Narooma 23rd December 2012

Attendees:

• Andrew Campbell Kawasaki ZX14R
• Chris Dietzel Yamaha FJR1300
• Garry McCurley Honda VFR1200

Well most people must have had some last minute Christmas shopping to do, as a hardy band of three turned up for the ride to Narooma. Nevertheless what we lacked in numbers we possessed in spirit!

The route for the day was to be down the Clyde Mountain to Narooma for lunch and then on to Bega and the Brown Mountain to make our way home. We were also going to meet up with Tracey and Michael Winters and Jan and Butch Wills in Narooma for lunch as both couples were holidaying in Narooma at the time.

We decided to have our first stop in Braidwood to have a coffee/pie, etc. We were discussing Chris’ impending purchase of a new bike with the merits of the Kawasaki GTR1400 and the soon-to-be released Triumph Trophy being discussed. Well as luck would have it, Anders of Eurotune had just taken delivery of a new Trophy and lent it to a couple who’d just arrived in Braidwood and had parked it right next to our bikes!

So we all had a good like at the bike and a fine looking machine it is too. Seems like it could be worth a look if you’re in the market for a sports-tourer.

So on to Narooma for lunch at Taylors fish and chip emporium, where we met up with our fellow Ulyssians.

Meeting at Taylors Fish and Chip Emporium

The weather forecast for the day had been for late showers, so I was a bit surprised to see the sky turn very black with thunder being heard occasionally. Looking at the radar I could see that there was no chance of escape as there were storm cells everywhere! So we set off south from Narooma and got to the Snowy Mountains Highway when the heavens opened (and I mean opened). It really bucketed down and with our vented summer jackets we all got pretty soaked. The good news was that after Bemboka the weather turned into a hot summer’s day so we were all virtually dry by Nimmitabel.

We said our good byes at Nimmitabel and continued on our individual paths home.

All-in-all a great ride.

Ride Report – Lake Burrinjuck 16 December 2012

A small group of us congregated at Caltex Nicholls for the Chomp’N’Chat ride to the Burrinjuck Recreation area on 16 December 2012. I had a call from Detlev (Det) Voges earlier in the week (from Murrumbateman) who I’d not met before ‘Sure, come along – We’ll pick you up at Murrum or you could come up to Nicholls’. 

As it happens, Det and his wife Hemmy were already at Nicholls when I arrived. As it’s close to Christmas and some of us may not have been out to Lake Burrinjuck before, I gave an account of what could be expected on the road down into the Lake reserve (narrow and winding, and with the potential of 4WD owners with boat trailers that tend to consume the entire road, the message is to use the provided convex safety mirrors that exist, to allow a look around the corners). It is however a good enough sealed road all the way.

The weather was a bit overcast with winds brewing, but putting a positive spin on it ‘Wets not needed’, we headed out. See the attached images, compliments of Detlev, who posted them to his Dropbox site. One of the Jpeg images is the recorded route taken for the day. What a great idea!

We headed out (the seven off us, including the two pillions) via Gundaroo (via Nanima Road onto the Murrumbateman-Gundaroo Road), Gunning, Hume Hwy (boring!), onto Yass Valley Way, and back to the Hume again (via Yass of course). 30km or so south of Yass we rallied at the turnoff to Burrinjuck.

After about 15km or so more, the road narrows with warning signs ‘Please turn on headlights’. Of course, on bikes we always do! The road narrows, and the last 8km is as expected narrow and winding, so we use the safety mirrors. Not a challenge in sight. If there are 4WD’s with boats, they’re either going our way or already at the lake. It wouldn’t be so easy a week from now though! 

We arrived at the park arrivals area, where normally you could expect to pay a day entry fee of $5, get a #4-digit# access code to punch into the keypad to the boom gates, but luck was on our side; the caretaker asked how many bikes (five) and so she recounted the tale of bikes falling over when people lean over to put their code in for the gate. Sounds ugly. She says ‘Entry on the house today, line up two-by-two at the gate, and I’ll hold the boom open for you’. Great! 

We headed for the shop/service station, to order lunch; a big, fat legendary Burrinjuck burger with the lot ($7) has my cholesterol on the rise again, washed down by a can of coke. A great start to my Christmas diet regime (as if!). We relaxed for a while and headed out on a gentle (I thought, but not for Lin who has recently had a knee reconstruction) walk down past the boat ramp and along the lake front to Carols Creek campground. 

A surprise awaits – I thought we had a lot of rain this year. But they’ve released 30% of the dam for irrigation purposes. I’m coming back here for camping/water skiing for a few days at New Year, so the look of the exposed rocks on the ‘beach’ does not impress. We discussed the geography of the area for a bit (where is the opening to the Murrumbidgee River, where is Wee Jasper and Good Hope etc), and then headed back to the shop. Bade farewell to our fellow riders, and headed out the way we came in. With the majority of the group, I took the short way home via Murrumbateman (Christmas shopping to be done) while Det & Hemmy headed further north-west to catch up with friends in Binalong.

• Ride Leader - Chris Dietzel, Yamaha FJR1300
• Gary McCurley – Honda VFR1200
• Graeme & Lin Barber – Honda Goldwing GL1800 (Red)
• David Greig – Triumph Thunderbird
• Detlev (Det) & Hemmy Voges – Yamaha FJR1300 (ex AFP bike)

Ride Report – 9 December 2012 – Berrima

Michael & Tracey Winters - Triumph Sprint

Andrew Campbell - GL 1800

Chas Towie - ST 1300

Gary McCurley - VFR 1200

Chris Dietzel - FJR 1300

We set off for meeting point at Epic from Bungendore passing police conducting RBT due to the Ute Show at the Showground the night before. We met four other single riders at Epic – where were all the pillions who were looking forward to a few hours Christmas Shopping in Berrima?

We spent some time discussing which route to take. Last week there were stretches of dirt road on the road from Bungendore to Tarago, yesterday there were roadworks out of Canberra on the Federal Hwy near the NSW border, Macs Reef Road is just one long stretch of filled in potholes and today there was the possibility of being breathalysed on the way through Bungendore. As no-one had partied hard the night before it was decided to return to Bungendore via Bungendore Road and fortunately by the time we got there all the ute drivers had been dealt with and the police had moved on. We headed east along the Kings Highway turning left at Braidwood Road travelling through Tarago before joining the Hume Highway at Goulburn. Braidwood Road was enjoyed as it had lots of sweeping corners and is a good alternate to Tarago Road.

We stopped at the usual place at Marulan for coffee. We left after about half an hour with yours truly test-pillioning a Honda Goldwing. I must say that it was very comfortable, much like sitting in your favourite armchair whilst travelling at above 100kms. And I loved the GPS! And whilst I remained true to my original ride, I did have cause to re-evaluate my preference later in the trip. We left the Hume Highway just after Marulan travelling along the Highland Way. Having gone to great pains to avoid the roadworks between Tarago and Bungendore we were horrified to find that kilometres of this road had been dug up ready to be resurfaced. Rocks, gravel, dust from cars going the other way – not to be recommended. We rode through scenic Tallong, Penrose, Bundanoon, Exeter and Moss Vale before arriving in Berrima. 

We dined at the Surveyor General Inn – lovely grilled barramundi, beer battered flathead, great slabs of quiche and a very tasty looking beef and Guinness pie. Alas, no room for desert but I remedied this by purchasing some calorie laden pastries at the Gumnut café to be taken home for ‘Ron. Here I was disappointed that there were no fellow Christmas shoppers on our trip as the pub had a crech operating where we could have safely left our chauffeurs to while away some time. We did a bit of window shopping but never got the dreaded plastic out of the wallet so back to the bikes where we persuaded a kind tourist to take our photo.

Who would have thought some basic physics would have been our undoing? I was already on the bike, when, as Mick tried to gain his seat, it fell over. I do remember thinking “%$# I’m falling off the bike!” before landing in a messy heap on my hands and knees in the gravel on the side of the road. Lesson – parking bike perpendicular to a hill in gravel is not a good plan. Mick will tell you it was the Triumph trying to toss me off after I had sampled the Goldwing but I prefer the more scientific explanation. Everyone kindly rushed to help us right the bike with all concerned that we were OK. I have two matching bruises on my knees and bike has a pannier with some war wounds. Rider OK and bike OK to go.

We stopped for petrol at Sutton Forest and to discuss the bike drop before turning off at Marulan to travel through Bungonia, avoiding an echidna on the road, back to Tarago. We retraced our forwards trip riding back along the Braidwood Road to the Kings Highway. Fortunately a kindly motorist and another rider warned us of a sneaky policeman training his radar on all oncoming traffic. Chris reported that he looked very disappointed as we all travelled past at a sedate 100kms. The original plan to stop for coffee in Bungendore was scuttled due to the rainclouds and wind so while the rest of the riders travelled onto Canberra, we were home in a minute.

A land of sweeping Wings

RIDE REPORT : By Ian Paterson

There’s no December edition of the magazine I edit so I take most of November off and work on my photos, do what I’m told around the house, catch up with friends and rellos, and get out on the bike. There’s something wonderful about a solo trip with no schedule to keep to and only a vague idea of where you’re going. I found it both exciting and relaxing.

On Monday Nov 12, I headed off on the Gold Wing on a six-day, 2005km ride around inland NSW and Victoria. I had been hoping to visit friends in Manilla (near Tamworth) but they were in India so I decided to give the trip a more southern flavour. 

Lachlan River at Warroo

On the Monday I rode to Orange for lunch with a work friend and then to Bathurst to stay with my niece and her family. On Tuesday I decided to follow the Lachlan River downstream so rode to Mandurama and then took a great little back road to Canowindra – they were resurfacing three sections but apart from that and a bumpy bit near Canowindra it’s highly recommended. I had lunch in Forbes and then took Lachlan Valley Way to Condobolin on to Lake Cargelligo.   

Main street Condobalin

The lake is full after all the rain we’ve had the past two years and there were plenty of waterbirds, from pelicans and darters to egrets and seagulls. My motel room looked right over the lake. It was my first time in Lake Cargelligo and I have to say that while the lake is quite beautiful, the town isn’t much to write home about. I had dinner in the top pub (there is another pub known as – you guessed it – the bottom pub) and while the food was OK, nobody was what you’d call friendly. The newsagent, post office and one of the two servos are all for sale if anyone is interested.

Lake Cargelligo (from the motel)

All the maps show the road from Lake Cargelligo to Hillston (further west, down the Lachlan River) as dirt but the locals said it had recently been sealed, so on Wednesday I continued down Lachlan Valley Way and then Kidman Way to Hillston, which is about as far west as you can go on the bitumen. The road was in excellent shape and the country wasn’t nearly as flat as I was expecting, with rocky hills in between ripening wheat crops. 

I was really impressed by Hillston. It is very pretty and seems quite prosperous – possibly something to do with all the cotton being grown in the area – and it has a good bakery in the main street. I stopped for a coffee and meat pie and sauce and then sat beside the river for a while reading before having an early lunch at another café beside the river (it was a punishing schedule to keep to). 

Main street at Hilston

After lunch I headed south on Kidman Way to Griffith, where I found the lookout we didn’t quite get to in October, on to Darlington Point on the Murrumbidgee River, and then east via Whitton and Leeton to Narrandera, where I stayed with some old friends. 

There was lots of catching up to do so I didn’t hit the road until Thursday arvo, riding south on the Newell Highway and then on back roads through Urana, Berrigan and Finley to Tocumwal, on the Murray River. I stayed in the Kingswood Motel, which reminded me a bit of the car of the same name. The owners were quite friendly and the bloke suggested I come back some time with the rest of the Canberra Ulysses mob. It was “Parma Night” at the nearby Bowling Club (chicken or veal parmigiana with your choice of 20 different toppings) so that was where I dined.

On Friday I had a walk along the river and then headed south again to Shepparton, centre of Victoria’s main irrigation area, for lunch with another work friend. Then I headed north-east to Yarrawonga and took the Murray Valley Highway through Rutherglen to Albury. I left Albury with a full tank at 5pm and rode to the Hume Weir, across the long iron bridge and around the shore of Lake Hume in the glorious evening light to Jingellic and up to Tumbarumba for the night. 

The upper Murray was stunningly beautiful – there’s water everywhere (the locals said the lake is higher than it’s been for 20 or 30 years), the cows were up to their armpits in lush green grass, and the road was an absolute joy to ride. Tumbarumba has an excellent motel and restaurant that could be a great place for Xmas in July. 

On Saturday I headed home via Batlow, Tumut and the Hume and Federal highways and gave the Wing a well-deserved wash.

SUSSEX INLET WEEKEND 3RD & 4TH NOVEMBER.

The expectant crowd gathered at EPIC/MACCA’s for coffee with a few tasting the breakfast delights of Macca’s. Introductions all round and a briefing on our intended route the crew were anxious to get moving. 

Left EPIC on route to Bungendore where Michael and Tracey were waiting to join the gang. Very pleasant trip to Tarago. Here Peter, Suzanne and Trevor decided to choose the Nerriga route as an alternative while the remainder followed Chas to Lake Bathurst, Goulburn and stopping at Marulan for morning tea. Weather at this stage was a little unsavoury with a slight misty look about it.

Departing Marulan we headed to Tallong, Exeter, Bundanoon, and Fitzroy Falls with a regroup at the Robertson Pie Shop. As I was leading the ride towards Robertson the Southern ridge looked un- inviting weather wise. i.e. the range had cloud covering certain parts of it. To this end I suggested we put on our wet weather gear as a precautionary measure. After a short distance out of Robertson on the Jamberoo Mountain road we were in the thick of it. Yep rain, visibility down to approximately three metres enveloped in full cloud cover and very vague if not non-existent white lines to follow. Now this is good experience for the un initiated. Some of the intrepid gang had not experienced such conditions and I must congratulate them on their safety approach and adjustment to the surrounding conditions.

As we re grouped at the bottom of Jamberoo I can honestly say the baptism of this little treck was well executed by one and all. WHEW now we completed the last little stretch through beautiful countryside to Kiama. With parking space a premium in the main street of Kiama it was a detour around the block and yep space became available to accommodate all our bikes. As it happened we parked opposite a lovely Café so it was bums down and we ordered lunch.

Departing Kiama saw the route going through Gerringong, Gerroa, and Coolangatta via the north side of the river into Nowra. Once again the scenery was just awesome. Nowra to Sussex Inlet was just a brief run down the highway.

On our approach to Sussex Inlet Trevor coincidently came over the UHF seeking our where abouts. To which I replied just about there. Trevor replied that the welcoming gang were sampling the champagne and hurry up. With the check in and unpack at the Motel it was then time to gather around the BBQ area for nibbles, bubbles, beer and stories, many of which were told and lots of laughter heard throughout the Motel.

Now it was time to gather en mass to sojourn to the RSL for dinner. On arrival at the RSL we were ushered to the Restaurant and low and behold the centre stage was set for the Canberra Ulyssians. A sumptuous meal, along with wine and drinks of various types was enjoyed by all. Great atmosphere and we had a special occasion to celebrate Butch and Jan’s 40^th Wedding Anniversary so it was congratulations and cheers by the merry crowd to two wonderful people.

On exiting the restaurant low and behold in the Bistro/Lounge area was music and dancing. You got it, the energetic ones got onto the dance floor and entertained the locals.

Sunday breakfast saw us walk about 50 metres to the local bakery and enjoy the county delights. After brekkie some of the gang decided to go back through Nerriga while Chas took the majority through to Ulladulla then onto the Bay for morning tea. Leaving Batman’s Bay mid-morning gave us a pleasant run up the mountain to Braidwood for lunch. Here we were met by Andrew Campbell on his way home from a little run down and up the mountain (he just needed to get out and ride).

After Lunch it was fond farewells to each and every one and thanks to one and all for the fabulous company, great riding and the fun and laughter.

Let’s do it again

Cheers Chas

The great gang were:

Michael &Tracey Winters, Jeff & Maritta Heiler, Butch & Jan Wills, Jennie Buchanan, Mary Coutts, David Greig, Peter & Suzanne Arday, Jo & Hellen Dutton, Ian Paterson, Chris & Maream Dietzel, Mark & Cathy Walker, Trevor McLeod, Keith, Ros , Chas & Jen Towie

Ride Report October 2012 Newnes Camping Trip

The intrepid riders:

• David Campbell    BMW G650GS
• Leo Farrelly        BMW R1200GS
• Peter Thomas        BMW F800GS

Saturday morning was overcast and spitting when the three of us assembled at EPIC and by the time we were running down Macs Reef Road it had settled in to a cold drizzle. However, past Bungendore and Tarago, the rain had eased and patches of blue were threatening to open up. By the time we stopped for coffee in Goulburn there were definite blue skies above us. After coffee we had a delightful run through Taralga to Oberon for lunch. The skies had resumed their greyness by then but at least it didn’t look like the rain would be returning.

From Oberon we followed the Duckmaloi Road to the Jenolan Caves Road through Hampton and then on to the McKanes Falls Road up to the Great Western Highway past Lithgow and on to the Castlereagh Highway before turning off to Lidsdale at Wallerawang Power Station. We followed the Wolgan Road to Wolgan Gap and some spectacular views of the Gardens of Stone National Park.

At the bottom of Wolgan Gap the dirt started but it was a very good all weather road. However, it was only five kilometres or so past this that David’s front tire had a run in with a rock and subsequently deflated. Luckily, Leo and I had spent one Saturday early in the year unsuccessfully practicing tyre repairs. But that’s how you learn. After a bit of hesitation we set to and between the three of us, we had a full set of tools to do the job. We soon had the wheel off, the bead broken and tire levered free. We removed the tube and found twin cuts in one of the side walls. The rock had pinched the tube on the rim. We put some patches on and the tube tested OK. Remembering some invaluable advice and tips from Derek Titheradge regarding how to get the tire back on the rim, we soon had it all reassembled. It had taken us just over an hour to do a roadside repair in the dirt and we were feeling quite pleased with ourselves. I adopted my “If at first you do succeed try not to look too surprised” look and we continued along the twenty kilometres in to Newnes.

It was starting to get late by this stage so we rode past the delicenced hotel in to Wollemi National Park and the Capertee Camping area. There were about a half a dozen different groups set up in the area but we quickly chose a site near the river and got our tents set up. Just as we finished setting up and were seriously contemplating our first cup of tea, three young boys approached us and passed on their Dad’s invitation to join them at their campfire. That’s the sort of invitation you don’t pass up so we were soon sitting around a lovely warm fire with Jeff and his three boys, Cameron, Daniel and Matthew. Their hospitality was very much appreciated. We each cooked our dinners then spent the evening having a few chardonnays, Tim tams and Jeff whipped up a batch of dough so the boys could make twists to cook on the coals. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any Golden Syrup to fill them with so they had to make do with honey. Sometimes you have to rough it in the bush.

Sunday dawned absolutely beautiful but slightly tarnished after David discovered something had gnawed through the side of his tent, through his Canberra AGM bag and in to his stash of Belgium Chocolate inside a sealed zip-lock bag. I have had so many run ins with an Antechinus helping themselves to some of my food in the bush before that I now call them all "Antichrists".

Anyway, after breakfast we rode back along the road to the car park and the locked gate at the start of the Glow Worm Tunnel walk. We forded the river then climbed the surprisingly easy one kilometre up to the line of the Wolgan Valley Rail way. It was an easy three kilometre walk to the tunnel passing through a variety of environments from eucalypt forest to tree ferns and rain forest between the narrow cliff lines. The tunnel is approximately 500 metres long and runs in a semi circular shape. We entered and the daylight faded behind us. Several times we stopped and switched off our torches. The walls and roof lit up in myriad new constellations as the glow worms put on their show. The light at the end of the tunnel soon showed and we were out in sunlight where a pair of lyrebirds ran ahead of us up the track through the cutting. We turned off on to a track that led us up then down to the Coach Road. We followed it down through a natural gorge surrounded by high cliffs. David quoted some Kendall to us as the bellbirds opened up and it was absolutely magical to hear their calls as we walked along.

“And, softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing
The notes of the bellbirds are running and ringing.”

We paused for a welcomed lunch break on a benched part of the road overlooking the valley and surprised a goanna as we started off again. We were soon back at our bikes and rode back in to Newnes. Ice creams were consumed at the old hotel before we returned to camp. We left our bikes there as we spent the afternoon following a self guided tour of the shale oil works.

Shale was mined then superheated in retorts to distil off the oil and naphtha. Originally started in 1907, the mines, workings and rail way employed thousands. The last mining operation was a test mine for coal in the 1970s. It was a fascinating and the enormous operation is now rapidly being reclaimed by the bush.

We walked back to our camp and prepared our dinners before getting a fire going for the evening. While we were discussing the finer points of solving everything, a pair of wombats wandered in to camp, as they do apparently. We decided it was definitely time for bed.

We were up early on Monday morning and soon breakfasted, packed and having a great ride along the dirt. We crested Wolgan Gap then on to Lidsdale, Lithgow and Oberon for morning tea where we were reminded to put our watches forward.

The traffic to Goulburn increased due to the aftermath of Bathurst 2012 but we managed to make it to the bakery reasonably unscathed. We had lunch and contemplated a few more of these trips.

We then did our farewells before heading down the Federal to our respective homes. Definitely, a very enjoyable trip.

Peter Thomas

Ride Report - Griffith – 6 to 8 October 2012

All Weekenders

• Michael and Tracey Winters – a blue bike
• Ian and Sally Paterson – another blue bike
• Chas and Jen Towie – a red bike

Overnighters

• Andrew Campbell – a blue bike
• Trevor McLeod – a maroon bike
• Peter Arday – a red bike

A few phone calls on Thursday night saw the planned ride to Eden and Mallacoota cancelled as the weather wasn’t looking too inviting and a trip to Griffith was hastily arranged with Ian sourcing accommodation in the town. As we left Bungendore on Saturday it started to sprinkle – fortunately the wet weathers were already on so no delay to us. We met Ian, Sally, Chas and Jen at Nicholls and were on the road to Griffith just after 9am with the clouds looking threatening.

We took the road to Binalong where we passed historic Gilbert’s Grave (Sullivan’s mate?) and the sun shone briefly as we neared Harden. Certainly the main income for both Harden and Cootamundra Shires must be canola. The crops were in full bloom and the fields golden and lush. We stopped briefly in Murrumburrah just for a quick break. We ladies watched as a much younger, inadequately dressed and certainly more supple pillion went past clinging on to the back of a Ducati (built for one) – it certainly didn’t look very comfortable.

We then followed the Burley Griffin Way to Temora for lunch in a local café. If you have small children (small , very noisy children) then this café can be recommended to you. It came with an enclosed playpen littered with toys and toddlers whose mums were taking advantage of a coffee and a break. Hamburgers, wraps and coffee were the order of the day for us. While we lunched a storm passed over but fortunately was gone by the time we came to leave. The roads into and out of Temora are very straight and very boring (even for a pillion).

We turned at Ardlethan, stopping at Barellan to have a small breather where we took photos of the giant tennis racket celebrating Evonne Goolagong, who grew up in the town. Chas had heard on the CB that there was a mobile radar in the area and we passed a police car on the other side of the road hidden under a tree – the overnighters confirmed he was still there when they travelled through on Sunday. Being law abiding riders we were well within the speed limit so were allowed to pass unimpeded. 

We rode into Griffith under cloudy skies riding past wineries with vineyards that stretched as far as the eye could see, with many citrus orchards mingled in between. The orange trees were heavily laden with fruit.

After checking in at the Motel, we decided to stretch our legs. A quick visit to the Information Centre was followed by the boys being drawn to the Victoria Pub (where they stayed). We ladies continued our walk, then settled down for coffee and iced chocolate at La Tavola Café. After waiting some time for our husbands to join us, we gave up waiting and went back to the Motel. (The men had made “friends” with a local who treated them as long lost friends insisting they inspect the accommodation offered – anyway, that’s their story as to why they took so long).

That night we went back to La Tavola (locals had recommended it) and for a very reasonable cost we had a bottle of wine, OJ, breads, pizza, fettuccine, deserts and coffee. Early to bed with many thanks to Ian for sending us a text at 10pm reminding us to put our clocks forward one hour.

Sunday we woke to clear blue skies and warmer weather walking to the Scottish café for breakfast. Overnight metal structures of different shapes had been installed on the main street median strip. These structures were covered with rubber bands, through which an army of volunteers were attaching oranges and grapefruit to make Citrus Sculptures. After breakfast we spent some time looking at the memorial to Donald Mackay before heading off to the Rotary Markets that Ian was very keen to see, insisting we linger for as long as we wanted. This was followed by a ride to De Bortoli’s winery where some sampling occurred with a box of same posted back to Bungendore. We then went on a short ride through town looking for the elusive Hermit’s Cave. Back in town lunch was a choice of Subway or pies and sausage rolls from the highly recommended Bertoldo’s Bakery eaten in the local park. By now the Overnighters had arrived so we spent some more time looking at the Citrus Sculptures, again followed by more coffee at La Tavola while Chas and Jen rode away for a small sightseeing trip.

Later in the afternoon after some discussion over drinks outside our rooms, a table was booked at Il Corso Café for dinner - another great Italian restaurant where we tried the veal, steak, spaghetti and pizza washed down with a red.

With the end of the long weekend looming we returned to the Scottish restaurant for breakfast on Monday, to find the renovations of the building were continuing (not being a public holiday in NSW). Monday’s breakfast was much noisier than Sunday’s being accompanied by lots of very loud hammering encouraging us to leave early and hit the road. 

We travelled along the Irrigation Way through Leeton and Narrandera (where a kindly highway patrol overtook Chas and then travelled behind us for some time waiting to book a car as we overtook it). We then followed the Canola Way (you can guess how this road got its name) through Grong Grong, Matong (a rather dilapidated town where a horse grazed on the weed strewn AFL grounds), pretty Ganmain to Coolamon for morning tea. 

After a short break we travelled through Junee and Nangus to Gundagai. As the petrol at the Dog on the Tuckerbox was closed, we purchased petrol at South Gundagai where some stayed at Hungry Jacks for lunch, while we travelled past Jugiong to hopefully get a sandwich at Barney’s café at Bookham. Alas it was temporarily closed for refurbishment so we rode on, parting company from Andrew, Chas and Jen at Murrumbateman. We arrived home in Bungendore to weather exactly as it was when we left – some light sprinkles of rain.

A fabulous weekend with great company and food - a trip to be recommended.

Quote of the ride – “There’s nothing worse than a cold crack!” – you’ll have to ask the riders who said this and why….

Tracey Winters