1st December, 2017
Oyster Bay – Katoomba - Lithgow – Rylstone – Merriwa – Scone
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| Day 1 |
480 Km
It was time to squeeze in a 4 day trip before Xmas arrived.
My first choice at this time would be to do the Snowy Mountains trip, but
fortunately I checked and found that on Saturday 2nd December the
Snowy l'Etap bicycle event was being held around Thredbo and a number of roads
would be closed and the rest would be extremely busy. Not to mention all the
accommodation in the area.
So back to the drawing board to find a new route for 4 days,
3 nights. I had something planned when the weather forecast was saying that the
East coast was in for an extreme weather event over the same weekend. The worst
was to be in Victoria, but it would extend into the area that I intended to
visit. After much contemplation I decided that I would go anyway, knowing that
I could change my plans on the fly if necessary.
I set off on Friday morning to quite a nice sunny day and
had a very good run. It is always a chore getting out to Liverpool, then
Penrith and up to Katoomba, with lots of traffic and crazy drivers, but I made
good time and had no stops.
Once you pass Lithgow it finally feels like you are in the
country and you can relax a lot. I made the usual stop in Rylstone for
dumplings and tea at 29 Nine 99 yum Char and Teahouse which is always a treat.
Leaving Rylstone, there were a few clouds around and the
temperature had been around 21c all day. By the time I had got to the end of
the magnificent Bylong Valley, the sky was clear and temperature was nudging
32c. This is always a great stretch of ride and I recommend it. At the end of
Bylong Valley Way I usually head to Muswellbrook, but this time I turned North
and went to Merriwa and then across to Scone. This was a couple of roads I
hadn't done before and they were lots of fun and scenery was great. The country
changes considerably as you approach Scone. By now I had a clear sky and 35c. I
got into town about 3pm and checked into the Royal Hotel Motel in the middle of
town. A nice old pub with motel style accommodation at the back. The rooms were
tired, but did the job. Dinner at the pub and ready for the next day.
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| Scone |
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| My accommodation - Scone |
Saturday 2nd December, 2017
Scone – Murrurundi – Quirindi – Coonabarabran – Gilgandra –
Dubbo
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| Day 2 |
440 Km
Breakfast at a nice café in the morning then I was keen to
get underway. It hadn't started raining yet but it was very overcast. I headed
north on the New England Highway through Murrurundi. Lots of very wealthy
looking horse studs in this area. No shortage of money. At Willow Tree I went
left on to the Kamilaroi Highway and on to Quirindi. I left the highway to go
through the middle of the town as I had never seen it before. Nice looking town
and bigger than I thought.
The skies were looking ominous but I was starting to think I
may get away with it and go around the northern end of the storm.
Just after Quirindi I turned off the Kamilaroi onto
Coonabarabran Rd and headed west. This was a lovely minor road through some
very small communities and some great looking farming country. All the small communities
were active because it was the day of the New England by-election which Barnaby
Joyce won easily so all the community halls were set up as polling booths and
the sausages where barbecuing out he front. I could have had a free sausage sandwich
in every town.
About halfway to Coonabarabran it started to rain lightly.
The gear was holding well and I was enjoying the ride. A bit of rain can be
quite pleasant. As I got into Coonabarabran it stopped long enough for me to
stop and have a cup of coffee. I met a couple also on a bike who were from Queensland
and were on there way to Melbourne to catch the ferry to Tasmania. They knew
they were in for a very wet time but were undaunted.
I left Coonabarabran and headed towards Siding Springs
having decided to go through the Warrumbungles on my way. About 30 kms in I came
to a tree down across the road and several cars stopped and waiting for
emergency services. I decided to turn around and head back to Coonabarabran
which was a 60 km round trip going nowhere. It was raining lightly again by
this stage.
Onto the Oxley Highway and heading for Gilgandra. Still
raining but all was OK. Until I got to about 15 kms out of Gilgandra. Then out
of nowhere, some of the heaviest rain I have ever seen, on or off the bike. I
couldn't even see the road in front of me and I had to slow to a crawl, hoping
there was nothing coming up behind me. Very soon after I saw a large roadhouse
on the right and I pulled in there and under the canopy. It was pouring. I
waited about 10 minutes until it slowed enough to be able to see about 50
meters, but was still raining heavily. A big semi pulled out from the roadhouse
going in my direction so I followed about 15 meters behind him just watching
his tail lights. We passed Gilgandra and headed towards Dubbo which was my stop
for the night. It was about this point that I realised I was pretty much soaked
and that my waterproof gear had failed completely. It was then I realised just
why some guys spent thousands of dollars on adventure riding gear when you
could get something similar for hundreds of dollars. I decided to join them.
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| Dubbo |
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| Dubbo |
The rain continued to ease but never stopped. I got into
Dubbo and went straight to the motel which was a great comfort. The main
problem was going to be getting the gear dry before I had to put it all on again
the next morning.
Sunday 3rd December, 2017
Dubbo – Peak Hill – Parkes – Forbes – Grenfell – Young –
Boorowa – Queanbeyan
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| Day 3 |
An overcast morning in Dubbo. My gear was almost dry, just a
bit soggy around the edges. After a walk down to the centre of town to find
some breakfast, I got back into the dampish and gear and headed south towards
Peak Hill.
I had a good run, but the rain drizzle started soon after leaving
Dubbo. Straight and uninteresting roads, but pleasant scenery and very little
traffic. I passed through Peak Hill, Parkes, Forbes and Grenfell without
stopping, planning to have a break at young, a town I have never been to before
and was keen to see.
Very pleasant country side approaching Young with cherry
orchards appearing on the horizon and a few unmanned “cherries for sale”
wheelbarrows at front gates.
As I got into town, things started to look crowded. There
seemed to be a fete of some sort happening and there were some very large
crowds. When I got to the main street it was a traffic jam and the footpaths
were filled with people wandering the town. There were also lots of fancy
looking vintage cars doing the crawl.
I found a spot to squeeze in a motorbike and had coffee in
a café. Way to crowded for me. As soon as I had finished I was back on the bike
and heading out of town. It wasn’t till that night after doing some research
that I found the first weekend in December is the Australian Cherry Festival.
In Young. So much for the sleepy Sunday afternoon I was expecting.
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| Young |
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| Young |
From Young it was a very pleasant ride down Murringo Road to
Boorowa. Still a gentle drizzle happening, but not enough to dampen my
enthusiasm. Straight through Boorowa then on to Yass, Murrumbateman, around the
edge of Canberra and into Queanbeyan which was my camp for the night.
I had chosen Queanbeyan instead of Canberra thinking the
essential services that I required, such as Motel, Hotel Restaurants etc. would
be within walking distance. Whereas in Canberra things tend to more spread out.
Queanbeyan did not let me down. 5 minutes walk from my motel there were 4
Hotels and after trying a couple, I soon settled on one for an extra beer and
dinner.
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| Pub in Queanbeyan |
Monday 4th December, 2017
Queanbeyan – Bungendore – Tarrago - Nerriga – Nowra – Oyster Bay
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| Day 4 |
320Km
I had breakfast in the motel the next morning and got away
to an early start for the run home. Still a bit of rain about, I headed to
Bungendore, Tarago, Nerriga and Nowra. A very familiar stretch these days as it
has become my got to gateway to the Snowy.
No stops along the way, I was quite happy to get home by
this time after the weather I had had. Some of my gear was still a bit damp. My
next trip would definitely be in new jacket and pants that hopefully would not fail
as soon as the rain became torrential.
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| Trip stats |
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| 4 day trip |
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