Friday March 10
Oyster Bay - Nowra - Nerriga - Tarago - Bungendore - Cooma - Jindabyne
500km
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| Day 1 |
I had booked this week off before Christmas
and it came around very quickly. Plan was to see some more of the Victorian
Alps and base myself in Omeo for 2 days. I decided to go straight through to
Jindabyne instead of the usual Cooma making it a 500 kilometre day. A good day’s
ride with no problems. New jacket and pants to get used to as well as a new
gps. All as a result of the drenching on my last trip in December.
I had to book a different Motel a. It was further
from town because the usual was booked out. There was a triathlon in town on the
Saturday morning and BMW safari on the
Sunday. My plan was to stay one night and head down Barry Way the next morning
to Omeo for three nights. Fortunately I rang Omeo to bookend the whole town was
booked out Saturday night. The local picnic races were on and it was a long
weekend on Victoria. I did manage to book Sunday and Monday in Omeo. Tuesday
was also booked out. They told me it was the annual car sale. I thought how big
can a car sale be in a town of 500 people. A quick check explained that it was
the annual calf sale and it was a big affair.
So I had a spare Saturday a and Saturday
night. I booked a second night at the Alpine a resort motel. My first thought
for Saturday was to do loop of the Kosciusko National Park but I had seen that
there would be road closures for the triathlon.
Second thought was a round trip to Bega and Merimbula. Good idea.
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| Home of Kosciusko Pale Ale |
Saturday 10 March
Jindabyne - Dalgety - Bemboka - Bega - Merimbula - Pambula - Wyndham - Bombala - Jindabyne.
400km
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| Day 2 |
Had
a nice slow start today. Found an excellent cafe in town for muesli and coffee
and hit the road about 9.30. Great run across to Dalgety and then to the top of
Brown Mountain. No traffic. No police. Good roads. Quick riding. The trip down
the mountain went well. Not too fast. Lots of twisty bends. When you get to the
bottom of Brown Mountain and head through the valleys to Bemboka, this is some
of my favourite countryside anywhere. Beautiful lush green hills and valleys.
Lots of Dairy farms. Bemboka is a lovely little community with not a lot
happening. My kind of place. Great run down to Bega and I went straight through
and out the Tatura road, but turned off on the Sapphire Coast highway headed for
Merimbula. I had thought to stop there for some lunch, but it was way too busy.
Kept going straight out to Pambula and stopped at the Rye Bakery which has been
on my to do list for some time. Steak and mushroom pie and very nice coffee.
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| Rye Bakery - Pambula |
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| Rye Bakery speciality |
On the road again and up Mt Darragh road,
through Wyndham and on to Bombala. Always a few bikes stopped in Bombala and
this was no different. A quick coffee and back on the road to Jindabyne. Got
back about 4pm with 400 km on the clock.
It turned out that right next to the motel
I was in was the Jindabyne brewery. It was open to the pub If and it was
packed. I had a couple of beers and would have had something to eat but it was
just too crowded. The previous night I had noticed a Persian restaurant and
decided to give it a go. It was booked out. The Japanese restaurant was also
booked out. Plenty of room in the Chinese so that’s where I finished up.
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| Brewery next to my Motel |
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| Inside the brewery |
Sunday 11 March
Jindabyne - Suggan Buggan - Buchan - Bruthen - Omeo.
350 km
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| Day 3 |
Barry Way runs south from Jindabyne down to
the Victorian border where it becomes Snowy River Road and continues on to
Buchan. Most of it follows the Snowy River through the mountains. Most of it is dirt. Last time I was down here
I was planning to ride it but the weather looked too threatening. Today there
was no excuse. A beautiful clear blue sky. I took the plunge. For the first
section I passed lots of bikes doing the GS safari and going the other way.
Once I passed the road they were turning in from it got a lot quieter, although
I did pass bikes sporadically the whole way.
It quickly turned into a goat track with
tight corners and very long drops off the side. It was very slow going.
Eventually it came down beside the Snowy and leveled out a lot. The scenery
along the River was amazing, though I rarely took my eyes off the road
surface which was continually changing. Had the odd 4wd appear out of nowhere
around a corner, but nothing too close. At the far end it was a goat track again
as I went over some more mountains before coming back down into the valleys for
the run into Buchan, picking up the bitumen on the way.
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| One of the better parts of Barry Way |
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| And again. |
Had a stop and a night to eat at Bruthen,
feeling a little spent but well pleased with accomplishing the trip. The
temperature was now into the 30s which didn’t help the energy levels.
A good 100 km run up to Omeo where I’m
booked into the pub for the next 2 nights.
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| Omeo |
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| My accommodation in Omeo |
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| Omeo |
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| Morning fog in Omeo |
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| A group of adventurers spent the night at Omeo |
Monday 12 March
Omeo - Mitta Mitta - Kiewa - Myrtleford - Bright - Mt Hotham - Omeo
320 km
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| Day 4 |
The pub was interesting. Very busy. A group
of trail bike riders were in for the night and a couple of road bike riders
like myself. A few other travelers staying and the place was full of locals
for dinner.
Breakfast was included with my stay.
Cereal, bacon, eggs, toast, baked deans, tea and coffee. Reading that is going
to sound a lot better than the reality. It did the job.
By the time I got on the bike at 9am it was
11c. I headed up the Omeo Highway which I have not ridden before. Apparently it
has only been fully sealed recently. Typical windy mountain road with amazing
scenery, little traffic and a good surface. Very little traffic, but there was
no speeding to be done. First sign of life is Anglers Rest which pretty much
consists of just a pub, the Blue Duck Inn. I had tried to book in here but it
was fully booked for the long weekend. Pity. It looked like a great spot. It
was on a River with a camping area with a few campers in residence. Good for
trout apparently. Might be worth an overnight stay sometime.
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| On the Omeo Highway |
The Highway continues on to Mitta Mitta,
another Mountain gem snuggled in a beautiful valley. Had a very good coffee in
the pub that looks old but has been modernised inside. While I was there
some guys in the BMW GS rally started to arrive. They had come through from
Thredbo. The same group I had passed the previous morning as I was leaving
Jindabyne. Another spot worth a
return visit. Out of the mountains now,
the road followed the valley through beautiful farm lands to Kiewa, a very
small community where I turned back onto Kiewa Valley Highway and headed back
south to Myrtleford. There had been a festival in Myrtleford for the long
weekend and there was a stream of cars leaving town. All the way from
Myrtleford to Bright was like a traffic jam going in the opposite direction to
me. Bright must have been jam packed as it was still quite busy when I got
there.
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| Mitta Mitta Pub |
Lunch in Bright at the Blackbird Cafe which
I have been to a couple of times before and really enjoy. Japanese style
frittata which was great but way too big to finish.
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| Cafe in Bright |
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| Japanese style frittata |
After lunch I continued down through
Harrietville and over Mt Hotham. This is always a fantastic ride or drive. The
scenery is amazing and every time you think you’re at the top it just keeps
climbing until you reach the Mt Hotham ski resort which is on the top.
After Mt Hotham you start the downhill run
to Omeo. A lot less twistys but great riding and more magnificent scenery.
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| Mt Hotham with bike |
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| Mt Hotham with bike and rider |
I got back to Omeo about 4pm after a great
days riding. I thought the pub would be quieter than the night before, but
people kept arriving. These were country people in town for 74th annual calf
sales at Omeo the next day. By dinner time the pub was packed.
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| Curried beef at the Golden Age Pub, Omeo, watching the sunset |
Tuesday 13 March
Omeo - Bruthen - Bairnsdale - Sale - Lakes Entrance
320 km
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| Day 5 |
Another cool morning in Omeo. 10c when I
went across the road to find breakfast at a cafe. Couldn’t face the pub breakfast again.
Left town about 9am. Great run down through
Swifts Creek, Ensay and Bruthen and then on to Bairnsdale and Sale. I didn’t
need to go to these places but I had the day to fill in. Back on the Princes
Highway in the traffic was no fun at all after a few days of quiet country
roads. I finally got into Lakes Entrance about 2pm. A nice place and easy to
spend a night.
The floating seafood restaurant was booked
out but the floating Chinese restaurant was able to fit me in. Had a great meal
of local snapper steamed with ginger and shallots followed by chilli chocolate
spring rolls with ice cream and berries. Fantastic.
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| Lakes Entrance |
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| Floating Chinese Restaurant |
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| Steamed Snapper, Asian greens and steamed rice |
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| One of several sculptures in Lakes Entrance |
Wednesday 14 March
Lakes Entrance - Orbost - Bonang - Delegate - Bombala - Nimmitabel - Cooma
310 km
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| Day 6 |
A beautiful morning in Lakes Entrance.
After reading the paper I wandered down the street to a nice little cafe I had
been to before and which makes a great coffee. Off to a good start.
Today I was off to Cooma for my last night
before heading home. This involved one of my favourite roads, the Bonang
Highway. No one has ever heard of it, which is good, because there is hardly
any traffic on it. That and the fact that there is 10 km of dirt road in the
middle of it. Keeps the riff raff away.
The Bonang starts in Orbost and heads due
north. Before long you are into fairly tight twisty roads through beautiful
forests. Probably saw 2 cars in this first 50 Kms. Then you start to climb and
eventually hit the 10 k dirt section. The first time I did this I was very
nervous and went very slowly. Today was my third time and I must say I have
gained a lot of confidence on the dirt and I moved along quite well.
Passed a few small black wallabies. Some
bolted across the road. A couple just sat and watched me go by. Today I also
passed two snakes lying in the middle of the road. Not together. A few
kilometres apart. Both brown I think. On both occasions, by the time I realised
they were snakes I was only a few metres from them. Both had been lying
perfectly still, but turned and headed for the side of the road as I went past.
A sure sign that there had not been much traffic through. The dirt section was
in quite good condition today, with only a few sections of corrugations at the
southern end. The rest was good and I was able to sit on 60 to 70 Kmh. On the
straights. Still slowing down for the corners.
Back on the bitumen around the community of
Bonang (I couldn’t call it a town. Not even a village) and more beautiful
country side. You cross the border back into NSW just before the village of
Delegate, which is a very old town.
From there it a short hop to Bombala. My
second visit this week. The bakery manages a very efficient piccolo and this
time it was accompanied by a berry muffin.
I am yet to stop in Bombala when there hasn’t been at least a couple of
other bike riders stopping for a coffee. Today was no different.
From here it was straight up the Monaro
Highway to Cooma. The last part of this road I have never done before because I
have always turned off to either Jindabyne or Bega. A lovely smooth ride into Cooma arriving about
2pm.
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| At the Nebula Motel - Cooma |
Thursday 15 March
Cooma – Numeralla – Braidwood – Nerriga – Nowra – Oyster Bay
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| Day 7 |
Spurred on by new found confidence on dirt
roads, I had decided to try a different way home from Cooma. After a hearty
breakfast at The Lott of course.
Instead of the usual boring trip up the
Monaro Highway through Queanbeyan and Bungendore, I took the old Cooma Road
through Numeralla. I knew this would involve some dirt. Turns out it was about
60 Kms of dirt, but in pretty good condition. The country side was great. Lots
of grazing properties and some forests in the middle. A few log trucks went
past but they were not an issue.
I really enjoyed this route and especially
the lack of traffic. I stopped at Braidwood for coffee and then continued up
Nerriga Rd, another new route for me. There was probably another 30 Kms of dirt
on this road, but again, in good condition. Going this way meant I was able to
go from Cooma to Nowra with virtually no traffic. Heaven.
Got home about 3pm. Nowra to Sydney in the
traffic was no fun. All in all a great week away and some new roads I am
already looking forward to riding again.
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| I used a Spot GPS tracker that took my position every 10 minutes. This is the result. |
