Nattai - Stanwell Tops

Sunday 13^th March, 2011

Weather predictions were not good for today, but then they had not been good for the past week, and the predictions had been wrong every day. I decided to head off early and have some breakfast before the weather changed. At 8.00am it was a lovely sunny morning.

I went down the old Princes highway, off to Appin and through Douglas Park and out to Picton to r. coffee for breakfast where Ryan and the staff take good care of me. I have been working my way through the breakfast menu at this place and today I spied the Eggs Benedict. A dish I normally avoid because it is not the healthiest option, but it is bloody nice. The r. did not disappoint. Two large flat whites to wash it down, a browse through the Sunday Paper and I ventured outside to see what the weather had done.

The weather had improved. It was a beautiful sunny day. I decided to ride out to Nattai. One of my favourite places.  You head Northwest from Picton on Barkers Lodge Road. This is a beautiful road through valleys and over hills with farmland on each side of the road, very little traffic and always a few other bikes around. The speed limit is 80 kph until you reach Mowbray Park, which is just a few houses, and then it increases to 100kph. Sitting on 100 kph, or a little bit more, on these roads is a great way to kill some time. Lovely windy roads, rolling hills, great scenery and a sense of being hundreds of miles away from a city. Fantastic.

Eventually you come to the small town of Oakdale and turn left on to Burragorang Road. In 10 minutes you come to the tiny village of Nattai. Village may be overdoing it a bit. There are no shops. Just a row of houses. Left over from coal mining days. At the end of the houses you enter the Burragorang State Recreation Area and climb slowly until you reach some picnic grounds with BBQ and toilet facilities, and right at the end of the road and the top of the hill, the most beautiful scenery opens out before you. Lake Burragorang. Created when the Warragamba Dam was built and the water backed up to fill the valleys. From the lookout you can see across the lake to the Blue Mountains on the other side and Blue Mountains National Park which stretches away to the west as far as the eye can see. It really is breathtaking. See the photos for a better idea.

View from Nattai Lookout

Nattai - Looking North

Nattai - Looking West



Nattai - Just looking



After a half hour of gazing, taking photos and re-reading the information boards at the lookout I head back into Oakdale. You can continue straight through Oakdale and onto the Oaks, but I’ll save that for another day. This time I had enjoyed Barkers Lodge road so much I decided to go back the same way.

Back through Picton and out Remembrance Drive this time towards Camden and turning off on Finns Road which takes you back to Douglas Park.

Back through Appin and Wilton, Bull tops, Helensburgh and down to Bald Hill at Stanwell Tops. This is another amazingly beautiful place. And on a Sunday afternoon there are plenty of bikes, cars and a few hang gliders about.

Bald Hill is commemorated as the spot Lawrence Hargraves used to test his kites, which played an important part in the early progress to manned flights. There is plenty of information about him at Bald Hill.

From here you can see all the way down the coast to Wollongong to the South and the bottom end of the royal National Park to the North.

I like to have a wander around here on busy days and have a good look at all the bikes. A veritable showroom of two wheeled wonders.

Bald Hill - thunderbird amongst the crowd.

Bald Hill - view South

Seacliff bridge - Just south of Stanwell park

Back on the bike and through the National Park towards home. The Royal National Park is a trip I have probably done on average once a week for the last 3 years. I will never get tired of it. It was a great training ground when I first returned to riding. It was the scene of my only fall (so far) since returning to riding. The park is in 3 distinct phases. Coming from the south you travel along Lady Wakehurst drive which winds through semi rain forest. Tall lush trees forming a canopy right of the road in many places, up and down hills and often following a rivulet which flows all the way to Audley and becomes the Hacking River.

Road throgh the Royal National Park



Royal - National Park - 2nd oldest national park in the world



Then you come to an intersection. MacKell Ave goes off to the left taking you up to Waterfall and onto the Princes Highway. Going right puts you on to Sir Bertram Stevens Drive and takes you into the 2^nd phase of the Royal. Here you climb up to the plateau and the country opens out into heath lands and you travel some long straight stretches of road before coming to the turnoffs for Wattamolla and Bundeena. Then the 3^rd phase begins, winding up and down hills until you come to Audley , cross the river and make the final climb up to the highway at Sutherland. I love the fact that you come straight out of the park into the outskirts of Sydney. It’s 10 minutes to home from there on. Another lovely day on the Thunderbird.

Bungendore - Canberra - Goulburn

Sunday 6^th March

Braidwood – Bungendore - Canberra – Goulburn

Awoke about 7.30am on Sunday morning. Cool morning in Braidwood. About 10 degrees. I zipped in the removable liners in my jacket and pants to keep the cold out and dug out the winter gloves. Shower, coffee packed and on the road at 8-30.

The road from Braidwood to Bungendore is a good ride. The hills are a little bit lower and the trees are thinning. Rolling brown hills stretch off into the distance. A few bikes on the ride but very little traffic at this time on a Sunday morning. An opportunity to open up the Thunderbird a bit. It seems to settle into a very relaxed and comfortable rhythm at 120 kph. Sitting just on 3,000 revs. There is no strain on the motor whatsoever, and plenty of room for quick acceleration if needed. I read a discussion recently about the art of overtaking and the various ways to go about it. I am firmly in the camp that says if you decide to overtake, get it over with quickly. None of this dragging along beside another vehicle on the wrong side of the road.



Loaded Thunderbird - Bungendore

I reached Bungendore about 9am and had thought I would stop there for some breakfast. Not much happening in Bungendore at 9am on a Sunday morning. The Gunna Doo Bakery was open and there were a couple of other bikes already there. A Triumph Speed Triple and a Ducati Desmo. Two fine machines. A bit sporty for my liking. It was coffee and a pie on offer for breakfast which I did enjoy.

On through more pleasant country side to Queanbeyan and then into Canberra.  I fancied a photo of the Thunderbird in front of Parliament House. You can’t miss Parliament house. You can see it from the outskirts of Canberra. I headed for it and when I got there it was very, very quiet. The obligatory group of Japanese having their photo taken in the front and a couple of cops wondering around the outside, happy to exchange a wave. I got the photo and you can see the result on this page.


Capital Thunderbird - Canberra

I wound through Canberra, taking my time. The roads are good, the signage seems to have improved since I was last there, and the place is like a ghost town at 9-30am on a Sunday morning. All  making for a leisurely, stress free cruise through the centre of town with plenty of time to look for signs and gawk at the architecture.

I found myself on the Federal Highway and back in the countryside winding along the banks of Lake George. There was some water off in the distance, but on the whole it looked pretty dry. I had heard a story once that the roads around Canberra get some extra attention and funding because all the politicians frequent them. That was easy to believe. From Bateman’s Bay right through Braidwood. Bungendore, Queanbeyan, Canberra and on to Goulburn, the roads are in pretty good condition.

The journey became boring from here on. Dual lane highways with no decent bends and constant speeds make for very dull bike riding. So I gritted my teeth and settled in to kill the time. I decided to stop at Goulburn for something to eat and fuel.

For many years now I zoomed passed Goulburn on the bypass. In my younger days, before the bypass, you had to drive right through the middle of Goulburn. It brought back a few memories driving through the old town. I found myself parked in front of the Paragon Café, this is a classic old style Café that prides itself on its history. It was doing pretty good business for a Sunday morning. I asked the waitress if they had a specific breakfast menu and she pointed to a spot on the very large all purpose menu saying “Oh yes. We have bacon and eggs AND sausages and eggs.”

I spotted an omelette and ordered that. It came as a main meal with peas, corn carrots and creamed scalloped potatoes which is not what I had in mind, but it filled the void.


Paragon Cafe - Goulburn

I refuelled and left Goulburn at 12 noon, refreshed and ready for the ride home. Straight down the highway passed Mittagong to the Picton Road turn off, through Wilton to Appin. Down Appin Road to Bulli Tops and up the old Princes Highway to Helensburgh. I had thought about going through the National Park, but I was getting near 2 hours by now and decided to head home. I got there just after 2pm. The touring seat had worked it’s magic once again and I felt quite fresh considering I had just had 2 hours in the saddle. The trip meter read 720 kms since I left home the day before. A very pleasant weekend.

Milton - Batemans Bay - Braidwood

Saturday 5^th march 2011.

Today is mardi gras day in Sydney. Not that that means much to me. Other than being a good day not to venture in to the city because it is so busy. My wife announced that she was going to join a school friend and watch the mardi gras parade. The school friend has done this many times and knows of an accessible vantage point. So after contemplating a night at home arguing with the teenagers, I thought this would be a good time to have an overnight trip on the bike. After mentioning the idea to my wife and seemingly getting away with it, I planned the trip. A bit. I wanted to keep my options open.

Saturday morning and it was overcast and threatening rain in Sydney. I decided that I didn’t want to be known as one of those wussy fair weather bike riders, so I got out the wet weather gear, packed the bags and loaded up the Thunderbird.

I left home about 10.30 in a light drizzle of rain. The drizzle continued all the way to Wollongong. The wet weather gear earned its keep and the Thunderbird couldn’t care less. The long haul touring seat was working a treat so I hit Wollongong and kept going. The weather improved considerably from there on.

I travelled straight down the Pacific Highway this time. No sight seeing yet. Straight on through Albion Park, Kiama, Berry, Nowra and on to Milton.. Traffic was light and the riding was enjoyable. I got to Milton at 1.30 and I was determined to sample Pilgrims Café. See Cafes and Pubs.

  

I left Milton and headed of towards Batemans Bay. There was very little traffic on the road so I was able to open up and enjoy the ride. Some very good forest landscapes with the odd valley opening up between.

I stopped at Batemans Bay for Petrol and then turned onto the Kings Highway heading towards Braidwood. This was a very interesting road. Some good twisties, occasionally slowing down to hairpin bends. The mountains and forests gradually gave way to rolling hills that got a little browner as I moved away from the coast. I went through the small town of Nelligen on the Clyde River which is as picturesque as it is small. I passed group of 20 or 30 bikes stopped there at a petrol station.

I then headed on to Braidwood where I had decided to stay the night. Braidwood is a very old town with some classic early Australian buildings, although quite a few of them seem to be empty.

The third motel I tried had a vacancy. Apparently this is a normal weekend in Braidwood. Torpy’s Motel is an unusual place. The reception/office is a very old and interesting house with some motel units built behind it. I knew the instant I met Andy that he was an unusual character. He told me that he ran the Motel on weekends but had some one else ran it during the week while he and his wife where in Sydney advising companies how to reduce there carbon footprint. And Andy practices what he preaches. The lights in my room have either \had the globe removed or are so dull I have had to sit outside to type this. He has also installed soap dispensers, and in a





Torpys - reception



Torpys - rooms



Torpys - Thunderbird undercover



hand made timber box, coffee and sugar dispensers that drop coffee or sugar into your cup. One teaspoons at a time with each flick of the dial. Very efficient. Very carbon neutral.

After a shower and freshen up I walked down the main street and took some photos. It was very quite for a Saturday night. I wandered into the Royal Mail Hotel where I found they served meals from 6pm. As it was 5.30 I thought I would have a couple of beers and wait. The pub was very quite a with just a few locals all known by the bar staff on a first name basis.

Royal Mail Hotel - Braidwood



Braidwood - main street



Braidwood Hotel

 By the time I thought it was time to order, The place was filling up and suddenly there was a queue at the bar ordering dinner.

I finally got my order in and after a half hour wait, my crumbed lamb cutlets with vegies and mash hit the spot quite nicely. Dependable pub food. No surprises. No disappointments.

Back to the motel to type some notes, in the dark, and get some sleep. The plan for tomorrow is Bungendore, Canberra, Goulburn, Wilton Appin Bulli and if the weather is OK and I am up to it Home through the National Park.