Casino Hinterland Weekend

23 May 2018 / Words by Wayne Lang, Photos by Cathy & Wayne Lang

Our 2nd annual Casino Hinterland Run, 8 cars and 13 members and 2 Guests were willing to take part, and by all accounts everyone had a great time.

The group were initially led from Port Macquarie by Graham Rochester to the "Puma Service Centre" at Kempsey.

We all said our hellos, checked out a couple of Bentley's that were parked nearby, and it was time to set off.

We made our way up the Pacific Highway to the Bellingen turnoff and the Waterfall Way, and travelled to "The Old Butter Factory" at Bellingen where we were met by Coffs residents Rob and Rhonda Partridge.

A nice breakfast was had, along with some chat before it was time to set off up tp Dorrigo.

From there we headed east through North Dorrigo to the intersection on Armidale Road, then right through Tyringham, Dundurrabin, Billy's Creek via "The Corkscrew", Nymboida, Blaxlands Creek, Coutts Crossing and Grafton. Next stop was Lawrence Pub for lunch, a beer and some more chin wagging.

After a rather tasty lunch, it was back to our cars for the final part of the trip for this particular day to Casino, where we could unpack, settle into our rooms and prepare for that evenings dinner.

At around 7:00pm, we headed down to the "Casino RSM" for dinner, where Cath and I had a nice meal and a bottle of red. I trust everyone else enjoyed their meals as much as we did.

After a few hours we wondered back to our rooms at the motel, located a few blocks away, while Greg and Suzanne stayed to watch some karaoke for a while.

The following morning after our mornings in house breakfast, which was a bit of a hit and miss affair, we made the first of our poker draws and then set off on the run proper, to take in the sights and smells of the beautiful hinterland.

We made the short drive up the highway to Kyogle, then turning left toward Uki, where some slow drivers did their best to ruin the twisty section, so we stopped for our 2nd poker draw.

Some roadworks separated some of our group between Uki and Tyalgum, and unfortunately we lost Peter and Jill along the way.

We phoned them and they said that they'd meet us at the "Hinze Dam" for lunch. In the meantime, the rest of us wandered up the main street of Tyalgum to the General Store for morning tea.

We had a good look around the store while we waited for our beverages to arrive. While we were looking around, I noticed Rob looking at a huge bar-b.q. which had a lid you were struggling to lift.

I'd spoken to a couple of bikers earlier who told me that the boys in blue were doing random stops down the road at Chillingham.

So off we went. Crossing the bridge at Chillingham brought us face to face with the road block where I felt certain we'd be pulled over. They did so with a chap in front of us and politely let our small group through.

From there it was plain sailing until some wanker in a Hiace, decided he'd pull out in front of us and proceed the rest of the way to the Hinze Dam turnoff at about 40kph.

Once arriing at the complex, we were greeted by our lost friends in adventure, Peter and Jill.

Luckily, there was a break in the waiting list and we were invited to order our lunch straight away, when we initially thought we'd be waiting for an hour or more.

Meanwhile, we did the 3rd of our poker draws, and waited patiently for our respective lunches to arrive. Our lunches were very well received, with everybody indicating they enjoyed them.

Following lunch, we went for a short walk along the dam wall while we to let our food settle.

We were then back on the road to the short drive to the "Beechmont" turn-off. A beautiful section of twisties, hampered slightly by some roadworks, but all in all, a great drive.

Continuing on to Canungra and Beaudesert, we turned left onto the Mount Lindesay Hwy for around 25kms to Innisplain Road, where we would turn off rof our drive through "The Risk".

A great little drive even though some of it's very narrow. It has plenty of twists and turns and some stunning scenery.

We called into "Andrew Drynan Park" for a break and our final poker draw. While we were gathered around taking in the views, Robert pulled a set of bagpipes out of his boot and started playing "Scotland The Brave".

It was absolutely perfect. All of the cars lined up in a row, the rolling hills surrounding us and the pipes echoing through the valley, it was almost surreal. I didn't even know Rob played. It was definitely a highlight of the weekend.

We then continued through some more awesome twisty roads until finally reaching the highway again, then it was a nicely paced drive back to Kyogle and Casino about an hour before our scheduled dinner at the "Tatts Hotel".

At 7:00pm, we headed off for the block or so walk around to the pub, where we ordered some wine and found our reserved table for our nights meal and presentation.

After dinner we said a few words about our late friend Mike Walkden-Brown. The chapter had decided that we'd dedicate the run in his honour.

Some anecdotes of the man were shared among those who knew him and to pass on our thoughts with some of the newer members who didn't.

Then it was time for our little presentation to the winners of the "Casino Hinterland Run and Poker Draw".

Our winners for this years award, with a "7, 8, 9, 10, J Straight" were Coffs Harbour couple, Robert and his lovely wife Rhonda.

We continued to get to know one another a little better over some alcoholic beverages and sharing some yarns and many laughs until the publican told us the pub was now closed, and politely asked us to leave. Seeing most of us were heading in different directions the next day, I decided we'd officially end the run before we left the pub. So then we took the walk back to the motel where we said our goodnights and goodbyes until we next met.

The following morning some had left quite early as they had alternate destinations or plans, so Brett, Carla, Cath and myself made our way back to Grafton where we said our farewells to them also. We then made our way over to see our mate Kim at her shop, and then it was on to Glenreagh to meet up with some old friends.

By the time we finally got back home it was around 6:30pm and our odometer indicated that we'd covered roughly 1100kms over the three days.

Anyhow, Cath and I would sincerely like to thank those who participated in our annual Casino run and invite you all back next year, where we plan to make a few changes, to keep everyone interested. I think the name Nimbin got bantered around a bit. You'll have to wait and see.

Attendees for the 2nd Casino Hinterland and Poker Run were:

Brett and Carla Gresty
Barry and Jenny Luttrell
Peter and Jill McDonnell
Robert and Rhonda Partridge
Allen and Pam Martin
Greg Cox and Suzanne Wiltshire
Cath and myself, Wayne Lang
Graham Rochester.

Run Commentary by Wayne Lang.
Photos by Cathy & Wayne Lang.

More photos on our Mid North Coast Chapter Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1188155561201620/