Melb Eastern Subs -> Dargo
With only a few days on our hands and no plans of any kind, we just threw some stuff on the back of the bike and went east, towards the hills.
Tent, fartbags…a handful of maps and a full tank.
It was also the first bigger trip for the “Shrek”, a bit of a shakedown run before Khancoban later this month. Would the homemade pannier racks hold up, or anything else come adrift?
The roads often ridden, always forgotten….just out the “backdoor”, 5 mins from home.
Silvan Farm-Country
The back of Launching Place
Towards Powelltown
Whoohoo…would love a set of those brake-pads!!
Keep going east…the road towards Mt. BawBaw
The clouds were low; going up to the Mt. BawBaw Village didn’t make sense.
So we stuck to the South Face Rd. towards Rawson/Erica/Walhalla.
The gravel was a bit coarse on some stretches, but pretty good all up.
(note: the stretch D-> E on Google maps does NOT represent the route taken….Google hasn’t got the SouthFace Rd. showing)
Rawson seems to be re-awakening from the dead….the shop was open and well stocked, there were quite a few newish buildings and facilities, and the always-obscured Caravan Park is sprouting a huge sign along the main road now. Good to see!!
King parrots going for a feast….
…as does the other galah. Talk about country-burgers….AWESOME!! This one’s a 3-course meal wrapped in an Uber-bun!
Tacking south towards Tyers, there’s the Walhalla-Cowwarr Rd. turn-off. 30k’s of good gravel road through some of the bush-fire affected state park….the signage is a bit wonky, just point east and things are fine. There also must’ve been some high winds lately, branches and twigs litter the track.
Some great views at the eastern end, before dipping into the ‘flats” a few k’s short of Cowwarr.
Deliberately, we take some non-main roads through the flat farming country…all well sealed, some narrow, some unexplainably wide and generous.
Break and refuel opposite the Briagolong Shop
To our surprise (and also a little disappointment), the route through Stockdale to the Dargo-Rd. junction at Glenaladale is all sealed.
While not really curvy, it’s a little roller-coaster into the foothills that keeps you on your toes. Most certainly enjoyable and scenic.
As usual, the road into Dargo is a scratchers wet-dream….and apart from a couple of quickly dispatched 4WD’s, void of traffic. It just can’t get much better than that.b
Can’t go past that…free camping at the Dargo River Inn. It just feels a little strange that we’re the only campers on that 15acre paddock….and that, at this time of year??
Ah well…things will change in a few days, I guess.
Not the flashiest place… but who cares. It’s all there…somewhere in that junkyard.
The steaks are huge, the beer is COLD and the local Akubra and R.M. Williams “crowd” is friendly….pretty damn good for a start, eh?
With only a few days on our hands and no plans of any kind, we just threw some stuff on the back of the bike and went east, towards the hills.
Tent, fartbags…a handful of maps and a full tank.
It was also the first bigger trip for the “Shrek”, a bit of a shakedown run before Khancoban later this month. Would the homemade pannier racks hold up, or anything else come adrift?
The roads often ridden, always forgotten….just out the “backdoor”, 5 mins from home.
Silvan Farm-Country
The back of Launching Place
Towards Powelltown
Whoohoo…would love a set of those brake-pads!!
Keep going east…the road towards Mt. BawBaw
The clouds were low; going up to the Mt. BawBaw Village didn’t make sense.
So we stuck to the South Face Rd. towards Rawson/Erica/Walhalla.
The gravel was a bit coarse on some stretches, but pretty good all up.
(note: the stretch D-> E on Google maps does NOT represent the route taken….Google hasn’t got the SouthFace Rd. showing)
Rawson seems to be re-awakening from the dead….the shop was open and well stocked, there were quite a few newish buildings and facilities, and the always-obscured Caravan Park is sprouting a huge sign along the main road now. Good to see!!
King parrots going for a feast….
…as does the other galah. Talk about country-burgers….AWESOME!! This one’s a 3-course meal wrapped in an Uber-bun!
Tacking south towards Tyers, there’s the Walhalla-Cowwarr Rd. turn-off. 30k’s of good gravel road through some of the bush-fire affected state park….the signage is a bit wonky, just point east and things are fine. There also must’ve been some high winds lately, branches and twigs litter the track.
Some great views at the eastern end, before dipping into the ‘flats” a few k’s short of Cowwarr.
Deliberately, we take some non-main roads through the flat farming country…all well sealed, some narrow, some unexplainably wide and generous.
Break and refuel opposite the Briagolong Shop
To our surprise (and also a little disappointment), the route through Stockdale to the Dargo-Rd. junction at Glenaladale is all sealed.
While not really curvy, it’s a little roller-coaster into the foothills that keeps you on your toes. Most certainly enjoyable and scenic.
As usual, the road into Dargo is a scratchers wet-dream….and apart from a couple of quickly dispatched 4WD’s, void of traffic. It just can’t get much better than that.b
Can’t go past that…free camping at the Dargo River Inn. It just feels a little strange that we’re the only campers on that 15acre paddock….and that, at this time of year??
Ah well…things will change in a few days, I guess.
Not the flashiest place… but who cares. It’s all there…somewhere in that junkyard.
The steaks are huge, the beer is COLD and the local Akubra and R.M. Williams “crowd” is friendly….pretty damn good for a start, eh?