Ulls: We were late leaving Ballina today, about 10.30am. With roadworks, wide loads being transported a wait at a raising bridge, we were slow to get in to gear. What followed was a fairly uneventful ride down over boring highway to Coffs Harbour. As we trundled through the Banana capital of Australia, a sign on the other side of the road caught my eye. “Classic Vespa & Lambretta”.
We stopped up ahead at BP Bananaland to fill up, and I mentioned my sighting to Tor. We both agreed we should turn back and see if they had a mechanic that would take a look at his oil leak. We arrived to find an empty shell of a shop below the huge sign and our welcoming committee were the salesmen from the car yard next door. They were very friendly, informing us that the place had closed down over six months ago. We had to push on.
After another 25km on the road and checking my watch all the while, we pulled over to an information centre in a little place called Urunga. Torsten set up the camera to film my big moment on Triple J, and we waited with anticipation… Butterflies … We checked out accomodation options at the information centre, assisted by Margaret and her friend … We checked the camera angle again … Then the phone rang.
It was Chris Duffy. Chris had offered us accom in Coffs early in the piece, however, we weren’t able to take advantage of his hospitality due to the fact we were already behind. He’d called Triple J to find out when we were on, and Amelia from Robbie Buck’s show had told him sometime in the next hour. Hmmm … I decided to call her myself, to confirm the time. Amelia apologised when she realised she’d put the interview back an hour without telling me.
It wasn’t a big issue, and we waited till 4.45 for the call. I think it all went well because at the end of the segment, Robbie said “if you see the boys on their scooters, give them a beep and a wave to show your support.” Within seconds, a car went past, all hand out the windows beeping and waving … 265km Speedo – 276km GPS
