February 2017 – billrider2013

I took the train from Central to Campbelltown where I boarded the Southern Tablelands train to Bowral. This is an easy way of getting out of Sydney with a bike.

I had lunch in Bowral before riding on to Moss Vale. This is a nice part of the world and very expensive nowadays.

I caught another train to Goulburn and stayed in the Empire Pub for the second time in less than a month. It will probably be my last stay in Goulburn.

Collector

My next stop was Collector. It is less than 40 klms from Goulburn, but I want to stay at the Bushranger Hotel.

The hotel is one of two businesses in the village – the other is a café that is only open Thursday to Sunday.

The pub is a bit rundown. The publican told that he and his wife “are looking to buy the place”. There was a bit of story to this. In short: his wife is a local and her family have a farm near to the village. Her sister has worked in the pub for many years. The owner of the place is lawyer in Sydney and is looking to sell. The publican is on short term lease, but wants to buy the place because he and his wife want to live in the village.

As it turned out, wife works at Foreign Affairs and Trade. She knows some of my ex-colleagues at the Department.

Canberra

In the morning, I headed into Canberra past Lake George. It is a rather unique lake in that there is no river running into it. Over the years it periodically disappears.

I had a few days in Canberra. One of the things I did was to attend a concert by the Australian Youth Orchestra at the Conservatorium of Music. On the pieces in the concert was Elgar’s Cello Concerto. This is one of favourite pieces of music. The best version of by Jaqueline Du Pre. Check out the YouTube link.

While I was In Canberra the multi-cultural festival was on. There was lots of food and music. All very good.

Bredbo

Leaving Canberra, I headed to towards Cooma. I hate to think how many time I have been on the road over the years. It is a lot.

I decided to stop in Bredbo and camped behind the pub. Bredbo is a bit like Collector – there is very little there.

When I awoke, I found that I had a flat rear tyre. This a pain, because I have a Rohloff internal gear hub. It can be very tricky to put back into the frame. I prefer to do puncture repairs where there is someone to help me put the wheel back into the frame.

I wheeled the bike to the one and only café in the village. When I was drinking my coffee and ute pulled up. I asked the driver if he was heading into Cooma. He said was and offered me a lift.

Cooma

I repaired the puncture at place that sold farm equipment – mainly quad bikes. There was a Ducati in the window this is very similar to that owned by a mate in Canberra. The manager of the shop said that the bike was his and it wasn’t for sale. He said that I was “worth at least $60K.

With puncture fixed, I took a short ride around Cooma. The town has a lot of memories for me.

Leaving Cooma, stopped at Brewery and Distillery at the ‘Four Mile’. I had brief chat with the owner. He told that the business was going well. However, also told me something that I have often heard from owner of craft breweries in country towns. That is that it is very difficult, if not impossible to get the local pubs to sell their beer. This is often due to the fact that the pubs are ‘tied’ to the big breweries and they won’t allow the pubs to sell anything other than their beer. The other reason is that the locals “don’t want to try anything different”. They prefer mass produced beer like Carlton Draught, Toohey’s New and the worsed beer in Australia – XXXX. Unfortunately, this has a lot to say about the attitudes of people in most Australian country towns.

Berridale

I rode on to Berridale. The area between Cooma and Berridale in somewhat unique. It seems to be perennially dry and there are a lot of big rocks in the paddocks.

I stayed in the Berridale Hotel. I was okay.

Jindabyne

Next day I rode the short distance to Jindabyne. I am old enough to vague remember the old town of Jindabyne before it was submerged by the lake that was built as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electricity Scheme.

Staying in Jindabyne bought back memories of many trips to the mountains for skiing.

Thredbo

Next morning I headed up to Thredbo. It is far, about 40 klms, but it is a steady climb. I stopped at Lake Crackenback for lunch. It is a very pleasant spot.

While I was in in Thredbo there wwas a Mountain Bike race. Some of the competitors were totally mad. There were lots on injuries.

Flickr Links

To Canberra

https://flic.kr/s/aHskRiqHRj

Canberra Multi-cultural Festival

https://flic.kr/s/aHskShsnZY

To Thredbo

https://flic.kr/s/aHskPDAXTW

Garmin Links

Collector

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1575614831

Canberra

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1575614852

Bredbo

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1585990753

Berridale

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1585990787

Jindabyne

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1596767224

Thredbo

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1596767320

YouTube Link – Elgar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgdbqt2ON0

South Coast

I stayed two nights in Goulburn. I am not sure why.

Leaving the city, I stopped off briefly at the railway museum. I find these places fascinating. They are a representation of technological change. I often wonder what ‘artifacts’ of today that will be deemed worthy of being kept and who will be bothered to keep them and where. It is easy to keep old rail maintenance yards in a place like Goulburn because no one wants land for anything else.

Tarago

I rode on to Tarago. This is a tiny place. It has a school, a service station with a shop and the Loaded Dog Pub: apart from a few houses, that is about it.

The pub does ok because it is very popular with motorcyclists that like riding on the ‘back’ road from Canberra to Goulburn or onto Nowra and on the coast.

I had a good meal and a few beers, chatting to the owners and some locals.

Canberra

Next morning, I continued onto Canberra via Bungenbore .

I spent a couple of days in Canberra. I am warming to the place.

To Braidwood

I left Canberra on a very hot day on the King’s Highway towards the coast.

It was a tough ride in the heat.

Being seen on the Road

Not far from Braidwood, a car pulled up beside me and then accelerated ahead. I noticed that the car had pulled off the road ahead of me and driver was standing next to the car.

As I got closer I recognised the driver as bloke that I had worked with at the Sydney Habour Foreshore Authority. As we chatted he told me that he had “seen on Facebook that was in the area”. When he saw the bike, he “he thought it must be Bill”. We had a good chat.

Company in the Pub

I had booked into the Royal Mail Hotel in Braidwood. It is classic country pub. I have stayed there a couple of times before.

That night was the Men’s final at the Australian Open. It turned out to be a classic – Federer v Nadal with the Swiss winning a thriller.

There was a small Jack Russell in the pub. It sat next to me as I was watching the tennis. I assumed that it lived in the pub.

After the tennis, I went up to my room. I wasn’t asleep for long when I woke up will a really bad cramp. This often happens when I ride on a hot day. I needed a drink and head down the corridor to the bathroom to get some water.

When I got back to my room the dog was outside my door. I went in and closed the door. The dog started scratching at the door and was crying. This went on for some time. Finally, I had had enough and opened the door. The dog came in a lay down on the floor. I left the door open.

In the morning, the dog was nowhere to be seen.

I headed down stairs where I ran into the publican. He asked me if I had had a good night? He told him yes, but “your dog wanted to get into my room”. He told “that’s not my dog” (just like the line out of the Pink Panther movie). He told that the “dog’s owner lives down the street, but the dog thinks that it can go anywhere it wants, include spending a lot of time in the pub – I can’t get rid of him”.

Down the Clyde in Extreme Heat

The forecast for the day was for temperatures in the low forties centigrade. That is seriously hot.

I drank lots of water and took and extra 2 litre bottle in addition to the two that I normally carry. I knew that it was going to be tough, but it was only about 25 klms to the top of the Clyde Mountain, so I figured that I would be okay.

I was an easy ride to the mountain followed by a good descent. Check out the video on Flickr.

I have been on the road down the Clyde and on to the coast numerous times in cars, and on motorbikes. This was my first time on my bicycle.

I had not realised that the road from the bottom of the mountain to Nelligen, on the Clyde River, is very undulating with lots of short steep hills.

The temperature was rising fast the air was still. I was sweating ‘like a pig’. It was really tough going.

I checked phone to see how far it was to Nelligen where I knew that I could get some more water. It was only 3 klms to go, but I was almost out of water. I was on a hill and decided to start walking to conserve energy and hopefully reduce the amount I was sweating.

I had not walked for long when a ute pulled up in front of me. The driver got out and asked if “I was okay”? Just was he asked me that question, my left leg started to cramp up. I said I was probably “not okay”.

We loaded the bike and the pannier’s into the ute and headed over the Clyde River into Bateman’s Bay. I was really glad that the bloke stopped and gave me a lift.

Batemans Bay

I stayed in the ‘The Bay’ for a couple of days. This included a beer with my London host who was staying with his aunt in a nearby town.

Mollymook

The next stop was Mollymook and the main reason for this trip. Some old school friends had organised a reunion, one of many that we have had over the years. They ae becoming more frequent now that we are retired.

These reunions are great. As they say: ‘with old friends you just recommence the conversation where you left off last time’.

Huskisson

After the reunion, I rode to Huskisson on Jervis Bay. This is a great spot. I stayed in a camping ground next to the bay. This was good except for the last night when it really poured with rain. I got really wet.

Nowra and onto Sydney

In a rather damp state, I rode to Nowra where I caught the train to Sydney.

Flickr Links

To Tarago

https://flic.kr/s/aHskTgQiuV

Canberra January 2017

https://flic.kr/s/aHskTBugQH

South Coast

https://flic.kr/s/aHskTW9LV3

Garmin Links

Tarago

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1536707010