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Hi, I thought you might be interested in my latest little minor adventure.
On Sunday I loaded up the bike with camping gear and headed north of Sydney, up the freeway for a bit, and onto Peats Ridge Road,
past Wollembi and Broke. Historic roads (built by convicts over 150 years ago) and rural roads with wide sweeping bends through
green valleys with picturesque farmhouses and paddocks stocked with horses and well-fed cattle. I stopped at the Wollembi pub for
a drink, then pushed on through a gravel road and onto the New England Highway - but not for long. I found a lake called Liddel where
there was a campsite, overlooking a humming powerstation. It was windy so I pitched my tent below the windline...
... but within view of the power station. I opened a beer .......
... and watched the sun set.
The next day was a mixture of wide and fast (but boring) highway riding, plus some more interesting valley roads high up in the Hunter
Valley (the sign says the Hunter River) ....
... but I soon found myself on dirt roads (my choice in avoiding highways) along a most beautiful valley ... no fences, just cows ...
and potholes !
I stopped to brew up some coffee and cook my brunch of egg and bacon - 1 car went passed - I saw four on that road in total.
Dirt road riding in a road bike is not fun ... a bit nerve racking and the road got worse, winding up and down some hills - no-one about.
So I went slow, dodging pot-holes, and ruts and gravel patches.
It was over 2 hours and 74kms before I hit bitumen again and could relax and open that throttle. Another pub beer at a sleepy town called Nundle,
where I watched a young lady visiting friends in the town on horse back, and back on the road (after mustering a few stray cows on the
road myself - as you do).
Then I reached Tamworth - the home of Australian Country Music ... I climbed to the lookout above it and had a think ...
So did "Red Stripe"...
and we both agreed it was time to have some luxury, so we visited the "Golden Guitar" and then booked into a motel and a steakhouse.
Bugger the music !
After a good sleep we dropped into a local biker shop to re-lubricate the bike (I was right after the night before) and was told that our plan to
go west on the Oxley Highway was wrong, we should go east as this was "the best ride in Australia".I had no maps for the eastward journey but
after 15 minutes of westward boredom I turned around, crossed the city again and figured I could buy a map if I needed to. He was right!
It was so good I never stopped to take a picture - the next valley, bend, curve or straight was too enticing.
(but I found out later I actually missed out on the really good part of the Oxley Highway - see the Sep 08 trip:
http://sites.google.com/a/sadlersinoz.com/redstripe/Home/winding-windy-oxley-highway )
At a town called Walcha I stopped for a coffee and a chat with fellow bikers heading to the other side of Australia, then I turned South
along Thunderbolt Way - named after Captain Thunderbolt - a highwayman in that area in the late 19th century. Another wonderful road.
130kms with not one village and very few junctions, although on the day I rode there were three roadworks occuring. I stopped to cook
brunch again and have a snooze in the shade.
Click on this 3nights1000kms - part 2 or the link below to find Part 2 of this story.
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