Days 11 to 16
Had a relaxing visit with my sister. Good food, plenty of cab sav. Mounted her new flat screen to the wall, signed her up to Netflix and we spent many hours watching movies and docos plus quite a few cups of tea while it rained outside.
Monday the rain stopped and I thought I'd go for a spin around the local area. There are some very nice rides around the Latrobe Valley area being a very hilly district. I headed towards Mirboo North, a small town to the south west, and that's as far as I got. As I cruise thru I notice a few bikes parked across from a cafe. It was called the Inline 4 Cafe... Oh wait! .... I'm riding an inline four
. I did a quick Uey and went in and ordered a flat white. Quite a while later, after a long chat with the proprietor and photos of Sweet Thing parked in his court yard, I left to find some back roads that would lead me home. He was keen to hear about my trek across from WA and to tell me about the biker's festival he organises every year in October called the Blessing of the Bikes. Food, music and a quasi spiritual gathering to bless bikes and remember bikers we've lost for whatever reason. Sounds like a great event, there's some great riding in that area and its the week before Phillip Island GP. I'll post a separate thread about this as I'm intending to go and it would be great if we could get a few other Ozzie members along for the ride.
Day 17 (444 km) Churchill to Nimmitabel NSW
More rain and wind is on its way but Tuesday is looking like it will be a reasonable day so I decide to make a bolt for it. I head East on the A1, the Princes H'way which is the main coastal route between Melbourne and Sydney. It passes thru Lakes Entrance and I take a quick spin around the town checking out the marinas and other scenic spots. This area is at the foothills to the Snowy Mountains, a part of the Great Dividing Range which extend right up the Eastern seaboard of Australia providing some great riding.
At Cann River I grab a coffee. From here I'll be detouring off the main h'way and heading North into the Snowy Mountains via the Monaro Hway. I ask the locals about accommodation in the area and I'm told that Bombala, over the boarder in NSW would be a better choice. Whats left in my tank will get me that far so I head off. The Monaro follows the Cann River up into the hills heading North. The valley is deep and heavily timbered. The road is still wet from little sun and with just enough twists and bends to make it interesting but still an easy enough ride. Although it's only about 3.30 in the afternoon it seems dark. The valley itself is in shadow so no sunlight is making it to the roadway. About an hour and a bit out of Cann River the Monaro H'way breaks out onto the Snowy Mountains plateau region and into bright late afternoon sun. At 1100 metres altitude, its nothing like you have in the US or EU, but this is Australia's highest region. The ski fields to the North are around 1800meters and Mt Kosciuszko about 2200. We Ozzie's had a run around Mt Kosciuszko just last Feb.
A fill up in Bombala and a ride thru the township to find accommodation. I have all my camping gear but it's far too cold for a tent tonight. Its only a bit past four so I decide to push on to Cooma, about an hour North. Up on the plateau proper now and a lot of this area is treeless. The road is nicely undulating with wide sweepers and I decide to push it along a bit faster to enjoy the ride. Grip heaters are on high. Sweet Thing is purring along very nicely. She's quite responsive and has lots of torque and if you don't keep an eye on the speedo you quite easily find yourself sitting on 140/150 without any effort.
The sun dips below the horizon and there's not a cloud in the sky. The temp drops dramatically so I pull into the little township of Nimmitabel and decide to try the pub. It's old. The room was cheap at $30 (not much more for a camp site) and it was comfortable enough. There was a heater and I could get a hot shower. I down a beer at the bar, consume the last meat pie in the food warmer and have a chat to the only two locals at the bar who tell me it will get down to minus 3 overnight. I ramp the room heater up to full and hit the sack.
Day 18 (433 km) Nimmitabel to Sydney
The morning is bright and clear and very cold. When I drag my gear down stairs to the back of the pub where Sweet Thing is parked I find the publican has kindly covered her over with a light tarp. It's a nice ride into Cooma had then into the ACT briefly thu Queanbayan where I grab a coffee. A detour out to Bungendore and up to Goulburn for lunch. From here it's a quick blast up the freeway right into the inner city Sydney. Once I hit city traffic, the temp rises dramatically almost into to the red and the fan is on all the time. Sweet Thing does not like the city.
I'll stay two nights with my son and head off on Friday morning to Newcastle. I'll only spend a day there and head up to the Northern Rivers just below the QLD boarder.
Pics and videos to come
Total so far 5,004 km