Saturday 17th November, 2018
Oyster Bay -
Nowra - Nerriga - Braidwood - Cooma
406 Kms
 |
| Day 1 |
Last trip of the
year, back to my favourite area, the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps.
November is a good time to travel to these parts, the snow is gone and it’s
warmed up a bit but not too hot.
A few new spots
planned for this trip and lots of old favourites as well. Saturday morning
departure about 8.30, straight down the Princes Hwy to Nowra. Get the
boring bits out of the way first. Mind numbing travelling on the highway,
surrounded by idiots who don’t know how to drive properly. If that sound old
and grumpy then yes, exactly.
From Nowra I
headed South West on Braidwood road. Done this many times and always enjoyable
and not much traffic. You really feel like you have left the city at this
point. On to Nerriga and instead of the usual right turn on to Oallen Ford Way,
straight ahead on Braidwood road, including about 30 km of unsealed. I did this
for the first time in March and I can’t
see myself going any other way in future. No towns, no traffic, just beautiful
bush. It had started drizzling rain just after Nowra and I was seriously
considering not going this way, not sure of how the unsealed road would cope
with a bit of rain. I think the bit of rain actually improved it. No problems
at all.
Got into
Braidwood and stopped for petrol and coffee. There was still some dark clouds
about but a thorough scan of the radar convinced me that there was no or very
little rain about.
 |
| Braidwood Cafe |
From Braidwood I
took Cooma Road. About 70 Kms unsealed. I had done this before in March as
well. No towns and practically no traffic. This meant I bypassed Tarago,
Bungendore, Queanbeyan and Bredbo, and all the traffic on the Monaro Highway.
It was a great trip. A bit slower than the highway but a 100 times more
enjoyable.
 |
| Cooma Road between Braidwood and Cooma |
Got into Cooma at
a reasonable hour, checked into the Nebula and after a little rest and a shower,
made my way to the Alpine hotel for a couple of beers and some very fine Monaro
lamb cutlets, lightly crumbed.
Sunday 18th
November, 2018
Cooma - Adaminaby
- Tumbarumba - Jingellic - Khancoban - Thredbo - Jindabyne.
403 Kms
 |
| Day 2 |
A beautiful
morning in Cooma. A clear blue sky and about 12c. A hearty breakfast at the The
Lott Foodstore and on the road about 9am.
There were lots
of groups of bike riders having breakfast around Cooma, getting ready to take
advantage of the perfect riding conditions.
Out the Snowy
Mountains highway, one of the most highly regarded motorcycling roads in
Australia, and I was able to take advantage of the weather, the road and a very
powerful motorcycle. A fabulous cruise to Adaminaby, apart from one farmer who
decided to turn in front of me from a side road. That’s what brakes are for. Straight
through Adaminaby until a left turn onto Link road takes you straight into
Kosciuszko National Park. the speed slows a bit from here as the road narrows
and twists, but the scenery compensates.
 |
| Near Mt Selwyn |
 |
| Tumut river |
Past the Mt
Selwyn Turnoff and onto Goat Ridge Road which winds down the sides of a
mountain to a valley where you follow the Tumut River. The road becomes Elliott
Way and rises out of the valley and eventually comes to a junction with Tooma road.
Left takes you back to Khancoban, which I have done in the past, right takes
you to Tumbarumba, which was on today’s menu.
Tumbarumba is a
pretty town, and I stopped for a fresh juice and a cup of coffee. I can’t see
the word Tumbarumba with thinking of “Stomp the Tumbarumba”, the 1963 hit for
Johnny Devlin with backing vocals by a very young trio of Gibb Brothers.
 |
| Tumbarumba |
From Tumbarumba I
headed to Manus, a small town with a large correctional centre which until
recently, housed a friend of mine in need of correcting. From there I followed
Jingellic Road to the very small town of Jingellic, nestled on the Murray River.
Across the bridge into Victoria and turn left to follow the Murray River back
to another Murray river Crossing where Murray river Road becomes The Alpine Way
and takes you to Khancoban. A quick stop here for some lunch and it was time to
tackle Kosciuszko. From Khancoban, the alpine Way circles the Kosciuszko
National park and the Mountain it was named for. Past Thredbo and on to
Jindabyne. A beautiful sight, coming over the last hill to see lake Jindabyne
stretching out before you under a deep blue sky.
 |
| Murray River near Towong |
I have usually
stayed at Rydges Resort in Jindabyne and finished up walking some distance to
the Banjo Paterson Inn for drinks and dinner. This time I stayed at Banjo
Patterson. a very positive move and I had a very pleasant Evening.
Monday 19th
November, 2018
Jindabyne -
Suggan Buggan - Buchan - Lakes Entrance
 |
| Day 3 |
In March I rode
the mostly unsealed Barry way from Jindabyne to Buchan for the first time.
Although invigorating, it was also a very nerve wracking ride and I thought
that I would not be doing it again. But I have been thinking about it quite a
lot and I had decided that I would do it again. I looked for excuses not to
right up to breakfast. The weather was perfect, the bike was running great and
I was still keen. No excuses.
I headed down
Barry Way about 8.30am on a beautiful sunny morning. I don’t know if some work
had been done it, but the road surface seemed better than I remembered and I
made pretty good time and was not too nervous.
I had several stops to take photos and there was practically no traffic
at all. A very enjoyable ride through truly stunning country.
 |
| Barry Way |
 |
| Barry Way Lookout |
 |
| Bridge on Barry Way |
 |
| Snowy River |
 |
| Victorain Border Barry Way |
 |
| NSW Border |
 |
| Barry Way |
I stopped in
Buchan and partook of my survival kit prepared for the worst case scenario.
Bananas, muesli bars and a bottle of water in the beautiful grounds of Buchan
Caves Reserve Visitors Centre. It was only another 50km on to my destination for
the day, Lakes Entrance. As I approached the town centre I could smell the salt
air. How Lucky to be breathing fresh mountain air one night and sea salt the
next.
 |
| Historic Trestle bridge near Lakes Entrance |
 |
| Lakes Entrance |
 |
| Wildlife, Lakes Entrance |
 |
| Breakfast, Lakes Entrance |
Tuesday 20
November, 2018
Lakes Entrance -
Heyfield - Maffra - Licola- Jameson - Mansfield - Beechworth.
450 Kms
 |
| Day 4 |
I planned to head
up to Beechworth for the night and decided to go through Mansfield, a bit west
of my previous travels. I could see on the map a road that would go north from
Heyfield, through Licola to Jamieson and Mansfield and on to Beechworth. The
GPS refused to play ball and wanted to take me much further west towards
Healesville which would have made it a much longer ride.
So I took it one
town at a time to Heyfield and then on to Licola. Lovely windy country roads on
the edge of the mountains had me in a good mood. I got to Licola and found a
very small village. General store was closed for the day. I could see the one
road heading out the other side of the town and there were signs saying subject
to ice and snow in winter, carry chains and that the road was closed until 2nd
November except for permit holders. No problems. Well past the 2nd of November.
It did not mention the surface.
It was 90 km to
Jamieson so I headed up the mountain on a pretty good bitumen road. 10 Kms in
the bitumen stopped. I was feeling pretty confident from my dirt adventures the
day before so I ploughed on thinking 80 kms to go, the last 20 or 30 will
probably be sealed anyway.
A typical
unsealed mountain road. Some sand. Some gravel. I took it nice and slow and
kept going. I came to areas with lots of large potholes and corrugations.
Country changed from climbing mountainside to a wooded plateau area on top.
There was very little sign of traffic in the recent past and I was starting to
wonder how long it would take to find help if something went amiss up here.
On the second
half I started encountering very stony sections of road. Like very uneven
cobblestones sticking out of the road and loose rocks the size of cricket balls
all over. This had me crawling along in first gear with the front wheel
bouncing all over as it slipped off the side of rocks. Every time I thought I
was through a section of rocks it would start again and went on for quite a
while.
Finally I could
tell that I was coming down the mountain. The odometer said I had about 20 Km
to go and still no sign of a sealed road. The gravel went all the way to
Jamieson. I was very pleased to get back on the bitumen. That left 138 Kms to
Beechworth and by the time I got there I was spent.
A lovely dinner
at the Empire Hotel made me feel much better about the whole experience.
Wednesday 21st
November, 2018.
Beechworth -
Myrtleford - Bright - Mt Hotham - Omeo - Anglers Rest
200 kms
 |
| Day 5 |
I had managed to
book myself into The Blue Duck Inn at Anglers Rest. The Blue Duck Inn is the
only thing at anglers Rest on the Cobungra River 30 Kms north of Omeo. I had
read about it and was keen to try, knowing it would be a short day’s ride and
giving me the afternoon to slow down.
It had rained
most of the night at Beechworth and was still raining when I went to breakfast.
by the time I was getting on the bike it had stopped. As I headed through
Bright I could see that the mountains were shrouded in fog and knew I would hit
that on the climb to Mt Hotham. I had experienced that before.
Leaving
Harrietville I began the climb to Hotham and fog enveloped me. But it wasn’t
too bad and I could see some distance ahead. Until I got to about 10kms short
of Hotham. The fog was as thick as I had ever seen. Vision was down to about 2 or 3
meters. It was all I could do to follow the orange line on the left side of the
road. Very, very slowly. Fortunately there was no traffic. No one else was
stupid enough to be out in these conditions. Some parts of this road have sheer
drops on both sides, but I never saw any of that. I was extremely relieved to
reach Mt Hotham where I stopped for a pot of tea and a long sit. The barman said to me "you can sit here as long as you like mate." I don't know what he saw on my face, but he was on the right track.
By the time I
left Hotham and headed down towards Omeo, the fog was almost gone and I could
see blue sky above.
A lovely run down
to Omeo. I stopped there for a snack and petrol with only 30 Kms to go to Anglers
rest. I got there just after 1pm.
The Blue Duck Inn is a beautiful old pub building which has kept all it’s historic charm. I checked in and made my way up to cabins at the back. First little surprise, no electricity. There were electric lights but no power points. There was a fireplace to light if it got cold and a gas stove to cook or boil the billy. No phone reception. So I turned everything off and settled down for a low tech afternoon and evening. I’m sure it won’t kill me.
 |
| Cabin at the Blue Duck Inn |
 |
| Accommodation cabins at the Blue Duck Inn |
 |
| Blue Duck Inn |
 |
| Dining Room, Blue Duck Inn |
 |
| Cobungra River beside the Blue Duck Inn |
Thursday 22nd
November, 2018
Anglers Rest –
Corryong – Tumbarumba – Tumut – Gundagai – Goulburn – Oyster Bay
770 Kms
 |
| Day 6 |
A lovely dinner
and a couple of glasses of wine and a technology free night. It rained most of
the night and was still drizzling in the morning. There would be no breakfast
available at the Blue Duck so I thought I may as well get on the road sooner
rather than later. With no internet I was unable to check weather forecasts or
radar images, but it was already raining so I expected wet.
I left Anglers
Rest at 6.45 and headed north up Omeo Highway. The plan at that stage was to go
through Khancoban, Cabramurra and Adaminaby and spend the night at Cooma.
It was slow going
on the windy mountain road in the rain, but I was making reasonably good time.
Going over Glen Wills I noticed the rain drops looked very peculiar. Then I
noticed that the sides of the road and the trees were all turning white. I was
being snowed on and not just a little bit. My visor started to ice up and I was
continually wiping it clear. The thermometer on the dash said -.5c.
It was time for
some serious slowing down. I was somewhat concerned at this stage about how
slippery the road was going to be. The snow did not build up on the bitumen but
seemed to melt away immediately. I crawled along in 2nd gear for
about 40 minutes. If I wasn't so concerned about slipping over I could have really
enjoyed the scenery. Although my toes were starting to go numb. Not having been
able to see any weather predictions before leaving, I hadn’t taken any extra
warming precautions. I had nice thick socks and thermals in the bags going to
waste.
When I finally
started coming back down the mountain the snow eased and then stopped. The rain
had stopped as well and I had a more pleasant ride through Mita Mita,
Tallangatta and on to Corryong where I planned to stop for breakfast.
Coffee and a
bacon and egg sandwich at the Black Sheep Café in Corryong and things were
looking up. I was finally able to have a look at some weather forecasts. The
forecast for the Snowy Mountains was snow squalls, rain, strong winds and about
1c. Friday's forecast was for strong winds all the way from Cooma to Sydney.
Time for a change of plan.
I decided to go
around the Snowy Mountains so I headed north through Tumbarumba, Tumut and
Gundagai. I still got plenty of rain and wind on this route, but nothing too
nasty. I was very thankful for my very expensive jacket and pants. They
performed perfectly in the extreme weather.
I had filled up
with petrol at Corryong so I didn’t need to stop for a while. I had considered stopping
in Yass for the night, but since I reached there by 1.30pm I thought I might as
well keep going. I had one final stop at Goulburn for coffee and petrol and
then it was on to Oyster Bay. I was at home about 5pm with 770 Kms on the clock
for the day. Probably my biggest day ever. After a 6.45 start, rain, snow and
strong winds, I was very glad to be home. I won’t be thinking about another
bike trip for while.
