WELLINGTON OCTOBER LONG WEEKEND

A small group of NLH members departed from Hexham on Saturday morning and rode to Denman for morning tea at the Royal Hotel.

After coffee and cake we rode to Gulgong for lunch. With lunch over we enjoyed the country ride to Wellington. On the way Sylv spotted her first all black lamb.

On arriving at Wellington we locked the bikes in sheds at the rear of Wellington Hotel, where we stayed for the next two nights. After unpacking the hotel owner gave us a cheese/fruit platter while we enjoyed some refreshments. We were lucky that we did not encounter any rain on the ride as it started to rain later that evening.

Later we walked to the Soldiers Club for a Chinese smorgasbord. After tea we went upstairs to the lounge to listen to the local entertainment where we all started to sing along. After some time we walked back across the road to the Hotel to play several games of pool, with the jukebox playing flat out, we really had a good night before retiring upstairs for some much needed sleep.

After a refreshing sleep we all had breakfast and then rode to Wellington Caves. Besides the caves there is a Bottle House and Japanese Gardens and Fossil Exhibition to see and we also checked the birds in the Aviary. One cockatoo in particular was very friendly and liked to be patted.

We then had a guided tour of the Cathedral Cave which was very interesting. Unfortunately poor Sharon slipped on one of the steps and landed quite hard on the rock surface.

After the tour we noticed it was raining so had a leisurely drink at the Cafe before we rode back to the Hotel after the sprinkling rain had stopped. We took this opportunity to put the bikes in front of the Hotel as the owner wanted some pictures. Lona was not here so the Hotel owner stood in front of Dave’s bike when we did the girls shot which can be seen on the photobucket pictures. Then some of us had lunch at the Hotel while some went to Subways and walked around the town for photos and a look at the magnificent old buildings.

We caught up with Michael and Sharon near Macas as Sharon loves her McDonalds coffee. In the late afternoon we watched the grand final and again the owner gave us another big complimentary cheese/fruit platter. Some cooked a steak on the BBQ and ate it with salad while others went to the club for dinner after the grand final, which we watched on the big screen. The rest of the evening we enjoyed each other’s company while playing cards, having a few refreshments and conversation.

Monday morning and the rain had stopped so Dave, Lona, Bill and Judy headed for home while Michael, Sharon, Phil and I headed for Orange.

Due to Sharon’s sore spot we decided not to go the long way via Lake Burrendong and rode to Orange via the highway. On the way we saw beautiful fields of yellow canola plants and some great very lush green fields. We had morning tea at Orange and then farewelled Michael and Sharon who went onto Katoomba for a few nights while we remained in Orange for a nights stay.

We wish to thank Wellington Hotel owner for her hospitality and all had an enjoyable weekend with a great scenic ride (with luckily no rain while we rode or did any outings).

The Photos

Cheers Sylv (Team Harley)