No more tests!!

Hurrah, I've earned my P-level motorcycle licence! It's a fairly long and convoluted process here in NSW, but as the main focus is road and rider safety I do not mind. But negotiating the bureaucracy leading up to this point has been quite frustrating.

If you'd like to read about the long (international) process I had to follow, read on: otherwise skip to the photos :-)

I had a motorcycle licence in Australia (having passed the two very simple tests in the 1970s) but it expired eventually while I was in the Netherlands in the 1980s. The Dutch authorities would not acknowledge or exchange the licence for a Dutch one (they still do not acknowledge non-EU licences: one must pass the testing for a Dutch licence within 185 days). At the time the stipulations for a Dutch motorcycle licence involved being able to pick a fallen (Virago 250) motorcycle up off the ground using only one arm*.  I did the obligatory lessons for a while but did not even bother 'sitting' for the test. I ended up going for a car licence in the end, and passing both theory and practical first time round. Was always regretful about the motorcycle licence though.

(*It is theoretically possible. But why would you? Here you can read how to do it using all of your body.)

Once back in Australia in 2001 I encountered the same thing: Australia would not acknowledge or exchange the Dutch car licence for an Australian one (sheesh!). Luckily it's a lot cheaper to get your licence here than in NL (where one must use accredited driving schools, which charge exorbitant prices). I did the two car driving tests and passed with flying colours. Naturally, as my motorcycle licence had expired they would not reinstate that automatically (... sad face).

Living with John and meeting his very lovely motorcycling friends (all of whom are interesting, kind, well educated, intelligent and sane!) has encouraged me to get back on the bike. So in November 2012 I did the excellent and interesting two-day pre-Learner course (followed by a practical riding test). Thereupon I went to the RTA (now RMS = Road and Maritime Services) and passed the theoretical test. (You can try the test for yourself here). This allowed me on the road with my own "learner-approved" Honda 250 cc and ride around "on my L plates" which restricts me to 80kph (but  don't get me started about how potentially dangerous that is on the Pacific Highway).

If you are already bored, reading this far, perhaps you can understand how much tenacity it takes to get through these hoops :-P

On the L's and ready to ride!

Then came the next stage (allowable after three months on the L's): a one day Pre-Provisional training course including a 40 km road ride, and passing the final component, the "Motorcycle Skills Operator Test" (MOST), which involves eight short but stringent tests.

This is one of the eight tests. You may not put your foot down, hit a cone, stall the bike or cross a yellow line.

To prepare for these John and I had gone over to the university car park on Saturday to practise some of the more difficult moves. John gave me much valuable advice and instruction.

John showing me how to manage a very tight U-turn on the BMW

On Sunday's Pre-provisional day itself, I had classroom training, practical training sessions on a course and a 40km road ride (which was both testing and training, rolled into one). This culminated in the final MOST test. For various reasons I took my 250cc Honda rather than my bigger 650cc BMW.

In the classroom my classmates and I learned about the three principles of road-craft: observation, slowing down, and creating buffer zones. We discussed the dangers of taking unacceptable risks, exceeding comfort or skill levels, and how to prevent other people crashing into you (well, as much as one can). We learned how to take the best 'line' in corners (in general, start wide, finish tight but stay flexible: it depends on the oncoming traffic and road condition). We learned the mantra of "Monitor; Think; Ask" and even had a session on the psychology of self-talk (externalising potential dangers versus internalising them and asking oneself "what could I have done differently?"). The content was interesting and very useful, and our trainer ("Hans", a well-spoken Australian / German man) was excellent.

Just some of the scenarios we learned about

During the road ride we stopped several times on the way and our instructor Hans talked us through many different potentially dangerous scenarios and how to adjust for them as safely as possible. Great stuff, and potentially life-saving.

Stopping at the roadside, and learning lots from Hans

Back on the bikes to continue the road ride training / test

It was a great day, but by the time the time came for the final hurdle, the MOST (skills tests) I was very very nervous. I so very much wanted to pass! I had done well on the practice course, but I was the last in my group to do the test. As I saw some of my classroom buddies stack up penalty points (and even fail outright) I became even more nervous. But the excellent practising I had done with John paid off in SPADES because I ended up being one of the two participants who passed with zero penalty points. I was even dubbed the "U-turn Queen", being able to turn the Honda in a slow controlled circle well within the yellow lines :-D

So now I have my motorcycle P plates, which I can automatically convert to a full open licence in 12 months. No more tests!! (I have by now done ten official driving tests all up, and that's counting MOST as a single test. And passed all first time!). PHEW.

But the training was brilliant - I'm so glad I followed the full process. I would recommend the training to anyone wanting to improve their riding skills and enhance their safety on the road.

540 km later ...

John and I went for a mini-break, taking the bikes on a short(ish) one-night tour to Dorrigo and back. For me this was the first 'big' trip on a motorcycle, and certainly on a bike of this size (650cc).

Adventure!!

As always, one organisational challenge is ensuring all our animals are well cared for while we are gone. A huge special thank you go to Chris Koh and her partner Jessie  for picking Radha up and looking after her. Jessie is naturopath and Chris is the designer and builder of Smokin' Guitars (you can the amazing sound of one of Chris' cigar box guitars here). Also thanks to my parents for taking our elderly Chicco and giving her a peaceful break away from playful Radha.

Here is our route:


View Clunes to Dorrigo in a larger map

So we set off and all well, but the rain soon came solidly. My bike went well though it had a tendency to stall when going round roundabouts slowly (rider error, we eventually decided). Clunes to Lismore and then Casino ... Then on the Summerland Way to our first real stop in Grafton. By then, wet and cold, we had a nice hot cuppa and Thai fish cakes (yum!). John wasn't too cold but I had to avail myself of the hand dryer in the ladies' to blow warm air down my shirt (sorry ladies, I was very cold by then!)

The Crown Hotel in Grafton. That's John striding through the rain :-)

Grafton is very pretty and they do a marvellous job with council parks and gardens. Here are our bikes parked outside the Crown Hotel. I couldn't take many photos because of the teeming rain but you can see how pretty the hedges are (they are clipped into a series of words and letters, but I didn't explore them alas ... too wet).

John's trusty Triumph Sprint on the left, my BMW F650 GS on the right. My metal panniers turned out to be very useful.

The next section was along the Armidale Road, which is a steeply winding and mountainous road: great for motorcycling but a bit daunting for a ride in the pouring rain for one newly returned to riding after many years!  John was terrific and coached me through the wireless communicators we use on our helmets, helping me find the best 'line' round the steep curves and hairpin bends, and bolstering my confidence with supportive words and a patient demeanour. (Me, crawling round a hairpin bend at 25 kph: "I'm such a chicken!" He: "Cautious. Cautious is good...")

After a few hours we reached Dorrigo and the welcoming dry sturdiness of the Dorrigo Heritage Hotel. We were quite wet and by then very happy to have arrived. My arms were quite sore and my hands exhausted from gripping the handlebars. As we discovered, John's leather gloves had leaked tannin (or ink?) onto his palms, staining them an interesting dark colour :-)

Yes well, we all can see John has West African blood in him ...

A lovely meal and a restful night later saw blue skies reappearing in the morning. The hotel provides a generous breakfast and a dryer, so with full tummies and dry clothes we headed North again.

The iconic Hotel Dorrigo. Such a lovely place.

A half hour after leaving we stopped by to visit friends in Tyringham, Tracie and Patrick, at their 250 acre farm. I really like visiting them and we somehow managed to achieve a lot of catching up in the short time we had. We caught up on Tracie's interesting psychology thesis, family, music, the horses, politics, Patrick's classic Triumph, and other interesting topics, and we have all have reaffirmed that we'll catch up again soon!

The weather stayed dry for the most part and we made good progress, taking the same route back. At times I was confident and at times less so but everything went well and the bikes carried us safely through the mountains to Grafton, where we stopped for a delicious lunch.

Lunch on the way home at the Crown Hotel in Grafton, looking over the Clarence river.

Despite some crazy drivers taking extreme risks in overtaking us, it was a good drive from Grafton to Casino and then through to Lismore. We arrived home in Clunes, having beeped cordial hellos to my parents' house in Eltham as we passed, at about 4pm.

In all we covered 540.6 km, we averaged 67 kph, and 8.1 hours was spent with the motors running ...  (John's bike has a computer that tells us such amazing things).

It was a lovely short break and a good adventure!

Training for the marathon walk

I've signed up to do the marathon walk from Ballina to Byron again, with (most of) the team from last year. My friend and colleague Betty and I decided to do a 10 km training walk from Ballina to Lennox Head, accompanied by Betty's partner Brian. The plan was to leave a car at Lennox so we could drive back.

It being a lovely morning, I set off at about 7.30 on the motorcycle for Betty's and Brian's house. When I got there, Betty told me that Brian had already left, driven to Lennox and was jogging back. We could meet him en route and walk back to Lennox with him. Man, that's one fit man, I thought. Here was me feeling virtuous about a ten km walk!! We left the house at 9.45 and sure enough, by the time we got to the beach, Brian was already there, having run the whole thing in about 50 minutes.

And so we set off. (Click photos for bigger).

A lovely track to walk along

Looking back Southwards towards Ballina

A pandanus palm. They are plentiful around here.

It was just a glorious day for a walk though going up the first headland was a bit hot and I was wondering whether I should have brought a hat after all.

Me 'n Betty

Boulders Beach, looking South. Love the pines.

Near the top of the first headland

Brian gazing out to sea to see what he can see

I could see how the headlands had eroded after the heavy storms of this year. This area below, used to have sand.

That tussock there is going to fall in and get wet :-)

Looking out towards lovely Lennox

Once in Lennox (10.30) we treated ourselves to an icecreamy thing each :-) and Brian drove us back.
Thank you Betty and Brian for an absolutely lovely and companionable morning! Looking forward to more walks in the near future.

And they're off! Overseas trip for Tess and Yarrow

Well actually, by the time I've gotten around to posting this, they're gone!! Tess and Yarrow left last Saturday for a two-month trip through Europe with Hans and Niki. This isn't their first trip around the world, not by a long shot: in 2010 they went to Portugal and the Netherlands. But this will be the longest that they've been away from home and I shall miss them muchly.

The day of their departure dawned in spectacular colours!

They were pretty excited to leave and had been packing and repacking bags for about a week.

You can see how much they've grown since their last Europe trip

Myself and the trusty Subaru were enlisted to take Hans, Tess and Yarrow to Coolangatta airport for the first leg to Sydney.

All that baggage, with 367,000 km on the clock and going strong. Good car!!

At the airport I waited with the travelling threesome until it was time to go.

A pensive moment

Waiting at airports is always slightly awkward ... there were moments of stillness and moments of silliness :-D

Horsing around:-)

 And then it was time to say goodbye...

Me 'n my Tess ...

Bye girls, have a wonderful wonderful time. I already know you're *loving* Paris :-)

Bouncy dogs and accidental injuries

Every Monday I teach in the Master's program up at Tweed Heads, which means I'm away from home all day. So usually I take Radha to visit my old neighbour Chris (she's not really old!) and her young dog Piccolo so they can romp together; and recently I've been taking Chicco for a calm rest day at my parents' place.

Yesterday though Radha was so happy to see my mother that she leaped up, and raked her considerable claws along my Mum's arm, accidentally tearing three large rents in her skin. It looked quite horrific at first - two of the tears were about 5cm long and had taken off large triangles of skin. On cleaning and dressing the wounds we discovered that there was not too much skin loss, though whether the flaps of tissue will adhere again remains to be seen.

A visit to the doctor ensued and a large bandage was applied, together with tetanus shots and antibiotics. So sorry Mam!! :'(

Here you can see my Mum showing her sadness about her arm:

Though of course, being Mam, she was able to joke about it too!

Radha, however, thereafter played all day with her friend Piccolo and gave my poor Mum not a thought!! Insensitive soul ...

Look out behind you Piccolo! There's a subtle ambush about to happen ...

Being dogs, romping in the water. Yay, MUD!!! om nom nom nom ....

Walking without Chicco ...

This morning, for the first time ever, I went for a 'round walk' without Chicco..

The round walk takes us eastwards, steeply down the valley, across the creek, northwards up the spur of a similarly steep hill - first brightly grassed meadows, then rocky,  along a densely wooded glade, and finally across the tops through long grass to come westwards back to The Grange. It takes about 35 minutes and involves some quite puffing and climbing. The last few times we did this one, I noticed Chicco lagging behind, hugging the easier slopes and panting heavily in any sunshine. She liked to lie in the creek, and was reticent about coming out to walk up the hill... Towards the end of the walk she was labouring, panting, and uncomfortable. She had to stop, and sometimes she had to just lie down. It was just getting too much for her.

She's nearly 13. That's 91 in Dog Years, which is old ... especially for such a large breed. Also, it's a long and loving time to have a fairly constant companion animal in your life.

So, this morning, even though Chicco's ears pricked when I picked up my walking boots, I pretended I was just brushing some dirt off them. I snuck out the back, whispering for Radha to come, so as not to hurt Chicco's feelings.We left her behind in her day bed and went on the walk, just Radha and me. Tears bit at the back of my eyes.

Walking down the first grassy slope to the creek, it just didn't feel the same. Radha kept looking for Chicco, and was unusually reticent and "un-playful". At the creek, where Chicco would flop blissfully in the stream, and Radha would scamper around and dip paws in and out with tail wagging hugely (she's not keen on streams is Radha, but she likes to play with Chicco in the water) ... this time Radha bent to sniff the stream intensely, and eventually left it to walk across the bridge, without any tail wags.

Coming up the hill Radha was startled by some strange sudden sounds coming from the glade: maybe a wallaby, or a lost heifer. She wasn't feeling brave.  She stuck by my side, frequently looking back, maybe to see where Chicco was.

At the top of the hill, it started to rain softly. I thought, maybe I could have taken Chicco: the rain would have cooled her, kept her from overheating. She might have coped better in the cool. Maybe.

Walking along the ridge through the very tall grass back to the Grange, Radha and I decided that even though Chicco slowed us down so much, it wasn't anywhere near as nice without her...

Even so, I don't know I can take Chicco on this walk again.

When I got back, I looked with love on my old dog and apologised for not taking her with us. I stroked her black ears and her greying muzzle and promised some short interesting walks in the days to come. Her tail thumped, but then she looked away. She did, of course, know she'd been left behind. I'm not prone to anthropomorphism, but she's not daft, is Chicco.

Here are some photos from this morning. Of course, they don't contain any of Chicco.

On the hill leading down to the creek, deep in paspalum grass

Sniffing for a friend in the river meadows

Coming along the ridge slope towards the Grange I can see the faint track ahead of us, left over from Chicco's walk last week in the long grass. Can you see it too?

Here is the route:


View Round walk in a larger map

Monkey see, monkey do. Or is that "horsie see, horsie do"?

OK. Guess who's been playing with Briony's old swing, and got themselves stuck? My boy Rascal. Of course.

Ya gotta love 'em. 

PS No harm done: he stood perfectly still while I lifted his leg out (bit of a ballet dancer stretch, but never mind). He was very appreciative.

Team update

Ruby came over today and we made good progress with training Elara. At the end of the hour Elara was walking freely forward and Ruby could steer her where she wanted to go. Good going for a young team!

Parked and forgotten?

Rural decay, or simply an unpaid parking ticket? Whatever the cause, this old girl looks like she's staying put...

Photographed while walking the dogs in Bangalow the other week.

Radha offers to drive

7.30 am, and the girls need to get to their early Extension English class. No school bus available, and I'm wanting to get on with my Master's unit marking, and it's raining, and my ribs are sore, and I haven't finished my tea and and and ...
Don't stress, says the dog. I'm onto it. Leave it to me.

I put this photo on my facebook page and got some funny responses :-)

• Sharen Caines Nisbet, Lisa Shelbourne, Marion Hesseling and 25 others like this.
• 

  Felicia Dale Aw.... poor you! (((hugs!)))

  Tuesday at 09:43 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Robyn Rowland nawww all the dog just needs to do the head moving back and forwards to be a groove thing

  Tuesday at 10:04 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Chris Cbg Oh Radha! . . how we love you!

  Tuesday at 10:55 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Steve Smith Im disapointed Mieke, she's not wearing her seat belt, I hope she put it on before departure?.........lol, I bet she's a safer driver than some I see on the road.

  Tuesday at 11:18 · Edited · Unlike · 1
• 

  Jacqui de Roo It looks like you're in good hands! Lol

  Tuesday at 16:25 via mobile · Unlike · 1
• 

  Matthew John 

  Tuesday at 19:06 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Ayananda Johanna

  Tuesday at 19:13 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Marion Hesseling haha, nice

  Yesterday at 04:48 · Unlike · 1

Pony update

Well, young Ruby has been playing and working with Elara a few times, and we've achieved quite a lot in the process:

Elara has learned:
- to have a rug placed on and pulled off
- to accept having clothes thrown on, over and under her
- to accept having clothes dragged between her legs
- to accept people jumping up and down suddenly all around her
- to wear a saddle with girth and surcingle
- to enter and exit a small shed with flapping walls without being scared
- how to use a feed bag
- to carry a rider around the garden
- to climb up and down a concrete step

Ruby has learned:
- how to place and tie a rope halter on the horse
- how to remove a rug (it's a bit heavy for her to put it on at the moment as it is sopping wet)
- how to do 'join up' (a natural horsemanship technique for leadership)
- how to lead with confidence and firm assertiveness

Grazing in the rain :-)

On the horse for the first time!

The next steps are to get Elara's teeth done by the equine dentist and then off to the trainer for some specialised training. We want Elara to become a super reliable, 'bomb proof' child's mount, so in the end Ruby could (if she wanted) attend pony club with her or enter her in some gymkhanas, or ride around the village. It will take time and patience but I think Ruby and Elara have the potential to make a great team. It's a 'win-win' situation I believe.

Briony

Beautiful Briony ... on John's birthday (at the Eltham "Not Quite Folk" evening)

A buckskin brumby cross is not quite a racehorse

We need a photo of Elara. Yes we do. 'Cos she's such a lovely mare :-)

Elara is Rascal's half-sister. I'm arranging to send her to a trainer to further her education. Then, I'm aiming for a local lassie, ten-year-old Ruby, to be riding her regularly and enjoying her good nature and lovely paces.

As John said, tongue-in-cheek, it's a bit like owning a racehorse: after all, racehorse owners have a trainer, a jockey and a racehorse ... So far, we simply have a potential trainer, a village lassie and a pony...

Nearly racehorse owners!!  But not quite.

:-D

More horse photos and shenanigans

By popular request :-) some more photos of the steeds.

On Sunday John and I went for a ride to Booyong nature reserve / village green (not much village left in Booyong, though, sadly). There, we met up with Hans (riding Emu) and Niki (riding Duchess). I had wanted to do some gallivanting about on the horses together but alas: upon remounting Rascal I found I had not tightened the girth properly; the saddle slipped round; Rascal plunged forward and I crashed to the ground.

Gravity sucks :-(

It was very painful. But John looked after me and later on Rascal carried me carefully home, just walking, on a loose rein ... what a good boy he is. Eh, these things happen.

John moseys down the road, bareback on Saturn

Rascal sees his Mama, the brumby Duchess for the first time in three years. He's amazed! (So is she) :-D

The glorious and gorgeous Saturn enjoying a bit of liberty.

Hans with his good steed Emu (who previously belonged to John). They get on very well together!

It was a great place to ride and I can't wait for my ribs to heal so I can go back there with John and the horses...