I had booked a
week off some time ago not knowing where I would go or if I would be able to go
at all. About 7 weeks ago I sprained my ankle walking the dog and it has been a
long, slow recovery. A shoulder problem that started as a dull ache about a
year ago has deteriorated to the point I had to do something about it.
Apparently I have arthritic degeneration resulting in a spur on the AC joint.
Something to do with age they tell me. A cortisone injection has greatly
improved it, but I still tend to ride one handed quite a bit. All that aside, I
hit the road anyway.
Earlier on I had
planned a stop in Young and then north through Cobar and Bourke up to
Cunnamulla and back down the New England. I realised late in the piece that
would be far too hot and there are too many fires burning and more springing up
every day. The plan has changed to turn south.
Saturday 16
November
Oyster Bay -
Goulburn - Crookwell - Boorowa - Young
370 km
 |
| Day 1 |
I still wanted to
go to Young as a night there had been on my list of things to do for some time.
Left home about 8.3am under dark clouds. Actually got a few raindrops before I
hit Wilton. After that is was pretty mush sunny all day.
Down the Hume to
Goulburn. Worst part of the trip, broken by a pot of tea and an Anzac biscuit
at the Meridian Cafe in Marulan. A quick rest for the shoulder. Not far from
there to Goulburn and then off the freeway and head to Crookwell. Beautiful
country roads from here on. A petrol stop at Crookwell and straight on to
Boorowa. Boorowa Road is a bit rough in places but fun to ride. Through Rugby
and then in to Boorowa. I found a very workable Hamburger in town before the
last 50 km into Young.
 |
| Inside the Meridian |
 |
| Outside the Meridian |
 |
| Boorowa |
I had booked the
Federation Motel which turned out to be across the road from Young Services
Club and was owned by the club. A very nice Motel.
 |
| Federation Motel - Young |
I had a wander
around town, and despite there being quite a lot of pubs in town, none of them
appealed very much. I did walk into a couple and had a look at the beers on tap
and then walked out again. I thought I might as well try the Services club as
it was close to home. A nice club which started off quiet until all the kids
and parents turned up for the kids dance concert. Very noisy. I got an early
dinner before the concert finished as I thought it would get very busy. I can’t
blame the club, but I did make a very poor menu choice which I paid for later.
 |
| Scenes From Young |
 |
| Young |
 |
| Young |
Sunday 17th
November
Young - Temora -
Narrandera - Jerilderie - Finley - Deniliquin - Echuca
500 kms
 |
Day 2
|
Had breakfast in
the Motel room and hit the road about 9am. Great weather and cool temperature.
Pleasant riding. I went straight through Temora and on to Narrandera where I
stopped for Petrol and Coffee. A large group of Ulysses Club bike riders in
town also having coffee. My main memory of Narrandera is the train station. As
a kid going back and forth to boarding school, there was always an extended
stop and change of trains at Narrandera. Going to Sydney it was dinner at
Narrandera and coming from Sydney it was Breakfast at Narrandera. The breakfast
was always best as it meant I was going home. They had an open fire in the
station dining room in the winter months and served a very presentable bacon
and eggs. After a term at boarding school it was heaven.
From Narrandera
it was straight down the Newell Highway to Jerilderie, famous for Ned Kelly’s
letter. I was going really well and decided not to stop here and went straight
on to Finley where I found a Chiko roll waiting for me in the only cafe open on
a Sunday afternoon.
Then on to
Deniliquin for a petrol stop. I grew up 120 km north of Deniliquin and it was
always considered the opposition. Mainly to all the sporting teams in town, but
apart from that it was always looked down upon. As a result I spent very little
time there. Now it looks like a thriving hub with an active cultural life and
mammoth hit in the annual Ute muster that draws 20,000 people who must spend a
lot of money in town . Well done Deniliquin. What amazes me even more is that
only another 80 Kms south is Echuca which is a fabulous town, but as a kid I
didn’t really know it existed.
And Echuca was my
next and last stop for the day. I had booked 2 nights accommodation thinking I
would have a tour around the district on the day in between. That didn’t exactly
work out.
 |
| American Hotel |
 |
| American Hotel |
 |
| American Hotel |
Monday 18th
November
Echuca - Barmah -
Echuca
 |
| Geese on the road - Echuca |
After a bit of
research last night I finished up booking myself on to a 2 hour river cruise on
the Murray through the Barmah National Park. Barmah is about 30 Km from Echuca,
so it was a short ride to be there by 10am. Barmah is a tiny town with a long
aboriginal history. the Murray goes through a narrow strip called the Barmah
choke, the narrowest part of the Murray, for about 8 kms.on the south side is
Lake Barmah and on the north side is lake Moira, all surrounded by the largest
River red Gum forest in the world. Look at this.
The 2 hour cruise
was beautiful and very informative resulting in lots of photos. I got back to
Echuca about 1pm for a quiet afternoon and wander around the town.
Tuesday 19th
November
Echuca -
Shepparton - Euroa - Alexandra - Healesville - Yarra Junction - Noojee - Hill
End - Moe
400 kms
 |
| Day 4 |
Another lovely
breakfast at the Black Pudding Cafe in Echuca and time to go. I had spent some
time programming the gps to get me to Moe and avoid freeways. I had no idea
where it was going to take me.
lovely country
roads to Shepparton and then the road to Euroa was even smaller but a beautiful
ride through farming land. Crops, cattle and sheep alternated along the side of
the road. Very pleasant riding indeed. Through Euroa and then down to Yarck
(yes, that’s a place) Then Alexandria and on to Buxton. Crossing a bridge in
Buxton I could see off to my left 2 guys in waders standing in the small stream
fly casting for trout. Absolutely beautiful country. This and a few other
streams I saw were running very quickly. Must be from melting snow in the
nearby mountains.
 |
| Near Healsville |
 |
| Near Healsville |
On down to Yarra Junction,
after which I was in mountain country, then through Gladydale, Three Bridges
and Powelltown (contains a pub called the Powelly). I am including these towns
so I will know how to find it again because it is a superb drive through
magnificent country. Forests of tall trees with occasional views of huge
valleys and the mountains in the background. Highly recommended. At Icy creek I
turned south and headed down towards Moe. The country opened up to reveal incredible
views of wide open valleys and farms looking south towards Wilsons Promontory.
And everything green. Lush, rich greens of every hue in every direction. No drought
here.
Got into Moe and
found the motel for the night. A very pleasant room. I had to use the air
conditioner to warm up. A cold night. After a quick walk around town I finished
up in the Moe Hotel for a very forgettable Dinner. Prospects for breakfast did
not look good.
 |
| Moe |
 |
| Moe Hotel |
Wednesday 20th
November
Moe - fish Creek
- Yarram - Sale - Lakes Entrance - Orbost
370 Kms
 |
| Day 5 |
I had as fairly
short trip today only going to Orbost. So instead of finding breakfast at Moe,
I thought I would take a detour to Fish Creek. This is further south and very
close to the entrance to Wilsons Promontory. I knew it was a very small
community with a bit of an art thing going for it. I was there about 9am. It
was smaller than I had thought. Very pretty, but no obvious breakfast venues. Finished
up with a bacon and egg roll at the back of the service station opposite the
pub. I’ve had worse.
 |
| Fish Creek |
 |
| Fish Creek |
 |
| Fish Creek |
From there it was
a fantastic ride through Foster, Yarram, Longford and Sale. I only stopped at
Sale to program the GPS to try and avoid some of the highway to Lakes entrance.
It worked. I went through Perry Bridge, ignoring all the signs that said “local
traffic only’, coming out at Bairnsdale. A quick run down to Lakes entrance and
I stopped for some lunch at my usual breakfast cafe.
 |
| Lakes Entrance |
 |
| Lakes Entrance |
 |
| My favourite café Lakes entrance |
After that it was
a short run to Orbost and in for the night. The fish and chips at the Orbost
Club was pretty good.
Thursday 21st
November
Orbost - Bonang -
Delegate - Bombala - Nimmitabel - Cooma.
280 Kms
 |
| Day 6 |
Heading north
from Orbost on the Bonang Highway is always interesting. 80 Km of very windy
bitumen, 10 Km of gravel mountain road and then on to the usual country roads
from delegate on. I have done it a few times now. So far on this trip I had
spent at least 50% of the riding time with cruise control on resting my right
arm and shoulder. I couldn’t do that on the windy roads or the dirt. I did
manage about 15% which was just enough to get me through. I was glad when I
reached the end of the dirt. One kangaroo tried to get me, fortunately I had
both hands on the bars and was able to brake very hard. Missed him by about a
meter.
Had a coffee at
Bombala and had to make some decisions. It was already 30 c at 8am before I
left Orbost and by the time I got to Bombala it was 36c and blowing a gale. I
had planned to go to Jindabyne and then on to Cooma, but I knew the fantastic
wide open riding of the Snowy river Road to Jindabyne would be a real pain in
this wind. I decided to go straight to Cooma through Nimmitabel getting me to Cooma
about an hour earlier. That was the right decision. An air conditioned motel
room awaited me. As I write this at 5.45pm, it is still 36c.
Friday 22nd
November
Cooma – Numerella
– Braidwood – Nerriga – Nowra – Oyster Bay
400Kms
 |
| Day 7 |
Very pleased to
wake to a cool morning in Cooma and after a light breakfast, set off about 8
am. I had considered not taking Cooma Rd, my preferred option with about 60 km
unsealed, but I just couldn’t face the thought of battling the cars on the
Monaro Highway. I was also concerned about how much I would be able to do the
one handed trick to rest my shoulder.
In the end I took
the plunge and I was very glad I did. No traffic, great scenery, an enjoyable
ride. Lots of wildlife along the road, but I was already going slow on the
dirt. Plenty of Wallabies keeping an eye on me and great to see a live wombat
wandering around on the edge of the road.
A quick petrol
stop in Braidwood and then up Nerriga Rd with some more dirt, although it is
less every time I take this road and there is always roadwork underway as they
seal the full length of the road and build a new bridge over Mongarlowe River.
I was soon back
in Nowra and then had to join the frantic traffic on the Princes Highway. No
fun here. Grin and bear it back to Oyster Bay. Home about 1pm after a very successful
2,400 Kms.
 |
| Full trip |
