Month: February 2018

Eden to Marlo

billrider2013Leave a comment

40450370782_5365000048_m

I left Eden and rode the short distance to Boyd Town that is opposite Twofold Bay.

Boyd Town

The history of this place is quite interesting. Follow the links with the Wikipedia Article

Genoa

After a brief stop in Boyd Town I continued onto Genoa. The riding was quiet tough with narrow verges and some steep hills.

Genoa is a dying town. The Princesses Highway by passes it and so do most people.
There is a pub and ‘free camping’ which is somewhat popular with ‘grey nomads’ in campervans. I pitched my tent and headed into ‘town’ for some food.

I had a very ordinary meal in the pub. That was all that was on offer.

The only other customers in the pub were a couple on motorbike. She was Finnish and she was riding a Harley Davidson. He was an Aussie on a Moto Guzzi. They were interesting to talk to. He had riding in many parts of the world – India, Nepal, Argentina and Africa as well as the USA and the UK and Europe. I was impressed that she was ride such a bit bike.

Cann River

In the morning, I headed off with no breakfast.
It was a tough ride to Cann River over quite a steep hill. It was hot.

When I arrived in Cann River I decide that was enough for the day and checked into a motel. The pub does offer accommodation anymore. I had a meal in the pub. I was only marginal more palatable than the Genoa meal.

‘Old Coast’ Rd

In the morning I decided to take the ‘Old Coast’ Rd to Bemm River.

This turned out to interesting but tough. It is a unsealed road that appears to been recently graded. The problem was that there were large section of sand. This would be ok in a 4WD, but was not good on a heavily laden bicycle. I fell off three time as bike slide from under me. I also had to push the bike for large sections.

Snakes

I saw four snakes on this road. I didn’t stop to take any photos as they may have been Tiger snakes. They will come after people.

Bemm River

I had never heard of Bemm before. It turned out to be a really nice place. The town is on the lake between that river and the sea. Apparently, it is great for fishing, but is still a ‘well kept’ secret.

I stayed in the camping ground and had a great meal at the pub.
One of the topics of conversation among the customers and staff in the pub was the number of snakes they had been seeing. The locals put it down to “the lack of recent bushfires and good rains”.

Options for Getting to Marlo

There seemed to a number of options to get to Marlo, which was my next objective. These included: the coastal track that, as its name suggests runs along the coast, the ‘Old Coast Rd, which is a bit inland, and going back to the Princess Highway on a seal road and then another sealed road to Marlo.

I ruled out the first option on the basis of advice from the bloke who looking after the camping ground. He told me that there was “too much sand for you”. He also said that “there was a shit load of sand on the next part of the ‘Old Coast’ Rd.

Bellbird

In the end, I decided to take the long way to Marlo via Bellbird where I stayed the night. Bellbird has a pub and nothing else. The pub is for sale. Soon I think there will be nothing in Bellbird.

Marlo

In the morning, I headed off down the Princess Highway before turning east towards the coast and onto Marlo.

It was raining heavily when I arrived in the town and decided to take a cabin in the camping ground. This turned out to be a good idea and the rain intensified through the afternoon and into the night.

Snowy River

Marlo is where the Snowy River meets the ocean. There has been a lot of dispute about the amount of water the is directly down the river from the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

There seemed to be a reason flow at the moment.
In the morning I went for a walk along the Snowy River Estuary. It is worth doing if you are in the area.
Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHskwN52Th

Garmin Links
Eden
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2513819361
Genoa
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2513819434
Cann River
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2519788171
Bemm River
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2519788233
Bellbird
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2519788299

About Twofold Bay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twofold_Bay

 

Candelo, Merimbula and Eden

billrider2013Leave a comment

40331232882_87b7ccc304_m

I left Nimmitabel after short stop at the café for a coffee and lots of ‘pre-loading’ of water. It was going to be another hot day.

Down the Brown Mountain

It was a relatively short ride to the top of the Brown Mountain. This was followed by a short sharp descent down to Bemboca where I had lunch

Candelo

I decided to skip going to Bega and Tathra and head off the Monaro Highway to the small village of Candelo. The only accommodation available in Candelo was camping in the local park.

There were some other people in this ‘free camp’. There were a young couple from Malta who were travelling around Australia in a campervan and an older couple who were travelling a very large ‘campervan’ which was a converted bus. The bloke in the bus told that he and his wife had been “on the road for 7 years and couldn’t living any other way”.

I ended up having a meal in the Candello Bowling Club after deciding that the pub had a ‘touch of the Faulty Towers’. Neither the pub or the bowling club had EFPOS it was all ‘CASH ONLY’. I think these places need an ATO audit.

Onto the Coast and Merimbula

Leaving Candelo, I headed towards the coast. A short ride brought me onto the Princess Highway which is the main highway running along the coast into Victoria and through to Melbourne.

I had booked into a place that had been the Merimbula YHA. The woman running the place told me that “owners were trying to sell the place didn’t want to keep paying the YHA fees”.

When I was planning the trip I had hoped to catch up will an old Department Foreign Affairs colleague and his wife. They are both retired and have a house in Merimbula. Unfortunately for family reasons that were not in town.

I had two full days in Merimbula. It is a great spot with an excellent beach.

Nano Brewery

It was drizzling when I left Merimbula and headed south. I stopped briefly in the Longstocking ‘Nano’ Brewery just south of Pambula. As the owner explained, his “brewery is smaller than a micro-brewery”.

Big Ship in Eden

As I rode on to Eden, I was passed by a surprising number of buses heading both North and South.

When I got into Eden I headed to the Great Southern Hotel. The main street was a ‘hive of activity’. It turned out that there was a big cruise ship in town and the buses were transporting the passengers to the local sites including Merimbula.

Non-Pedestrian Crossing

I spent a full day in Eden. It has an impressive harbour which was once the site of a major whaling industry.

A feature of the town is the most bizarre traffic ‘control’ system that you will ever see. They are four ‘non-pedestrian crossing’. These are painted blue and give the appearance of being standard pedestrian crossings. However, closer inspection reveals signs telling the pedestrians to “give way to vehicle”. Several locals told me that “they have been the cause of many near misses”. I plan to bring is issue up with the local council and the Roads and Traffic Authority.

Flickr Links
Candelo
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmemNsTC

Merimbula

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmexLoyd

Eden
https://flic.kr/s/aHskww6YPy

Garmin Links
Nimitabel
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2501388657
Candelo
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2501388696
Merimbula
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2509201675

Nimmitabel

billrider2013Leave a comment

26385467498_701a2a2294_m

After some days in Cooma, it was time to head to the coast.

My first stop was to be the very small own of Nimmitabel.

Strong Winds

I headed off along the Monaro Highway. It was good to be back in the saddle after of few months off the bike.

As I rode along the wind, which was already vert strong, got even stronger. This wasn’t a problem when it was directly behind me as it simply pushed be along. However, the road changed direction and this meant that wind was hit me side on. This made riding particularly difficult. It was even more of a problem when I was passed by big trucks. They caused a mini ‘wind shadow that sucked me towards them, irrespective as to whether they were coming towards me or from behind. I soon learned that it was between to stop when they were passing.

Check out the video of the winds blowing through some poplar trees.

The Federal Hotel

I had made a reservation at the Federal Hotel ‘on-line’. When I arrived at the hotel, I thought I had made a mistake as it was closed and looked derelict. As I was about to call the number of the hotel, the door opened, and bloke appeared. He said, “I assume that you are one I my quests for the evening”. He was the publican.

The publican helped me get my bike into the hotel and showed me to my room. The inside of the hotel was I lot different to the exterior. It obviously been recently refurbished. More on that later.

The publican told that he could offer a very limited range of food, so “you might want to try the café or the bakery”. I took his advice. As it turned out, the café was closed, and the bakery was about to close. I managed to get a pie at the bakery.

The Big Elephant

A feature of the bakery was a large elephant. Check out the photo. This was not something that you would expect in small village on the Monaro. I was told that elephant, who is known as George, was brought to Nimmitabel from Bali by the former owner of the bakery.

Later in the trip, I was told by a bloke in Eden who frequently travels on the Monaro Highway that before George, there was statue of a naked woman at the bakery. Apparently, this statue upset the locals and was taken down.

I like elephants, but is I also like naked women. It is a pity both statues could not be on show.

Old Blokes on Old Bikes

When I returned to the pub, the other guests started to arrive. They were also on bikes, but of the motorised kind.

They were a group of middle aged blokes from the mid north coast of NSW on a tour.
They were riding an assortment of old bikes including a JAP, an Indian, an AJS, a Harley Davidson and some older Japanese bikes. They were characters to say the least. There was some disharmony within the group, particularly when came to splitting the food and drink bill and the end of the night.

It was interesting to chat to some of them about bikes and travel.

The Pub is doing Well

I also had a chat to the publican. He told me that he was from Canberra and took over the pub three years ago. Prior to that, it had been closed for over ten years. He said that he refurnished the bar first, and then a few of the rooms. Over time he has done more work on the place. His busiest time in the in the ski season. Accommodation in the resorts is tight and the demand for accommodation is high in Berridale and Cooma. This a has now spread to Nimmitabel. He offers rooms, some with bunk beds, for only $60 per night. As a result, the place nearly always full booked in the ski season.

Proposed Rail Trail

I noticed a number ‘cut out of bicycles’ in on the building in Nimmitabele. These are part of a campaign for the development of a Rail Trail on the disused rail that runs from Queanbeyan through Cooma, Nimmitabel and on to Bombala.

I am a huge fan of Rail Trails. In fact, this trip will include the Grippsland Rail Trail from Bairnsdale to Orbost. However, it has to be said that the Monaro fairly remote from major population centres. It is likely that funding for the Rail Trail will be difficult to get.

Off to Brown Mountain

After a night in Nimmitabel the next leg of the trip was down the Brown Mountain to Candello.
Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmaT7UUE
Garmin Link
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2498586715

 

Cooma Again

billrider2013Leave a comment

26343576798_ac22cfc5b8_m
I took a bus from Canberra to Cooma. This would seem to be a rather old thing to do, given I have my bike with me. The simple fact is that this part of the Monaro Highway is very boring and I have travelled on it lots of times. Last year I rode along it on my way over the Snowy Mountains and down the Murray River (refer to post below).

Old Cooma Boy Remembers Girl with Unusual Name

On the bus, I got into conversation with a fellow passenger. He turned out to be a former Cooma ‘local’ who was making a flying visit to the town from Sydney. I told him a about my association with the town through working with the Australian National Audit Office (ANOA) and having the Snowy Mountains as a client. I told him that I got to know a girl with an unusual name when I was working in Cooma. I mention be in a previous post in 2013 (refer below).

It turned out that bloke been to school with the said girl. We chatted about her quite a bit. It is not just her name that is memorable.

The Royal Pub

I had booked into the Royal Pub which is in the ‘old’ part of Cooma. Over the time that I worked in Cooma, I must have stayed in nearly all of the motels and hotels in the own. However, I never stayed in the Royal Hotel. It is a classic country pub.

Craft Brewery Moves into Town
On my ride through Cooma last year, I stopped off at Brewery and Gin Distillery, that had opened up at Four Mile, which is as the name suggests, is 6 kilomtres out of the town on the way to Jindabyne.

I was intrigued as to whether the place was still going, as it didn’t seem to be an ideal location and the owners had told that they were not getting any support from the pubs in the town. I did a search on the internet and found that brewery was now located in the main street of the town. It turned out that the address of the Brewery was the Australian Hotel. I went there hoping to get a good craft beer.

As it happens, the Brewery is in the process of moving into the pub and at the time of my visit, the move was yet to be completed. However, it is good to see that business is still going and I wish them well.

Heading to the Coast

I was good to spent time in Cooma again. The next stage of my trip was towards the coast.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsksYMz5e

Post in 2017

Mountains and the Murray Part One

Post in 2013

Heading Into the Mountains. Some Memories of the Past

Days in Canberra

billrider2013Leave a comment

28309788219_936cb9fb72_m

I took the train from Sydney to Canberra.

I spent much of the journey sitting next to a bloke who was very interested in trams and trains. He told me that he was a retired lawyer and one of his retirement jobs was being a member of the board of the Sydney Tram Museum. I have visited the museum. It is worth a visit.

I thought that I had been on a few trains in my time. This bloke and his wife have only a few major train trips, e.g. the Blue Train in South Africa, to complete before they have done all the ‘great train journeys’ in the world.

It was good to see that the train to Canberra was full.

Prime Minister’s XI

One of the reasons I was heading to Canberra at this time was so I could attend the Prime Minister’s XI Cricket Match. These matches are played between and invitational XI select by, or on behalf of, the Prime Minister and the oversea side who are touring the country at the time. This year the match was against England who had been soundly beaten in the ‘Ashes’ Test series.

The PM’s Matches were started by Bob Menzies who was a huge cricket fan. After his retirement the matches were replaced by contests between local ACT and Southern Districts rep sides and the touring teams. Bob Hawke resurrected the PM’s XI Matches when he became Prime Minister in 1983.

An old friend and fellow Highlander’s CC team mate had organised tickets for me and his family to attend the match.

Prior to going to Canberra, I spoke to another former Highlander’s CC team mate about the match. He said he wasn’t going because “it was a T20 game and it was at night”. He then went on to recall the match between the PM’s IX and the West Indies in 1984. He recalled the details of that match in ‘unnatural’ detail. I was at that match with him, but to not have such vivid recollections of it.

My mate pointed out that Bob Hawke personally picked his team. It included that then Australian captain, Greg Chappell and a young David Boon who was then starting his first-class career. The team also included two great Australian fast bowlers, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. This was to be the last time that they bowled together.

The West Indies fielded close to a full strength team. Checkout the link below. That was a serious good team.
The PM’s IX Matches are a great event. One that most notable matches was in 1963. This match featured Don Bradman. I was taken to the match by my parents. Unfortunately, I have a very vague recollection of the match.

The ground where that matches of played is Manuka Oval. It is a great cricket ground. As my mate’s brother noted, it has that same surface area as the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
As it turned out, the Englishmen flogged the PM’s team. Nathan Lyon, the captain of the PM’s team was once a groundsman at Manuka. His ‘local’ knowledge was no use as he was hit for 5 sixes and a 4 in one over.

Lunch other Meals

The next day I had lunch with some ex Highlands, their wives and other friends.
On other days I also caught up with other old friends including fellow ex Canberra High students.

Rally Against the Adani Mine

On Monday, I attended a demonstration at Parliament House against that Adani Mine with an old mate and his wife. This a questionable project in Queensland. It is difficult to see the rationale for the project on any measure. I suspect that the mine will not go ahead because it is simply a dud ‘business proposition. The banks will not support it.

Old Parliament House

After the demonstration, we walked down the hill to the ‘Old Parliament House’. It is interesting to walk around the building, including the House of Representatives chamber and the Prime Minister’s Office.

I had a picture taken on the steps leading into King’s Hall. This is where Gough Whitlam made his famous “My God Save the Queen” speech on the 11th of November 1975.

Garema Place

One last comment: The buildings in Garema Place need to be demolished and whole area needs to turned into a European style ‘city square’.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmcMvCMH

Sydney Tram Museum

Sunday 25th February 2024 – Sydney Vintage Tramway Festival

PM’s IX Match 1984
http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1983-84/OTHERS+ICC/WI_IN_AUS/WI_PM-XI_24JAN1984.html

PM’s IX Matches including Bradman in 1963
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister%27s_XI