Echuca and Beyond - November 2019

 

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