Hitcher
21st March 2007, 21:04
Continues from: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43
Tuesday 6 March, Sale to Jindabyne (488 km)
Australian country towns that we experienced on this trip were just fantastic. Neat, clean, well serviced, with great places to eat and drink, and happy people going purposefully about their business. Sale was no exception.
After breakfast and a detour to get some photos of its port, we were away into the coolness of the morning. Just up the road was Stratford. On a river Avon too, of all things. As a Stratford boy, Mr H was interested in this doppelganger, but it proved to be strangely unexciting. Bairnsdale, a larger town a bit further up the road, was comparatively more urbane.
Lakes Entrance was a real surprise. Having ridden down a short and interesting set of twisties into the township, Mrs H was surprised when I rounded a roundabout and retraced our path to the top of the hill. The stretch of road was almost that good, and was our first decent set of corners in several hundred km. But there was an observation area at the top of the hill affording excellent views over the lakes entrance and the coastal lakes network, which was the main reason for the reversal. The entrance has subsequently sanded up, trapping the local fishing fleet – Australia’s drought not providing enough outgoing water to sufficiently scour the channel.
Also at the lookout was an artist and his Hiace van. A colourful chap in every sense and we purchased one of his paintings before pressing on northwards. Lakes Entrance is a wonderful spot for those interested in aquatic pursuits and is yet unspoiled by excessive commercial development. We suspect its days are numbered on this score.
The road then started to unstraighten. And after a short detour for coffee etc at Orbost (another splendid country town), the highway started to improve significantly. Nice 120kmh twisties with great climbs and descents through gum forests for nearly 80km until the township of Cann River. 4.5 stars for that bit! At Cann River we turned onto the Monaro Highway into some of the most scenic countryside we had yet experienced. The road too was magnificent, and after about half an hour we crossed the border into New South Wales and put our wets on as protection against cool passing showers. I also had the heated hand grips on for a while too. 4.5 stars.
We had leg stretch and a chat to a group of bikers at Bomballa, directly across the street from the Bomballa Motorcycle Association’s mainstreet premises. They left seeking twisty roads back to Bega. We pressed onwards to Cooma.
This stretch of road was like a greener version of Central Otago – big sky, gently rolling hills, sheep, and cockatoos to spoil the illusion. Four stars for this bit. In hindsight we should have stopped for a photo opportunity in the one-pub township that is Nimitable (so we had proof that we were inimitable…), but kept rolling until stopping for gas at Cooma. Cooma is a ski town – the last major centre for Sydneysiders and Canberrans heading south in winter to play in the snow.
We headed southwest to the resort township of Jindabyne – an Aussie Tekapo. The countryside was spectacular with the late afternoon sun warming the colours of the rocky outcrops and gum-covered hillsides. The road is beautifully surfaced with some great paced corners. Some of the vistas are breathtaking, particularly the first view of Lake Jindabyne. Five stars.
Lake Jindabyne is man-made, and part of the Snowy Mountain power scheme. It was at a desperately low level, a combination of Australia’s prolonged drought and maintenance work being done on the dam at its southern end.
Wednesday 7 March, Jindabyne to Canberra (441 km)
Another early start and we continued southwestwards to Thredbo, down a wonderful gum-tree lined canyon and into Kosciusko National Park. Thredbo village is a very opulent resort township and the hillside opposite is festooned with chairlifts. A couple of these run all year round for the benefit of hikers, mountain bikers and Australia’s highest café. Which we visited. It was hard to believe this countryside is covered in snow during winter (it’s all lower than 2,000m for a starter).
Continuing onwards through the colourfully-named Dead Horse Gap, the road turned northwards at Tom Groggin to skirt the Victoria/NSW border.
The next 200km of road was a twisty rider’s wet dream. Stretch after stretch of very tight steep uphill and downhill corners. Third gear or higher were rarely needed. The big Yamaha howled its heart out through the Staintunes. This road is mostly completely in gum forest of varying degrees of maturity – forest fires have burnt out huge areas in recent years. The surface was near-new hotmix, but had no road markings. Dappled shade, polarised light off its surface and leaf litter meant that total concentration was required the whole time. It was almost impossible to pick the optimal line through a corner until you were in it. But still great fun! Five stars, yeah baby!
We had a lunch stop at Cabramurra, Australia’s highest town before rejoining the Monaro Highway at Kiandra and heading back to Cooma. Again beautiful rolling countryside and 100-120kmh twisties for nearly 90km. 4.5 stars.
After taking on fuel we then had a big yawn of a ride up to Canberra on an unnecessarily straight dual carriageway.
Photos:
1. Bairnsdale’s Golden Arches Cathedral. With drive-thru…
2. Roger the artist in his Lakes Entrance studio.
3. The Cann River pub.
4. The Bomballa Motorcycle Association’s mainstreet premises.
5. The memorial at Jindabyne to the Irish workers who built the Snowy Mountain scheme after WWII.
6. An island in Lake Jindabyne getting higher and drier.
7. A skier’s guide to the Thredbo skifields.
8. All this is under snow in winter – and the top of the lift is only 1,930m above sea level.
9. Part of the Thredbo alpine village.
10. A roadside break in the Kosciusko National Park.
11. Penstocks feeding the Murray 2 powerstation.
12. The Tumut 1 dam. Damn, that’s a long way down!
13. Mrs H looking particularly Australian.
To be continued…
Tuesday 6 March, Sale to Jindabyne (488 km)
Australian country towns that we experienced on this trip were just fantastic. Neat, clean, well serviced, with great places to eat and drink, and happy people going purposefully about their business. Sale was no exception.
After breakfast and a detour to get some photos of its port, we were away into the coolness of the morning. Just up the road was Stratford. On a river Avon too, of all things. As a Stratford boy, Mr H was interested in this doppelganger, but it proved to be strangely unexciting. Bairnsdale, a larger town a bit further up the road, was comparatively more urbane.
Lakes Entrance was a real surprise. Having ridden down a short and interesting set of twisties into the township, Mrs H was surprised when I rounded a roundabout and retraced our path to the top of the hill. The stretch of road was almost that good, and was our first decent set of corners in several hundred km. But there was an observation area at the top of the hill affording excellent views over the lakes entrance and the coastal lakes network, which was the main reason for the reversal. The entrance has subsequently sanded up, trapping the local fishing fleet – Australia’s drought not providing enough outgoing water to sufficiently scour the channel.
Also at the lookout was an artist and his Hiace van. A colourful chap in every sense and we purchased one of his paintings before pressing on northwards. Lakes Entrance is a wonderful spot for those interested in aquatic pursuits and is yet unspoiled by excessive commercial development. We suspect its days are numbered on this score.
The road then started to unstraighten. And after a short detour for coffee etc at Orbost (another splendid country town), the highway started to improve significantly. Nice 120kmh twisties with great climbs and descents through gum forests for nearly 80km until the township of Cann River. 4.5 stars for that bit! At Cann River we turned onto the Monaro Highway into some of the most scenic countryside we had yet experienced. The road too was magnificent, and after about half an hour we crossed the border into New South Wales and put our wets on as protection against cool passing showers. I also had the heated hand grips on for a while too. 4.5 stars.
We had leg stretch and a chat to a group of bikers at Bomballa, directly across the street from the Bomballa Motorcycle Association’s mainstreet premises. They left seeking twisty roads back to Bega. We pressed onwards to Cooma.
This stretch of road was like a greener version of Central Otago – big sky, gently rolling hills, sheep, and cockatoos to spoil the illusion. Four stars for this bit. In hindsight we should have stopped for a photo opportunity in the one-pub township that is Nimitable (so we had proof that we were inimitable…), but kept rolling until stopping for gas at Cooma. Cooma is a ski town – the last major centre for Sydneysiders and Canberrans heading south in winter to play in the snow.
We headed southwest to the resort township of Jindabyne – an Aussie Tekapo. The countryside was spectacular with the late afternoon sun warming the colours of the rocky outcrops and gum-covered hillsides. The road is beautifully surfaced with some great paced corners. Some of the vistas are breathtaking, particularly the first view of Lake Jindabyne. Five stars.
Lake Jindabyne is man-made, and part of the Snowy Mountain power scheme. It was at a desperately low level, a combination of Australia’s prolonged drought and maintenance work being done on the dam at its southern end.
Wednesday 7 March, Jindabyne to Canberra (441 km)
Another early start and we continued southwestwards to Thredbo, down a wonderful gum-tree lined canyon and into Kosciusko National Park. Thredbo village is a very opulent resort township and the hillside opposite is festooned with chairlifts. A couple of these run all year round for the benefit of hikers, mountain bikers and Australia’s highest café. Which we visited. It was hard to believe this countryside is covered in snow during winter (it’s all lower than 2,000m for a starter).
Continuing onwards through the colourfully-named Dead Horse Gap, the road turned northwards at Tom Groggin to skirt the Victoria/NSW border.
The next 200km of road was a twisty rider’s wet dream. Stretch after stretch of very tight steep uphill and downhill corners. Third gear or higher were rarely needed. The big Yamaha howled its heart out through the Staintunes. This road is mostly completely in gum forest of varying degrees of maturity – forest fires have burnt out huge areas in recent years. The surface was near-new hotmix, but had no road markings. Dappled shade, polarised light off its surface and leaf litter meant that total concentration was required the whole time. It was almost impossible to pick the optimal line through a corner until you were in it. But still great fun! Five stars, yeah baby!
We had a lunch stop at Cabramurra, Australia’s highest town before rejoining the Monaro Highway at Kiandra and heading back to Cooma. Again beautiful rolling countryside and 100-120kmh twisties for nearly 90km. 4.5 stars.
After taking on fuel we then had a big yawn of a ride up to Canberra on an unnecessarily straight dual carriageway.
Photos:
1. Bairnsdale’s Golden Arches Cathedral. With drive-thru…
2. Roger the artist in his Lakes Entrance studio.
3. The Cann River pub.
4. The Bomballa Motorcycle Association’s mainstreet premises.
5. The memorial at Jindabyne to the Irish workers who built the Snowy Mountain scheme after WWII.
6. An island in Lake Jindabyne getting higher and drier.
7. A skier’s guide to the Thredbo skifields.
8. All this is under snow in winter – and the top of the lift is only 1,930m above sea level.
9. Part of the Thredbo alpine village.
10. A roadside break in the Kosciusko National Park.
11. Penstocks feeding the Murray 2 powerstation.
12. The Tumut 1 dam. Damn, that’s a long way down!
13. Mrs H looking particularly Australian.
To be continued…