Moree Muster

Autumn brings welcome relief from the summer heat; it also brings the annual Moree Muster. This is a great little three day rally, usually held on the (Queensland) May Day public holiday weekend. It is hosted by the Cotton Country Cruisers, the local Ulysses Branch and is open to Ulysses members and their guests. May is getting a little cool for camping for me so it’s handy that one of the organisers runs the Mehi River Van Park and being a Ulysses’ rally it’s organised well in advance so cabins are available for rally goers. I rode up last year and had such a good time I wasn’t going to miss this year!

I threw some spare clothes into the gear sack, left Crusty a note and some frozen dinners and headed off for the very pleasant ride up to Moree. My buddies and I had decided to try out the Gwydir Cara Park this year and give the thermal pools a try. Very nice!

Friday night was a camp oven dinner and those Moree people know how to make a good stew. Plenty of variety, lamb, beer beef, chilli chicken and curried sausages, lots of baked veggies and bread rolls. As the night rolled on the party got louder as we all tried to crowd around the fire drums, just a tad cool. A great night was had by all.

Saturday saw the parade through town in the morning and in the afternoon a ride out to a local pub, sorry guys but I can’t pronounce it let alone spell it but it was all good. The evening’s entertainment was at the local Services Club and theme was “Star’s” so we had the celestial and the celebrity kind and then there were the hybrids. For those who have never attended a Moree Muster I should explain that two of the Moree Mob, we’ll call them the “Girls”, dress up each year and give us all a huge and usually raunchy laugh. Well this year the “Girls” put on a great show for us; the S & M gear nearly caused a couple of heart attacks (the “Norty Nurses” from last year may have been needed ) but they all recovered.

A huge baked dinner was served, beef or chicken, with a choice of mud cake or pavlova for dessert. Another good night!

Sunday brought a bacon and egg brekkie served up at the bore baths and in the afternoon a tour of the cotton gin while others just sat around having a few cold ones and catching up with friends or soaking in those lovely hot waters. A B-B-Q dinner put on by one of the local service clubs was top rate, the party finished up before midnight as we all wanted to be ready for the ride home in the morning.

Monday saw us back on the road going our separate ways, happy and totally de-stressed. Thanks to the Cotton Country Cruisers for another great weekend.