Northern New South Wales - Winter 2018

Saturday 16th June, 2018

Oyster Bay -  Katoomba - Lithgow - Rylstone - Merriwa- Willow tree - Quirindi

Loaded and ready to go

470 Kilometres

Time for my first winter ride for 2018. I’m feeling pretty confident about cold weather touring after the last couple of years. But that may be in for a battering.

North in winter is the usual mantra and I planned exactly that this year. My usual path is through the mountains, the Bylong Valley and the up the New England Highway. A slight change this year. The usual start, including dumplings at Rylstone and into the Bylong Valley. 

Dumplings at Ryestone - again

 Prior to that, going through Katoomba and black Heath, the temperature dropped to 3c. I consoled myself with the thought that it shouldn’t last long.

Half way through the Bylong Valley, at the village of Bylong, I turned left on to Wollar rd. This is an unsealed road most of the way and added a bit of spice to the trip.

The road changed with soil type, as they do, so it went from hard packed clay to gravel to sand and various combinations of the above. Some areas had severe corrugations which I really don’t like.  There were a couple of moments where I thought to myself “what have I got myself into here”. But those moments didn’t last long and all in all it was a great road with some really good country that you would not normally see. Apart from a close call with an emu that decided to dash across the road, all went well.

This road bought me out at Merriwa where I turned left onto Scone road and then a quick left on to Coulson’s Creek Road. More dirt, but in pretty good condition. This took me through to Willow Tree on the New England Highway. Just out of Willow Tree I turned left on to the Kamilaroi Highway and a short trip to Quirindi, my stop for the night. I had been through before but this was my first overnight stay. Not much happens on a Saturday night in Quirindi. Fortunately, I’m good with that.

Qirindi

Evening sky  - Quirindi

Shop front - Quirindi

Sunday 17th June, 2018

Quirindi - Werris Creek - Tamworth - Walcha - Armidale - Ebor - Grafton- Casino

550 Kilometers

After a very country breakfast at a cafe in Quirindi, I left town just before 9am. It was 7c and I was content with the thought that it could only get warmer. It did. a bit. For a while. Through Tamworth it got up to 9c and I thought, here we go, warmth. But I had decided to go through Walcha for a small taste of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way.

The temperature slowly began to drop. As I approached Walcha on the Oxley Highway it hit 3c which threw up an ice warning on the dash. All the this time the wind had been increasing till it was incredibly strong. I’d say with wind chill it was about -5c. Approaching Walcha I started to notice something out of the corner of my eye falling to the ground, but I wasn’t quick enough to see it properly. Then I had drops of water running down my visor, although it was not raining. Finally I realised it was snowflakes that were turning to liquid as soon as they hit the visor. Cold.

I went through Walcha and decided to keep going in search of warmer weather. Usually on a Sunday morning at Walcha you would see many motorbike riders doing either the Oxley Highway or Thunderbolts Way. This day I was the only one stupid enough to be riding in the weather.

From Walcha to Uralla to Armidale to Ebor to Tyringham, the temperature hovered between 3c and 5c and the wind never let up. I was feeling cold. I had a few layers on, but most annoyingly, I had another pair of thermals in the bags that I could have been wearing. It was a matter gritting the teeth and getting on with it.

After Tyringham, as I continued up Armidale road to Nymboida, I finally got some shelter form the wind and the temperature started to rise.  By the time I got to Grafton it was about 15c. Heaven.

100km on to Casino and I was very happy to get in to a motel room and warm up.

Casino in the morning

Monday 18th June, 2018

Casino - Nimbin - Murwillumbah - Natural Bridge - Numinbah - Nerang - Beaudesert- Mt Lindsay - Killarney - Warwick

350 kilometres

Lots of country I have never seen before today. First stop Nimbin. I’ve heard so much about it over the years but I’ve never been there before. Absolutely magnificent country. Dramatic mountains, beautiful green valleys, tall forests and lots of flowing creeks and rivers. Wonderful road for motorbikes and not much traffic today. Nimbin looked very welcoming. I’m a big fan of hippies. I could be one. But Nimbin seems to be full of Hippie extremes. I’m sure they are all lovely. But seeing so many in one place was a bit unsettling. I’d probably get used to it.

Nimbin rocks

Nimbin

The road continues on to Murwillumbah. The scenery is just spectacular all the way and Murwillumbah looks like a great town. Then on to Nerang and then turn west to head for Beaudesert. I have found some wonderful town names on my travels, but Wonglepong is right up there. Not much of a town, but a great name.

I stopped in Beaudesert for fuel and lunch and then headed down Mt Lindsay Highway. I have done this section before and I love it. Twisty Mountain road that turns into a small back country road, with plenty of potholes, before going through Killarney and into the back of Warwick.

A beautiful clear blue sky all day and no colder than 12c. I put everything on leaving Casino, but by most first stop at Nimbin I had to remove a layer. If only I had done that the day before.

Warwick Hotel. Lovely but closed.

Tuesday 19th June, 2018

Warwick - Inglewood - Goondiwindi - Moree - Warialda - Inverell

470km

Another beautiful clear blue sky in Warwick. But cold. Around 4c when I went to breakfast. I left town about 8.30 when it was about 7c but slowly dropped to 5c. This is a long stretch. 100km to Inglewood. 100 km to Goondiwindi. After a half hour or so of travelling at 110kmh in 5c temperature the cold really starts to seep in. Even though I had all the layers on. Not as  old as my trip through Walcha on Sunday. But getting there. By the time I reached Goondiwindi it was up to about 9c. Nice.

A quick stop in a park for a toilet break and walk around and I was straight off to Moree. I thought the road from Goondiwindi to Moree, The Newell Highway, aka the middle of nowhere, would be fairly quiet. It was the busiest road since I left Sydney. Streams of semi-trailers and caravans. Most of them going north, but enough going south to keep me constantly overtaking.

Stopped for petrol in Moree. A balmy 15c by this stage. Feeling good so I headed off to Warialda on the Gwydir Highway. Very little traffic here and I had a nice ride. Went through a few herds of cattle that were on the road, not necessarily travelling, but eating the more plentiful feed in the road corridor. The long paddock.

A stop in Warialda for coffee and a sandwich and the last 50 k into Inverell. I had booked in to Inverell for 2 nights and thought I would have a day off to explore the town. I had been through Inverell once before and was amazed at the size of it and I have always intended to come back. It seemed like a good place for some r and r.

Wednesday 20th June, 2018

Inverell

A whole day of not going anywhere. The novelty wore off by the afternoon. I should have planned a day trip on the bike. Still I had a good look around town and did a lot of walking. That can’t be a bad thing.

McIntyre River at Inverell

Inverell graffiti

Inverell Morning

Thursday 21^st June, 2018

Inverell – Bingara – Narrabri – Coonabarabran – Mendooran – Dunedoo – Gulgong – Mudgee

507 Km

After a quiet day in Inverell, I was ready to get back on the bike. Another cold morning and I put everything on. Turned out a god decision.

I had to retrace my steps to the village of Delungra and then turned left on to the minor road to Bingara. I saw a signpost at the turn pointing to the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial which I was keen to see. It was only 20 km down the road where I turned off to a parking area and followed a path to the memorial site. Very moving place and worth the trouble to find it. Fascinating but terrible story behind it can be found here.

Myall Creek - entrance

Myall Creek - car park with bike.

Myall Creek memorial

Myall Creek

I went through Bingara and on to Narrabri where I had a quick coffee break. From there I continued down the Newell Highway to Coonabarabran. This takes you through the Pilliga State forest, which looks to be a very interesting place, but you don’t see too much from the highway.

Narrabri on a winters day

 A fuel stop in Coonabarabran and then off to Mendooran and Dunedoo where I found a great pie at the Kakkadoo Kafé. Recommended.

A short trip then through Gulgong and into Mudgee for the night. My favourite “last night on the road” stopover. You can always get a good meal and a glass of wine and you only have a half day left to get home. Mind you, it is bloody cold in June.

Mudgee court house on a foggy morning

Friday 22^nd June, 2018

Mudgee – Lithgow – Katoomba – Penrith – Oyster Bay

A freezing morning. Down to Café 89 for Mudgee Mushrooms for breakfast. My last pack up before setting off for home. Another clear blue sky, but chilly and a pretty good fog until I got passed Lake Windamere, and then it lifted quite quickly.

An uneventful trip home. No stops. By the time you get to Mount Victoria you hit the traffic, the trucks and the ever changing speed limits, maximum 80. It gets very annoying from there to home when you really miss those quiet country roads. Getting into and out of the Sydney area is the only downside of these trips.

Home just after 1pm with 2,679 lm on the clock for the 7 days. Feeling relaxed.

Trip statistics

March 2018 - High Country escape

Friday March 10

Oyster Bay - Nowra - Nerriga - Tarago - Bungendore - Cooma - Jindabyne

 500km

 

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.

 

Home of Kosciusko Pale Ale

Saturday 10 March

Jindabyne - Dalgety - Bemboka - Bega - Merimbula - Pambula - Wyndham - Bombala - Jindabyne.

 400km

 

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.

 

Rye Bakery - Pambula

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.

Brewery next to my Motel

Inside the brewery

Sunday 11 March

Jindabyne - Suggan Buggan - Buchan - Bruthen - Omeo.

 350 km

 

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.

One of the better parts of Barry Way

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.

Omeo

My accommodation in Omeo

Omeo

Morning fog in Omeo

A group of adventurers spent the night at Omeo

Monday 12 March

Omeo - Mitta Mitta - Kiewa - Myrtleford - Bright -  Mt Hotham - Omeo

 320 km

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.

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.

 

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.

 

Cafe in Bright

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.

Mt Hotham with bike

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.

 

Curried beef at the Golden Age Pub, Omeo, watching the sunset

Tuesday 13 March

Omeo - Bruthen - Bairnsdale - Sale - Lakes Entrance

 320 km

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.

 

Lakes Entrance

Floating Chinese Restaurant

Steamed Snapper, Asian greens and steamed rice

One of several sculptures in Lakes Entrance

Wednesday 14 March

Lakes Entrance - Orbost - Bonang - Delegate - Bombala - Nimmitabel - Cooma

 310 km

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.

 

At the Nebula Motel - Cooma

Thursday 15 March

Cooma – Numeralla – Braidwood – Nerriga – Nowra – Oyster Bay

 

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.

I used a Spot GPS tracker that took my position every 10 minutes. This is the result.