Report VMMA Official Visit's to both the
Combined Meeting of Myrtleford Lodge No. 222 and Lodge Of Unity No. 54 at Myrtleford - Friday 18th December 2009
and
Star Of The East Lodge No. 116 at Omeo - Saturday 19th December 2009
Reported by Pedro
Leaving at a leisurely 0900 I travelled via the spillway at Lake Eppalock (with water flowing in – for a change) to Heathcote and Seymour. Not feeling all that inclined to follow the main drag to Yea I detoured via my old stomping grounds out the back of Seymour and re-acquainted myself with the scenic Highlands and Ghin Ghin road.
Powers Lookout (north of Tolmie) to take in the magnificent views of the King River Valley.
Nearing the top of the range I was temporarily halted by a slow moving Echidna who was ambling across the road. Luckily there is rarely any traffic up this way and its progress was in no way threatened by cars etc. Progressing on I encountered a lady (with nagging kids) trying to change a flat tyre. I duly stopped to fit the rather sad spare wheel and then proceeded on to Yea arriving only 10 minutes late for the scheduled meeting with Chris & Sharyn, Dave (driving the ute) & Viv Cash.
Powers Lookout (north of Tolmie) to take in the magnificent views of the King River Valley.
After morning tea we ventured on to Mansfield and then stopped off at Powers Lookout (north of Tolmie) to take in the magnificent views of the King River Valley.
At Whitfield we had lunch at the general store because the pub is reported to be very slow and always rather expensive.
Our route then took us out the back towards Cheshunt, and over some good dirt roads to Lake Buffalo then in the back of Myrtleford.
Shortly after booking in at the motel David Hall arrived, and was followed by David Kent and David Wells soon after.
VMMA members at Myrtleford Lodge No. 222
L to R: Pedro, David, David, David and David, yes four Davids of which 2 are sitting Wm's.
The next hour or so was spent refreshing and relaxing prior to an early tyle (1800) at Myrtleford Lodge for their combined Christmas meeting i.e. Myrtleford Lodge and Lodge Unity (Bright).
Although we were an official visitation we did feel somewhat over dressed as all other members and visitors were wearing casual clothes.
Upon retiring to the supper room we joined all the ladies and guests for a very nice dinner/supper.
This was a combined meeting of Myrtleford Lodge No. 222 and Lodge Of Unity No. 54 (Bright).
Yet again the VMMA did well at the raffle, including myself and David Hall. But alas he would not share his bottle of Merlot with me even after I tempted him with a rather nice bottle of Shiraz.
Chris was invited to speak on behalf of the VMMA, but some how spun it around so that Pedro addressed everyone on the south of our recent activities.
Chris and I were asked to give a short talk on the VMMA and in closing Chris mentioned our recent $500 donation to a local 2 year old child, Meg Casley, who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
Our local member Rhonda Forster, a driving force behind Meg’s donation, also spoke about the progress of getting Meg to Austria for further treatment.
Chris invited Rhonda Forster a local VMMA member to speak of the VMMA's recent donation to a local 2 year old child, Meg Casley, who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Rhonda Forster, a driving force behind Meg’s donation, also spoke about the progress of getting Meg to Austria for further treatment. The WM of Myrtleford Lodge No. 222 Mick Porter after listening to Rhonda's presentation of the plight of local girl Meg made a $150 donation on behalf of the Myrtleford Lodge No. 222.
The Myrtleford Master Mick Porter quickly conferred with his Treasurer and announced that the raffle proceeds would also be donated to Meg’s appeal.
Our evening finished early-ish so we adjourned to our motel room for a chat and drink.
Appears Richo has some competition with cleaning bikes.
Saturday dawned fine, sunny and clear. Breakfast was had at the bakery in town where we all enjoyed food, jokes and finally farewells to David Wells, David and Lynne Hall.
Having refuelled, oiled chains, adjusted radios etc it was time to get down to some serious riding.
We had breakfast at a cafe in Main Street, David and Lynne Hall joined us for breakfast.
Our route was to Bright, the Tawonga Gap road (where I had an interesting ride down the hill with two dirt bike riders) then on to Mt.Beauty. Up the hill to Falls Creek with a short sightseeing stop at a bridge to catch some pictures of fast flowing crystal clear mountain water, then a short rest break at Bogong and Howmans Gap before the final ascent to Falls Creek and Rocky Valley Dam.
This image was SMS to Baron to let him know what he was missing out on, ride up to Falls Creek.
The next leg of our ride was on the (now bituminised) Bogong High Plains road, which although newly constructed (April 2009) is already breaking up. It is narrow and it was rare to exceed 100kph on the 35 km section.
It was a pleasure to turn on to the Mitta/Omeo road north of Anglers Rest and enjoy a nice fast ride into the Blue Duck Inn for lunch, to savour their famous steak sandwich lunch.
Stopped to enjoy the view at Falls Creek Lake prior to our ride on the newly made rode to Omeo
Sharyn up at Falls Creek, looking like bean me up Scotty!!!!!
The final ride in to Omeo was very pleasant and upon settling in to the accommodation at the Golden Oak hotel/motel we relaxed on the balcony with new arrivals Gary and Glenda Power.
As the afternoon slipped away we were reminded by Chris that our presence was expected at the Omeo Lodge which was tyling at 1700.
Finally made it to Anglers Rest for a drink and lunch at the Blue Duck Inn.
We made the Lodge opening with plenty of time to spare and at once found that we were over dressed for the occasion as the Omeo brethren were also going casual.
A very short meeting occurred and we relaxed with the ladies and guests in the supper room for their Christmas meal.
Saturday afternoon at Omeo, enjoying a drink at the Golden Age motel/hotel.
Our attempts to copy our raffle winning results from the previous night were dashed as Viv was our only prize winner.
Dinner broke up around 8 and we rode back to the hotel to continue our socialising on the balcony.
With the sun gone the temperature on the balcony dropped sharply and jumpers were called for. 1015 was my limit. I and a couple of others started the short few steps to bed.
Omeo Masonic Centre.
Sunday morning was fresh, sunny and clear. With only Viv visible on her walk around town and the occasion snore from adjoining rooms I packed up and headed up the Hotham Road for 30km to see what the road and weather was like.
Omeo Masonic Centre Lodge Room has been renovated with the assistance of Grand Lodge.
Riding higher it became quiet foggy and cold so I decided to return and report my findings. My thoughts of a very welcoming cooked breakfast at the hotel were interrupted by a wombat toddling across the road, and a little further on 3 roaming cattle; two of which decided not to argue with me on the bike while the other loner decided to wander along the road and finally jumped quite gracefully over the Armco railing.
The Christmas Social at Omeo Masonic Centre was well attended.
Although the Hotham option would have been a quicker way home for me I decided to stay and ride with the group as we left Omeo for Bairnsdale. Gary took the lead and guided us to Stratford for lunch then on to Maffra, Heyfield, Tyers, and Moe North, where we said our farewells. Chris, Sharyn and I headed North West for Noojee, while Dave & Viv turned south at Willow Grove to head back to the Princes Highway and home to Blackrock.
Back at the Golden Age motel/hotel socialising into the late hours on the balcony.
Gary and Glenda had a short ride back to Moe. David Kent had previously been tied up with a business phone call at Stratford so we left him behind to further explore his many options en-route to Drouin.
The road to Noojee includes a variety of sweepers and twisties, all of which are very enjoyable this time of the year. Sharyn’s Suzuki was playing up a little at Noojee due to the engine heat but Chris persisted and had it running in a few minutes.
Sunday morning a cooked breakfast was provided at the Golden Age motel/hotel.
Time to fill the motorcycles prior to departing Omeo for the ride down to Bairnsdale and home.
Meanwhile Chris suggested I not wait for them so I pushed on for Healesville. As I got closer to the built up areas so too did the increase in police presence. All were easily visible and there was no real need to be speeding anyway due to the heavier traffic numbers.
I chose the Myers Creek road to Toolangi and found it to be deserted of traffic. The final leg home included Glenburn, Flowerdale, Strath Creek (these are always favourites), Broadford, Pyalong, Mia Mia, Redesdale, Sutton Grange and finally Sedgwick. Arriving home at 1730 I noticed that I had completed all but 1200km for the weekend, and a daily total of 620km.
Finally made it down to Stratford for our last gathering as we then departed in different directions for home.
I really enjoyed the whole weekend which was undoubtedly made even better by my riding companions, the roads we travelled and the glorious weather and scenery.
Thank you all for making it so enjoyable.
