POSTIE NOTES

OYSTERS TO UPHOLSTERERS A BIT OF EVERYTHING
WORDS & PHOTOS JACQUI KENNEDY

After crossing the Nullarbor in late October, I celebrated the achievement by gorging on the famous Ceduna oysters.

They really are as good as the locals claim. It had been a very enjoyable jaunt and not at all difficult or boring as so many naysayers had warned.

Mo, my trusty postie bike, was going to get the rare treat of riding without luggage for the next few weeks as I was meeting up with a good friend to explore the Eyre Peninsula.

My personal cook, Nerida, arrived in Streaky Bay with my personal escort vehicle, discovered that Mo had seized a ring on his one and only piston.]

I finally pulled into Iron Knob mid afternoon and found out that not only does the town not have any other accommodation than the free campsite, it doesn’t have any hot food, no pub, no general store or anywhere to escape the heat. It was still over 30 degrees at 2am.

Detouring into Quorn, I met up with Bob and Sue Tulloch who famously ran the Copley Bakery up in the Flinders Ranges serving the acclaimed Quandong Pie. Quorn is like a step back in time and is often used for location shooting for Aussie outback films, the latest being “Tracks”. That evening we attended a film night at Emily’s Café which resides inside the old Northern Emporium; it still uses the old fashioned wire flying fox to transport money and sales chits around the shop.

Back in Adelaide we had a big night out doing a presentation for Torrens Valley Ulysses. Mo’s reputation had preceded him and the room was packed with WIMA and BMW club members along with the usual suspects. I very much enjoy these evenings and look forward to doing many more.

Linda joined me again for another week meandering around the Barossa region, Victor Harbour and the Adelaide Hills. Christmas was approaching and it was here that I was invited to the first of many Christmas dinners. It is always a delight to be invited into fellow travellers homes and to share their stories and life, if just for a short while.

Meeting new people and making new friends is the essence of travel.

Once Mo was back in tip-top condition [thanks Mick] we struck east on our final leg towards Sydney. I chose the longer route along the Murray River and stopped for a break at Swans Reach. I contemplated staying the night but the chorus of corellas was drowning out the traffic and I knew they’d be squawking their heads of at dusk and dawn. (Been there, done that). I free camped on the river bank at Loxton before crossing the border into Mildura. Again I enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Ulysses motorcyclists at their Christmas Party weekend camped on the banks of the river at Cowra Station. Mo and I joined in the Toy Run with 200 bikers from the district, filling two trailers with books and toys.

As you head further east along the Murray, you can tell you are getting closer to “civilisation” when the towns start getting closer together; the price of petrol goes down; the price of caravan parks goes up; the traffic increases in volume; the aggressive drivers increase in number and the drinking water gets better.

Whilst visiting the Catalina museum at Lake Boga, Mo was spotted in the car park and the local grapevine went into overdrive. Firstly, Mo was invited to go into the hangar to get some publicity shots with the big aeroplane and then the President of the Lions Club invited me to speak at their Christmas party that evening. They have an old fashioned theatrette in the museum and I entertained the crowd with a slide show of Mo’s exploits around the country. It was one of the nicest spontaneous events to have happened to me whilst on the road.

On the final hop back to the big smoke, we dropped into Goulburn to visit Mick from MJM Upholsterers. 18 months and 31,000km ago he remade Mo’s seat so that my poor backside could cope with long days in the saddle. It is so comfortable, I have never needed an Air Hawk or sheepskin. The seat looks as good today as the day he made it!! A real testament to his skill and expertise.

I settled in to city life temporarily, whilst planning for my second year on the road and much to Mo’s embarrassment, created another contribution for Naked Tuesday. Seize the Day!

www.postienotes.com.au www.nakedtuesday.me

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