ride into Albany. We easily devoured a cake and coffee on York Street
before making our way to the Boston Brewery. At the
brewery we spent a torturous couple of hours, drinking orange juice, too scared
to sample the full strength beers just in case the unthinkable happened on the
way home; the Red Devil would never forgive me.
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| Ocean Beach Holiday Park, Denmark. |
Saturday night saw us all warm and cosy in the mess tent. The Great Southern Branch worked tirelessly to cook and feed 250 people; it never fails to amaze me the achievements of volunteers. Some of us went to bed early while others enjoyed the quiz night. Even the “early to bed dudes” had fun testing their knowledge, as the questions and answers could be heard from 100m away.
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| Sunday ride to Walpole. |
Cleverly the “cook your own” Sunday BBQ
came ready to serve and we were once more fed by the tireless workers in the
camp kitchen; thanks a million Great Southern Branch.
It was with a heavy heart that we packed up
our little tent; the weekend had come and gone so quickly. I said to Steve, as
we tied the tent onto the left pannier, “if I could I would live this weekend
all over again.” That’s a sure sign we had a good time.
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| Leaving the Porongurups, a few days after the Odyssey. |
