Crustyvarmint
Back road wanderer
Each year I run a ride to follow the series of meetings being held to decide the Australian speedway solo champion. This year it was run over three rounds, held in Brisbane, Kurri Kurri and Adelaide.
Glitch had recommended some good roads in NSW, so I have strung them together to make an interesting journey to Brisbane and back.
For various reasons the usual crew couldn’t join me, so I headed off on my own, planning to meet up with JC in Brisbane, after he had been enjoying a family time in Noosa.
One of the highlights of touring, for me, is the vast array of wildlife I encounter. I get great pleasure seeing the animals as I pass through their environment. I am terribly saddened by the amount of road kill I see, and I try to help them if I can.
Another of my hobbies is geocaching (www.geocaching.com). It fits in very well with touring, so I planned to pick up several during the ride.
Friday December 30. I left home about 0630 and headed up my usual way to Mansfield, taking in a couple of dirt roads that cut off some of the boring stretches.
Along the way, I realized I had lost my mobile phone and became quite worried about where it was. I called in to Rex and Robin Salt’s caravan park and rang the number, trying to see if it would ring on the bike, or on me. No luck. Phoned home and Sally had it. I had left it on the table. I organized for her to send it priority paid to Rylstone, nsw, where I expected to be on Sunday night.
I had arranged to meet friend at Jingellic, between 1200 and 1300. Due to the hold up over the phone, and a bit of a chat after it was sorted, I was running behind my schedule, so had to miss out on crossing the Murray on the Wymah Ferry, and riding along the northern side to Jingellic. I arrived at 1315, and Neil was still there, so I was back on track again.
We set off to Tumbarumba and I was able to show Neil my route over the logging roads to Wondalga. We picked up a couple of caches near Tumut, before traveling across the Wee Jasper Rd, and down to Micalong Creek, where we joined a large group of people for the new year rally.
I was keen to meet up with Doctor, from the ADVriders group, as he had mentioned looking for a couple of caches along the way from their home in Bathurst. The first people I met were Dick and Therese, who go by the name of Scenic Routers. They are also Doctor on ADV. I really enjoyed my time with them.
Saturday December 31. After a leisurely start, sitting around yarning, I headed off on my bike and followed Nottingham Rd through to the Brindabella Rd. This had been on my wish list for quite some time, so I was pleased to find it suitable for the gs.
I decided to follow the bitumen logging road back to Tumut, and pick up a cache we missed on the way up. I also fancied an ice cream. Well, I found the cache and stopped at the bakery for some lunch. While there, I dragged out the netbook and downloaded a couple more caches to find on my return ride to the rally site. An ice cream seemed a bit decadent after just having lunch, so I restrained myself and hit the road. Upon my return I.hiked along the river, with Neil (Mulga Bill) and Dick and Therese, to retrieve another cache together.
Neil had prepared some lovely lamb cutlets, and, after he had cooked them, he kindly gave me a couple as an entrée. They were superb. My offering of macaroni, cheese and tuna, as a main course, fell far below Neil’s standard, but it filled us nicely.
We stayed up for the new year, yarning with various people, then hit the sack very shortly afterwards.
Glitch had recommended some good roads in NSW, so I have strung them together to make an interesting journey to Brisbane and back.
For various reasons the usual crew couldn’t join me, so I headed off on my own, planning to meet up with JC in Brisbane, after he had been enjoying a family time in Noosa.
One of the highlights of touring, for me, is the vast array of wildlife I encounter. I get great pleasure seeing the animals as I pass through their environment. I am terribly saddened by the amount of road kill I see, and I try to help them if I can.
Another of my hobbies is geocaching (www.geocaching.com). It fits in very well with touring, so I planned to pick up several during the ride.
Friday December 30. I left home about 0630 and headed up my usual way to Mansfield, taking in a couple of dirt roads that cut off some of the boring stretches.
Along the way, I realized I had lost my mobile phone and became quite worried about where it was. I called in to Rex and Robin Salt’s caravan park and rang the number, trying to see if it would ring on the bike, or on me. No luck. Phoned home and Sally had it. I had left it on the table. I organized for her to send it priority paid to Rylstone, nsw, where I expected to be on Sunday night.
I had arranged to meet friend at Jingellic, between 1200 and 1300. Due to the hold up over the phone, and a bit of a chat after it was sorted, I was running behind my schedule, so had to miss out on crossing the Murray on the Wymah Ferry, and riding along the northern side to Jingellic. I arrived at 1315, and Neil was still there, so I was back on track again.
We set off to Tumbarumba and I was able to show Neil my route over the logging roads to Wondalga. We picked up a couple of caches near Tumut, before traveling across the Wee Jasper Rd, and down to Micalong Creek, where we joined a large group of people for the new year rally.
I was keen to meet up with Doctor, from the ADVriders group, as he had mentioned looking for a couple of caches along the way from their home in Bathurst. The first people I met were Dick and Therese, who go by the name of Scenic Routers. They are also Doctor on ADV. I really enjoyed my time with them.
Saturday December 31. After a leisurely start, sitting around yarning, I headed off on my bike and followed Nottingham Rd through to the Brindabella Rd. This had been on my wish list for quite some time, so I was pleased to find it suitable for the gs.
I decided to follow the bitumen logging road back to Tumut, and pick up a cache we missed on the way up. I also fancied an ice cream. Well, I found the cache and stopped at the bakery for some lunch. While there, I dragged out the netbook and downloaded a couple more caches to find on my return ride to the rally site. An ice cream seemed a bit decadent after just having lunch, so I restrained myself and hit the road. Upon my return I.hiked along the river, with Neil (Mulga Bill) and Dick and Therese, to retrieve another cache together.
Neil had prepared some lovely lamb cutlets, and, after he had cooked them, he kindly gave me a couple as an entrée. They were superb. My offering of macaroni, cheese and tuna, as a main course, fell far below Neil’s standard, but it filled us nicely.
We stayed up for the new year, yarning with various people, then hit the sack very shortly afterwards.