Well here we go again
This southern jaunt being my first trip to the snowies since 2019 in between the covid hiatus when we had a break from the initial outbreak and the second coming ,,,and at that time to Omeo , Falls Creek and others .
This time off to southern regions again, like Cooma to Bombala and beyond
For me the furthest south I have travelled by motor vehicle …(been to melbourne x 5 times , adelaide x 8 , hobart x 10 and many others , for work stuff ,) but never before to the south coastal regions of the Orbost coast area.
Orbost _Marlo (on the coast ) being the mouth of the great Snowy River which rises in the snow fields of the Kousiosko mountians some 150 klms off in the hills , (which we passed on the way ), part of the great snowy Hydo scheme created nearly 60 years ago , and out winter playfields.
For us northern tableland folks , Smithy , Murray (red rockmania ) and myself we met at Uralla about 9:30 am and progressed down the road to the bottom of the Moonby hill climb , where the topography decends some 1000 feet onto the Liverpool plains of Tamworth and regions extending to the Upper Hunter area .
We dashed across the Moonby pass to avoid the busy Tamworth city centre and on towards Gunedah , stopping for a drink along the way .
Then on through to Mallaey (of historic family history from my grandmothers side of the family ) and through to Coolah .
The hills and open plains of the area are fantasic change from the norther tablelands and the roads well enjoyed by the crew heading southwards.
At Coolah, lunch at a bakery, topup with fuel and then onto Ulan for our overnighter at “the Globe” in Rylstone , stopping along the way in the verry warm days afternoon at a tiny pub in the bush …
Rylestone reached and some good grub and beers made for a good night , before the expected meet up with Gaz ans Ully as they passed through next day , on the way to explore Portland , some 80 – 90 klms east . looking for a likely candidate for futrue overnight stays ?
Luch at Portland was nice , then off to Young through much the same topography and verry warm conditions .
Somewhere along the way I lost the nut holding the shock bottom mount to bevel box and as I pulled into Young (the Australian Hotel ) and attempted to raise the RED bike onto centre stand it became obvious that there was an issue , as on lifting it became verry akward , then dropped quite some height as the shock came clear of the stud out of the bevel box and dropped to almost belly on the ground ….bugga !!!!!
So a quick phone call to Gaz .staying at RT”s place with Ully , to question if they had set of vice grips to remove – unscrew the stud for straightening , before refitting the shock to the stud , revealed that Gaz carried a spare stud with him …WOW !!!
At that time Bill turned into the parking lot with just the thing , and Gaz and crew would be attending soon ..
Smithy and I removed the stud , bent ..but maybe recoverable in the mean time , with designs of visiting a local hardware to replace the nut in the AM .
What followed was a great reunion of souls in the bar , with Bobs wife Sharon , who I hadnt seen since early 2011 , and enjoyable night was had by all .
Next day up at 5:30 off to find Bunnings , just down the road a few hunderd meters Nylock Nut, spring washers and flat washers were obtained …...phew …( the spring washer was to replace the 12 to 14 mm ferule that adapted the shock to the stud . the flat washer to hold the assembly into the gimble – ball mount of the shock securely . ...we lost the foot brake return spring durring this operation ...a rubber band solved the issue that Gaz was trying to diagnose as we travelled further ...lol
Then off as a group of 7 this time ….destination Cooma , after traversing the glorious hills and terain of Murrumburrah – Harding and south , Bill took us on adventure into the hills and valleys not often travelled toward Tumit ..where we had lunch .
Luch done, up the steep incline out of Tumut into the Yarongobilly hills and over the pass of snow lined pickets marking the road of snow line territory , I stopped to grab a pic at Kiandra … , at one time claimed to be one of the highest altitude settlements in australia .
But honestly Guyra is also up there at almost the same elevation , the difference being the high snowfall being around Kiandra for some months of the year , I guess being in the proximity and sharing the open flats of the snow country .
Down the other side into Adaminaby , where we stopped for a drink then onto Cooma with threatening clouds dumping rain , which looked as though we were bound to wear some wet …. Brief though it was , was a welcome change to the near heatwave conditions forecast for this area in coming days .
The Alpine hotel in Cooma was a blast , with massive crowd in, secure parking for us lot , band playing and a beer garden out the back great food ,,…whats not to like ?????
As\all mornings with the “Crew” , Next day COFFEE top of the list bakeries – cafes found and addiction sorted , and off we go , for me never travelled before .
Off to Bombala …fantastic roads of nice sweepers hilly country and glorious views ..
The town Bombala , quite small but a heap of all types of bike lined the streets , again Coffe stop , cat hearding to get away , then off to Delegate and into Victoria where the roads instantly turned to shit …. .
The road down the hill on the Vic side an awesome adventure , more suitable to GS style bikes being verry twisy , but Quite rough and unpredictable …103 klms of tight twisty stuff all down hill with added holes in the road to test your wrist strength and fortitude ….lol
Rear wheel Bolts came loose on that section …omg …tightened,,, (…I have had an issue with my right hand of recent weeks and predict my torque strength in that hand was no where near normal , I had broken my little finger , and since the locals greeted me with that hearty “Country Handshake “…I recon the hand shakes did more damage than the initial injury …..sheesh …no damage done and on we go …it’s a long trek down that hill…. Some did it when it was dirt …crazy I recon …!!…
Off through Orbost… and on the coastal village of Marlo , pub for lunch ..and welcome relief with coastal breezes cooling the near heatwave conditions of 38 c through the day again . then back to Orbost pub for the night .
strange for me , all my life if i wanted to get to the beach its always east ,, but down here ...its south ...good grief ...i wasnt aware of it till the next morning when the sun came up 90 degrees to the coast line ....WOW
Next day, Monday …off through Marlo along the coast , visiting Mallacoota , a township ravaged by the fires back in 2019 , evidence of the burn viewed for many kilometers on the way in and out , although now green with new foliage from burnt trunks of the trees ..a wonderful sea front and lake complex with many long weekend holiday makers making their presence .
Lunch done off up the coast back into nsw , Eden and many smaller coastal towns traversed turning off at Pambula onto the coastal road out to Tathra …a magic place .
I had a nephew there so he and family were able to visit us . Murry and myself at the eco camp site, the others on the headland with opulent priced beer and goodies I expect …lol
5 am and onto the beach , engulfed with sea mist , a lone fishermen and fitness freaks pounding the pavement along the foreshores .. a Canberra holiday as well so many visitors.
8:30 and time to be off …. If you can heard the cats again from the local bakery and their coffee …lol
again small coastal villages with many tourists made for heavy traffic around the small pass through town towards Batemans bay , great tall stands of gums and ferns all the way through beautiful valleys along the way …….at BatemansBay turn up to Braidwood… returning Canberrrans , like sheep , causing major traffic dumbness and frustration to all around them , I had super fun on the overtake sections with almost footpeg grinding hills and corners all the way ,…smitty way out in front ….Gaz Ully Bill . back in batemans bay sipping coffee …lol
a 10 kilometer back up of traffic was experienced at Braidwood ..id guess the same result every year ….
For me off to Canberra to hopefully meet my younger brother , lost to family members for many years ….after 4 hours of waiting at his workshop I gave up and sought to find some shelter .
So headed off northish …as long as I could get closer to a one day dash for home , as resources had just about run out …
Some 160 klms north out of Canberra , Luckily spied the front wheel of Smithys bike as I was heading through Taralga …heading to the showground there , mainly bluestone buildings through this village , quite striking . I believed all accommodation was booked out and show ground was a likely place to camp.
At the pub the car shed out the back was full of bikes , some 12 or more gs adv types ….
Well …shock-me , I was talking to the chef – cook whilst there and surprisingly he offered me the back garden to camp as after hours and show reception office likely to be closed , he was saying never been done before as the garden was kept private by previous owners ….but hey im not complaining …. Good pizza and beer was there …and a challenge match between Ully and Smithy on the Pool table …happens almost every trip ….lol
5:15 next morning with many kilometers to travel , smithy woke me before alarm wake time …”lets get going “(800 + klm + for me to get home ) …by 6.00am we were on the road dodging big roos , wombats rabbits and all sorts of vermin through the fog …..yikes … and on we pressed .
Out of the gorges and onto of the Oberon highlands quite cool indeed , a welcome change …
through Bathurst , and onto Rylstone again for some food as the temperature was rising again about 10:00 ish
through Bylong valley , a good run then into the hunter , with planned fill up at Murrarundi …and quick food stop at Wallabadah …then the sprint home , Smithy planning a 16:00 home time …round abouts
I stopped at Uralla as I saw Smithy leaving town some one kilometer in front …so just pressed on after, and made it home about 17:30
Poor old RED covered in road works grime and all the detritus that 3000 klm road trips tend to gather …
Next is our MAY - ROSCCO ride south again to Bathurst…it comes around so quick ….better get ready for the cold not long to go before wood burning season hits us up here in less thana month or so …11 deg c overnight a welcome change from the trip south eh ?
A gearbox rework is due on RED before then , I should have done it before this trip but she hung together …groaning all the time , (likely input shaft conical bearings need the works ) so will start as soon as I can , I do have a spare hanging in Gerty , just redone a couple of months ago , maybe just a swap out ?
Anyhow …great camaraderie and many beers and stories to be enjoyed yet again
Wouldn’t be dead for QUIDS
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Re: Southern Ride 2024 Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:35 am
ROB the Red Old Bike 
