Tumbarumba.com - Articles

Apart from our own little side trip that caused us to miss the second drinks break (sorry ladies!), we settled into a routine that had our side of things ticking very smoothly, as the whole ride appeared to have gone from our viewpoint.

We got a few very funny looks from the few other drivers we met on the road in the bush, and my facebook comment of “barrelling round the bush towing a dunny” raised a few eyebrows too, heh heh!

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, it had been dry so the roads were easy, overcast so not too hot for everyone, and just a sprinkle of rain in the evening after we had stopped for the day.

There were smiles all around from everyone as the day wore on. We were very impressed with the little riders, they hung in there longer than some of the adults.

Our little one helped out with the drinks truck, and happily received a couple of rides as a thank you, she was thrilled to bits.

It was just beautiful driving, and sitting, in the bush, waiting for the riders to come through we heard the peaceful sounds of the bush, and were lucky to glimpse a few brumbies and babies.

Only one serious accident as far as we were aware, one rider unfortunately was kicked as the group were a bit congested at one stage, and the rider suffered a broken leg and was carted off on uteback to an awaiting ambulance then off to Wagga for further treatment.

A fun day, barrelling around the bush towing a dunny, followed by an excellent meal cooked by volunteers from food kindly donated by town locals and businesses. Fun was had at the auction led by Bruce Alleyn and we heard that around $2,500 was raised in the auction. Final figures for the funds raised by the entire ride have not yet been calculated.

We retired around 8.30pm, and we heard that partying went on well into the night, some going to bed at 12.30am and reports were that some were up celebrating until 3am! There were a few sorry heads the next day!

The next day brought good weather again, and this day the drive for us was a bit more rough – we needed the 4wd today, and were very lucky that Mick Bradley had a winch as he had to tow us out at one stage – yes, the bog got bogged!

The riders were getting a bit tired by the time we finished up at the last drink stop, which was actually lunch on the Sunday – an impressive effort, in a very beautiful setting, you can’t get much better a spot than this beautiful countryside we are lucky to call our home here in the hills of Tumbarumba.

We had the time of our lives, and are very grateful to the Lion’s club for all their hard work cooking breakfast and lunches, and the other cooks who volunteered their time and food for the dinner. Also to the organisers, SueAnn and Ian Bramich, and their very friendly team of enthusiasts for allowing us to tag along and end up having the best weekend of our lives (well, from my perspective anyway!). We also would like to thank Molly and James Crozier for not only volunteering the use of the loo, but for tending to it after the event also! It was very gratefully received.

Many people donated time and goods towards making this weekend the great success it was – from our perspective it went very well, and we didn’t hear a single complaint. For more information and photos from the weekend, and the full (as much as we can remember) list of sponsors and supporters, you can go to www.charitytrailride.org.au. There you will also see information for the ride in 2012 - see you there!