Friday 10th June, 2016
Sydney - Katoomba - Lithgow - Mudgee - Goolma - Dubbo
430 km
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| Day 1 |
Time for a quick break. Again. On my own. Sorry Richard.
I had booked a week off from work some time ago before planning where I would go.
The rule of thumb is south in summer, north in winter. This was definitely
winter so north it was. In the last 2
years I had done Lightning ridge and Roma and also Goondawindi. Cobar and
Broken Hill before that. Now for the bit
in the middle. Bourke, Charleville and maybe a bit further north if time
permits.
So Friday morning I set off with the gracious support of
my wife and headed to the blue mountains. Leaving Sydney was about 18℃,
the warmest temperature I was to have for quite a while. By the time I got to
Katoomba it got down to 10c. Fortunately I had dressed appropriately and I was
loving every minute. I stopped at
Lithgow for petrol. A balmy 11℃ by then. Straight on to Mudgee.
Not through Kandos and Rylstone this time. I had further to go. Got to Mudgee and it was still only 13℃.
Stopped for coffee and grilled ham panini which was larger than I needed but
too tasty to leave. Cafe 89 in Market St. Recommended.
Then out of Mudgee and west on Guntawang Rd and then
Goolma Rd. New territory for me, but judging by the traffic, a popular route to
and from Dubbo. It had been very
overcast since the Blue Mountains and finally, about 10 kms out of Dubbo I got
some rain, but not enough to cause a problem or even to slow down.
I was in Dubbo about 3.30pm. I had booked into the Dubbo
RSL Motel and it was a good choice. Very comfortable and had a back door
straight onto the car park where the bike was parked.
Shower, read the news and off down the street. Had a beer
in a pub and then found the old Bank Bar and Restaurant. Very hip. Great range
of beers. Had an Asahi Black and a Stone and Wood. It was very busy and I was
lucky to get somewhere to sit. I thought I would go to the RSL, opposite the
Motel and very large for dinner. Shame. I should have stayed at the Old Bank.
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| Dubbo by night |
I got to the RSL and it was packed. People of all shapes
and sizes were everywhere and there was a cue to order meals. So I had a drink.
Finally got the meal ordered and found a table around the back. Meal was sufficient, but I couldn't help
thinking about the Old Bank.
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| The Old Bank - Dubbo |
Staggered back to my room and couldn't stay awake for
long enough to watch anything on the IPad. Very early night.
Saturday 11th June, 2016
Dubbo - Narromine - Trangie - Nyngan - Byrock - Bourke
384 km
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| Day 2 |
Early night, early awake. Plenty of time to read the
paper. Love the iPad. Then a stroll down town to find breakfast. A restaurant I
had reconnoitred the night before was open and served an excellent Moroccan
bean stew with poached eggs on top and fried polenta on the side, washed down
with a couple of very nice coffees.
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| Breakfast at Dubbo |
As I walked back to the Motel, I could hear very bad 70s
pop music blaring from a PA, but couldn't see what it was. As I left the motel
and rode down past the oval, which is very close to the centre of town, I saw
at least 100 Holden motor vehicles from the 60s and 70s shining in the morning
sun. An enthusiasts heaven. Lots of people once described as bodgies were
wandering through cars.
I left Dubbo and headed out through Narromine and
Trangie. A bit of traffic on the road. Not unusual for a Saturday morning in
rural AUSTRALIA. Got to Nyngan about 11am. Filled up with petrol and stopped
for a coffee and muffin.
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| Nyngan |
Then off on the Mitchell Highway. On the map, the
Mitchell highway from Nyngan to Bourke is a straight line. This an accurate depiction.
Conditions were so good that I kept finding myself traveling at 150kph. When I
did I immediately slowed down to about 130, but it crept up again pretty
quickly. I really need cruise control.
A mate I work with and who grew up in Nyngan told me to
make sure I stop at the Mulga creek Hotel in Byrock, about halfway between
Nyngan and Bourke. I did. If it weren't for the Hotel, Byrock would be a
house. As it was, the hotel is a very
idiosyncratic sort of place. When locals decide their hats are too old they get
nailed to the roof of the hotel. See the photos. Had lunch and a light beer.
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| Mulga Creek Hotel - Byrock |
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| In the bar |
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| Old hats on the roof |
Final run to Bourke. Got there about 2.30pm. I had booked into the Riverside Motel which
had been the historic Telegraph Hotel turned into a motel. And they have done a
very good job. Very comfortable. When
the owner saw I was on a bike he changed my room and said I should park on the veranda
which wasn’t visible from the road. I had seen signs in the reception saying
the gates were locked between 9.30pm and 6.30am. Later I noticed the quite tall
barbed wire fence forming a compound around the Motel which consisted of a
number of historic buildings and a large yard and gardens. And the 2
Rottweilers. Security conscious. I only
had to walk across the road to the Diggers on the Darling restaurant for
dinner. A former RSL club turned into a restaurant. I'm back there for
breakfast apparently.
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| Bourke Riverside Motel - originally the Telegraph Hotel |
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| My room - an old fireplace in the wall |
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| Good parking conditions |
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| Old paddle steamer wharf at Bourke |
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| Diggers on the Darling - Former RSL club. |
Sunday 12th June, 2016
Bourke - Engonia - Barringun - Cunnamulla - Wyandra - Charleville
450km
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| Day 3 |
Back over the road to the Diggers for breakfast.
Traditional Australian fare cooked and served by a Chinese family. Only fair
after I had traditional Chinese food cooked and served by an Australian family
in Bellingen last year.
I left Bourke about 9am. As you leave there is a sign
saying last petrol for 250 kms. There were a couple of small settlements before
that, but no petrol or anything else really. More amazingly straight roads. Red,
sandy soil and lots of scrubby trees on both sides of the road. Still plenty of
green grass and water lying about. And dead kangaroos everywhere.
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| Crossing the border - north of Bourke |
I saw a few live goats on this stretch. Very healthy
looking goats. This day and the day before was dominated by Emus. Hundreds of
them everywhere.
Got to Cunnamulla for lunch. A bit tired after 250kms non
stop. Cunnamulla is a nice town with a very large bronze statue in a park near
the Council chambers titled The Cunnamulla Fella. Not sure what that's all
about. There was a group in front of the
council cooking a BBQ and a bus load of oldies wandering about. I went into a
local cafe which was busy and wasn't coping very well with the crowd. Got a pie
and a coffee.
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| The Cunnamulla Fella |
Couldn't see much point in hanging around so filled with
petrol at the only petrol station in town and headed for Charleville. Another
200 kms of straight roads, red soil and scrub.
As I got closer to Charleville there were 2 occasions
where kangaroos ran across the road. The first one was about 50 meters in front
so I just slowed down a bit. The second came out right beside me and
fortunately I was going fast enough to get in front of it. I can't fathom why a
kangaroo, when it gets startled by a sound just dates across the road no matter
what is on the road. There were literally hundreds of dead kangaroos along
these roads to testify to the total lack of road sense in these animals. Sheep
aren't much better. But you never see a dead goat on the road. They always run
the opposite direction from whatever startled them.
Got into Charleville about 3pm. Very quiet on a Sunday
afternoon. After a little rest and a shower I wandered down the street. There
was hardly another living soul to be seen on the streets of Charleville. I had
noticed 2 incredibly large pubs on my way in. On closer inspection the first,
The Charleville Hotel, turned out to be closed with for sale signs on it. The
second, The Corones Hotel, was enormous and had a great looking dining room out
the back. When I enquired at the bar I found that the dining room wasn't open,
but they could do a steak sandwich, burger or bowl of chips. I had a beer and
consulted the phone and found that a Motel called the Rocks had a restaurant
open called On The Rocks, not too far away.
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| Charleville - busy Sunday afternoon |
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| Charleville Town Hall - with kangaroo |
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| Corones Hotel - Charleville |
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| Charleville Hotel - for sale |
I found it and after perusing the menu had slow cooked
oxtail in star anise served with jasmine rice and bok choy. With some sweet
potato chips on the side and a bottle of Chardonnay. I was feeling pretty good after that.
I had to make a decision about whether I go further north
or turn east the next day. I couldn't face another day of 450 kms of dead
straight roads and nothing in between which was the prospects going to
Longreach. So I decided to go east and booked a motel at Chinchilla.
Monday 13th June, 2016
Charleville - Morven- Roma - Miles - Chinchilla
445km
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| Day 4 |
I found a cafe open in Charleville for breakfast. Unmemorable.
I left town about 8.30 am. More straight roads. Uneventful trip. Got to Roma
about 11.30 and fuelled and had a toasted sandwich and a coffee before hitting
the road for more of the same. I did make good time and I was in Chinchilla by
2pm. I got lucky with the Motel. Nice new rooms, undercover parking and a large
Hotel with a nice restaurant connected. I won't be going far tonight.
Dinner in the Hotel dining room. Nice are. Very modern
and clean. I had BBQ Duck Nasi Goreng, not sure if that is actually a thing.
But it did the job. After dinner I
helped myself to the self-serve coffee machine and, thinking I would splurge, went to
the bar and asked if they had a cognac. The girl behind the bar looked at me as
if I was an idiot and said "what's that?". I replied it was a fancy
brandy, but to no avail. I settled for a Kahlua. It improved the coffee no end
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| Restaurant in the Club Hotel - Chinchilla |
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| BBQ Duck Nasi Goreng |
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| Motel in Chinchilla with Club Hotel in the background |
Tuesday 14th June, 2016
Chinchilla - Dalby - Toowoomba - Allora - Boonah -
Beaudesert
385 km
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| Day 5 |
Got away from Chinchilla about 9am and for the first hour
it so it was more of the same. Long straight Queensland highways. I had had
enough of them by now and they had become very tiring. I turned south in the
outskirts of Toowoomba so I didn't have to go through the city centre. I
finished up on the Cunningham Highway heading towards Brisbane and this took me
through Cunninghams gap. This is a spectacular drive with amazing scenery.
Unfortunately not many places to stop to admire it.
Got a bit of rain just before Beaudesert, but it didn't
cause a problem. I got into Beaudesert early enough to go and have a sandwich
and coffee for lunch and look around town. It was bigger than I thought it was
and a couple of beers in the RSL went down very well. I spotted a Chinese
restaurant which is where I later had dinner and a very early night.
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| Beaudesert |
Wednesday 15th June, 2016
Beaudesert - Mt Lindsay - Kyogle - Casino - Grafton -
Nymboida - Ebor - Armidale
455 km
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| Day 6 |
The reason I wanted to stay at Beaudesert is that it
positions you perfectly for some
beautiful riding the next morning. The Mt Lindsay highway takes you through
very twisty mountainous areas and some beautiful rain forests. A wonderful
change from the last few days and I really enjoyed the riding.
Just into NSW you turn on to the Summerland way which
brings you down the beautiful valleys leading to Kyogle. Lots of Dairy farms.
Then through Casino and Grafton. Beautiful country. Really enjoyed the ride. A
stop at Grafton for fuel and food, then over that magnificent bridge on the
Clarence and then onto Armidale Rd. I have done this road before and I was
looking forward to it. More twisty mountainous roads with beautiful forests and
valleys. Through Nymboida and Tyringham and out on to Waterfall Way near Ebor. I
noticed a very large building on the outskirts of Nymboida with a sign
labelling it the Nymboida Power Station. I didn’t notice this last time I
passed and I was curious. Wikipedia tells me it is a hydroelectric station
taking water from the Nymboida River and it was built between 1924 and 1926.
This pre-dates the Snowy Mountains Scheme by 20 years and must have been one of
the first hydroelectric stations in Australia.
I stopped at Ebor for coffee. The temperature when I left
Beaudesert was 14℃. At Grafton it was 22℃ and at Ebor it was down to 12℃.
Chilly. A final run into Armidale and it reached 16℃. I had
booked into a motel near the centre of the city and a short walk to the New
England Hotel which supplied fine beer and a very tasty steak.
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| Armidale |
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| Armidale |
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| New England Hotel - Armidale |
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| Dining Room of the New England Hotel |
Thursday 16th June, 2016
Armidale - Tamworth - Gunnedah- Mullaley - Coolah -
Mudgee
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| Day 7 |
This was a bit random. I wanted to get to Mudgee and
punched it into the GPS and followed directions. It was 5℃
when I left Armidale, but a beautiful clear blue sky. It soon warmed up to
about 16c.
The surprise package here was The Black Stump Way. I had
taken Oxley Highway from Tamworth, through Gunnedah and on to Mullally where I
turned South on the Black Stump Way. A nice, smaller road with very little
traffic and some great scenery. There were isolated mountains on either side of
the road. The far outposts of the Warrumbungles, which made spectacular
country. This lead me to Coolah, which I had never been to before. A nice little
town which provided a nice coffee and pie at the local bakery for lunch. Lots
of mentions of the Black Stump in town. Turns out Coolah is one of the 3 towns
in Australia that claim to be the original home of the Black Stump. It makes
interesting reading here.
Left Coolah on Cassillis Rd which joined The Golden
Highway for 3 kms before turning again onto Ulan Rd. This was another
revelation. It goes through the small communities of Ulan, Frog Rock and Budgee
Budgee before entering Mudgee from the North East. Just before Ulan, about
40kms before Mudgee, I went past a most enormous coal mine which was a bit of a
surprise. I had no idea it was there. The last 10 or 15 kms of Ulan Rd into
Mudgee seems to be continuous vineyards and wineries. A lovely spot.
Got into Mudgee about 3pm. Last night on the road and I
was very happy to be spending it in Mudgee. A few beers at the brewery and
dinner at Eltons. Perfect.
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| Eltons - Mudgee |
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| Crispy skin barramundi with coconut broth, noodles, coriander and chilli |
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| Mudgee Brewery |
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| Last breakfast. Eggs benedict at Market St café - Mudgee |
Friday 17th June, 2016
Mudgee – Lithgow – Katoomba – Penrith – Liverpool –
Oyster Bay
285 km
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| Day 8 |
A well-worn track for me these days. No surprises. It was
drizzling rain when I left Mudgee about 9am and that continued to Lithgow. A
few spots of blue sky over the mountains. I was going so well I didn’t stop at
all before getting home about 12.30pm. The 3,200 Kms of the past week had
caught up with me. I was ready for a little rest.
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| The full trip. 3,200 km |
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