Day Three - What a difference a day makes!
Once again it dawned sunny and clear, and the gale force winds that had
kept us on the island had faded away, leaving us free to leave and start
on the next stage of our adventure!
The bay was calm and the trip over by boat beautiful, even for those who
weren't the best sailors. As we entered the BrisbaneRiver we started to
see all the debris from the previous day's flooding floating past and
were glad we had not been caught in the midst of it.
Off the boat and it was our first attempt at packing our fantastic
support vans! Britz has loaned us two support vehicles - a five person
Escape motorhome, and a Hi-Top campervan. We were done in less than 15
minutes - no mean feat when you are packing gear for 40 women, and then
it was into our cabs for the short trip to Morgan and Wacker
Harley-Davidson to see our fleet of bikes!
There was a fantastic welcome on hand for us - Morgan and Wacker had put
on a sausage sizzle BBQ lunch, and a huge number of people had turned
out to see us.
Harley-Davidson has loaned us twenty bikes for this ride, and donated 20
leather riding jackets for first time Amazon Heart riders. There was
huge excitement as women met their bikes for the first time and tried on
their new jackets! Seven women have also brought their own Harleys, and
they were relieved to see them waiting safe and sound, and another four
are renting Harleys from Morgan and Wacker and got to see them for the
first time as well!
Those new to their bikes had a quick test ride around the block and
showed they all were strong and competent riders. Then it was time to
line up and take to the roads!
31 motorcycles and three support vans - what a sight!! The police
turned up to block traffic and help us out as a group on to the main
road and we were on our way.
This is the largest ever Amazon Heart motorcycle ride and it was an
incredible sight riding down the highway. Queensland Motorways waived
tolls on the freeways to help us on our way out of town.
About 80kms out of town we stopped to put petrol in the smaller bikes,
and the grins on everyone's faces were ear to ear. For our first time
out as a group, the riding formation was perfect.
The next section was the beautiful Cunningham Hwy - a quiet country road
with great views across farmland to the mountains. The temperature
cooled off as we climbed the Great Dividing Range into the sub-tropical
rainforest and rode over Cunningham's Gap down on to the plains below.
Our last stop for the day was to fill all the bikes with petrol just
outside Warwick, and the jaws of the staff dropped as they saw all the
women getting off the bikes. We rode triumphantly through the main
street of this little historic town to make our arrival known, then on
to our motel.
The staff gave us a great welcome and put on a fantastic dinner that
night - what a fantastic first day!
The storm cell that kept us stuck on the island has moved down the coast
and is causing flooding in some of the towns we are due to ride through
later this week. Every morning we are checking the road situation with
the local police, and we may change our route to avoid the floods but we
have contingency plans to make sure we get through.
kept us on the island had faded away, leaving us free to leave and start
on the next stage of our adventure!
The bay was calm and the trip over by boat beautiful, even for those who
weren't the best sailors. As we entered the BrisbaneRiver we started to
see all the debris from the previous day's flooding floating past and
were glad we had not been caught in the midst of it.
Off the boat and it was our first attempt at packing our fantastic
support vans! Britz has loaned us two support vehicles - a five person
Escape motorhome, and a Hi-Top campervan. We were done in less than 15
minutes - no mean feat when you are packing gear for 40 women, and then
it was into our cabs for the short trip to Morgan and Wacker
Harley-Davidson to see our fleet of bikes!
There was a fantastic welcome on hand for us - Morgan and Wacker had put
on a sausage sizzle BBQ lunch, and a huge number of people had turned
out to see us.
Harley-Davidson has loaned us twenty bikes for this ride, and donated 20
leather riding jackets for first time Amazon Heart riders. There was
huge excitement as women met their bikes for the first time and tried on
their new jackets! Seven women have also brought their own Harleys, and
they were relieved to see them waiting safe and sound, and another four
are renting Harleys from Morgan and Wacker and got to see them for the
first time as well!
Those new to their bikes had a quick test ride around the block and
showed they all were strong and competent riders. Then it was time to
line up and take to the roads!
31 motorcycles and three support vans - what a sight!! The police
turned up to block traffic and help us out as a group on to the main
road and we were on our way.
This is the largest ever Amazon Heart motorcycle ride and it was an
incredible sight riding down the highway. Queensland Motorways waived
tolls on the freeways to help us on our way out of town.
About 80kms out of town we stopped to put petrol in the smaller bikes,
and the grins on everyone's faces were ear to ear. For our first time
out as a group, the riding formation was perfect.
The next section was the beautiful Cunningham Hwy - a quiet country road
with great views across farmland to the mountains. The temperature
cooled off as we climbed the Great Dividing Range into the sub-tropical
rainforest and rode over Cunningham's Gap down on to the plains below.
Our last stop for the day was to fill all the bikes with petrol just
outside Warwick, and the jaws of the staff dropped as they saw all the
women getting off the bikes. We rode triumphantly through the main
street of this little historic town to make our arrival known, then on
to our motel.
The staff gave us a great welcome and put on a fantastic dinner that
night - what a fantastic first day!
The storm cell that kept us stuck on the island has moved down the coast
and is causing flooding in some of the towns we are due to ride through
later this week. Every morning we are checking the road situation with
the local police, and we may change our route to avoid the floods but we
have contingency plans to make sure we get through.
What a ride!! It looks like you are having an amazing time and a wonderful experience. Let's hope the weather is fine for you as you continue south. I am looking forward to seeing you arrive in Sydney. A big hello to Jo and the girls. QUT (Brisbane University) media coverage of the start of the ride is now on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzfH2JVGgYg.
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Hi Mum, the trip looks amazing!!! the boys cant believe thea nana is on one of the bikes in the photos. Your a real inspiration mum!!! lots of love all us in chch. keep sendin postcards.
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