Mountains and the Murray Part One

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