SET FREE!
he oppression. The sheer boredom. The frustration. As the Covid-19 fiasco began to subside in Australia last month, we knew it was our chance to celebrate Australia’s relative great escape from the misery many other countries had experienced. The regular AMCN testing crew and staff hadn’t seen each other for months. With some in Victoria, the rest in NSW, we needed a catch up. We needed to escape. And we needed to do it all somewhere wonderfully remote. A distant bush hut on the Snowy River seemed the perfect destination.
To get there, we collected a mix of adventure bike greatness, assembled by the choices of each rider or couple to suit their own selfish ‘get out of here’ desires. Couples? Yep. Pete needed time away with his other half, Ange, so she came too. My partner, Bianca, had moved to Brisbane for a job just before Covid hit, so we had barely seen each other since. So she was coming, too, travel exemption in hand.
Kel and Andy were joining us from Victoria – little did they know what was about to happen there – with the NSW contingent made up of Art Director Paul, then regular testers Chris and Wattie, photographer Josh, host of Channel Ten’s RPM Kate Peck, and my mate Darryn as well. Our ultimate destination was the bush hut, but first we had to meet in the middle somewhere. Tumbarumba on the western edge of the Snowy Mountains was a good place, midway between the groups, and offering great roads to get there from either direction. What could possibly go wrong? If we had known...
KEL: WELL, A COUPLE OF THINGS…
DESPITE ONLY LIVING a stone’s throw from one another, previous coronavirus restrictions had put an end to any degree of socialisation between Andy and myself. And aside from a few day trips during the past six months, the last time we’d been away on anything resembling a decent bike trip, was last year’s Alpine Rally. As for the Sydney crew, I hadn’t laid eyes on them in 10 months; I’ve known Pete for nearly 20 years and Sam for over 15, so it was a post-lockdown trip I was really, really looking forward to.
I don’t know about anyone else, but one of my favourite bits about any multi-day trip away is the saddling up. The working out of what you take and forming the perfect kit that’s forever evolving with experience.
