Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XXXII) - Homeward Bound- Part Two

 DAY 45 

After a short stay in Forbes it was time to hit the road again. Heading off at midday I was certain of rain but needed to get going. I decided to stay off the Newell highway so once through Parkes headed out the Renshaw McGirr Way to Yeovil and Wellington. This road proved to be a good ride and the road surface was in relatively great condition considering all of the wet weather NSW has suffered this year.

Rolling into Yeovil I stopped for a quick photo and wished I could have spent longer there. It was a pretty little town.

Following the GPS out of town I feel like I didn’t take the “optimal” route to Wellington but whatever the road was (turns out it was Bournewood and Curra Creek roads) it was fun and interesting. Probably better than the route I had intended actually!

 Rolling into Wellington I made a quick stop outside the Cow and Calf hotel. Shame I couldn’t stay….

Taking the Saxa road out of town as a cut through to the Dunedoo road it began to rain finally. Then I happened across some of the WORST 50 kilometres of road I have ever encountered in NSW. The sealed surface was completely smashed for many kilometres and where it wasn’t smashed there were long sections of clay repairs which were quite slippery in the wet conditions. All in all, this was a bloody horrible bit of road when combined with the rain and I stopped in at Dunedoo, as much for the break as for the fuel.

I was going to grab a coffee milk to help with the revival but when I spied the $6 price tag on a 300ml bottle I almost had a stroke! That gave me enough of a wake up!

Dunedoo boasts some silo art so I needed to check that out before I rolled out of town.

As a bonus it is on both sides of the silo.

I then put my head down and powered through Coolah, Tambar Springs, Mullaley and Gunnedah. I though briefly about finding a room in Gunnedah but was keen to make some more miles even though I was getting over riding in the rain. As much as I could hide behind my big screen, the concentration in the  cold and wet was starting to get to me.

I decided to press on, up another “new to me road” past Lake Keepit to Manilla. Once off the main highway at the Keepit turn-off my will to live improved as it does most times I get off a main highway.  I enjoyed this back road as it wound it’s way through rolling farmland.

I made it to Manilla at about 5pm and decided this would be far enough. Cruising the main street there were 3 pubs to choose from. 

I decided on the Royal Hotel in the middle of the Main Street as it looked OK. Pretty much as soon as I walked in I regretted my decision. The place was extremely run down…..but the owners were so nice I couldn’t extricate myself from the place without feeling bad for them. 😕

This carbuncle decorated the wall in my room…. and lets not even mention the showers/bathrooms.....nearly needed gumboots to negotiate them!

This place was an absolute knock down. 

Fcuk! 

What happened to the awesome, well maintained  pubs of Tassie?! 

The bar was pretty busy on this Saturday night so I put in an order for dinner and settled back editing photos on my phone. After what was quite a while I looked up and the pub was pretty much empty and I still hadn’t eaten. 

I grabbed another drink and politely enquired as to the food. I was ushered to the dining room and some apologies were given for the delay. It turned out it had been two hours since I ordered and they had fcuked up the order. I had nowhere to be and hadn’t starved to death so suggested they chill, I was fine. The food was actually good and when I went to pay the owner, he apologised again and said “that’ll be $100 for everything “. Room, drinks and dinner for $100? As shit as the room was, that was still a bargain as the steak was $40 on it’s own, plus a few drinks…..so the room was basically free. Maybe this is why the place is verging on a knock down?

470 very wet kilometres to this hovel of a hotel but at least the bed was comfortable (or I was buggered) so I slept soundly. Tomorrow would be the last day of a trip that started in early February but there wasn't any sadness. I just wanted to get home now.

DAY 46

I was up early to get home at a decent hour, plus I didn’t want to be in this pub a moment longer than necessary. Loaded up I took a minute to get a photo of the pub and along the Main Street.

It is a pleasant road north out of here toward Barraba and Bingara. The silo art on the road into Barraba is another cracking example.

Rolling into Bingara I grabbed some fuel at the little Shell servo. Asking the old bloke behind the counter if there was a cafe open in town for a bite to eat he said “no, nothing is open but we have pies here”. Taking him at his word I thought it was better a bird in the hand and so grabbed a pie and iced coffee. 

When I rolled 200m down the road I passed a cafe advertising coffee and breakfast…..fcuking prick! In a small town like this he WOULD have known it was open….so, I suggest anyone coming through Bingara avoid buying fuel at the Shell petrol station on the southern edge of town. He is a lying bastard. 😡

From Bingara I cut across some dirt back roads through Myall Creek, Delungra, Graman and Ashford to the Bruner Highway. This was very pleasant dirt road riding through country I had never seen before. I only overcooked one tight right and puckered a bit as I tried to brake hard and turn on the crushed granite surface......slow down tiger!😅 

I turned right on the Bruner to follow the border eastward. This also proved to be a lovely ride and I will be back here again to explore more in the future. There was evidence of the flooding earlier in the year and a bridge that was out illustrated how much water must have run out of the hills along here. It also highlighted why it isn't a good idea to ride through flood waters, even if they don't look too deep!

Rolling into Tenterfield I fuelled up and decided to take my favourite road north, Mt Lindsay road. This is a great little piece of back highway that discourages over use by method of a couple of small sections of (good) dirt.

At Legume I turned east for Woodenbong. There has been much roadwork done on this section. Mostly it is for the better but some of the new stuff is already falling apart with all of the wet weather and the rest is patiently waiting it’s turn for improvement works. But when on an Africa Twin this isn’t a problem at all. It is just made for these shitty Aussie roads!

Koreelah bridge.

The rest of the way home is pretty stock standard, so not much to say there. It felt a bit funny to finally be riding up my street after so many months, but here I was, home after 20 000 kilometres and 8 months of part time travelling. 

I had been very lucky to do this ride and especially loved the time I had in Tassie. I would go back there tomorrow if I had the chance. South Australia and the Flinders in particular, was a nice surprise but not on the same level as Tassie

Thanks for following along through all of these posts. It has been a looong, drawn out ride but very much a fun one. I have discovered many places and interesting things I wasn’t aware of and I hope this may help others in planing rides through some of the regions I have travelled.

Here is my Spot tracker bread crumb trail of where I rode. Hmmm. Tassie might need a closer inspection..... 🤔 😆

Looking forward to the next trip….. 😉

Homing Pigeon

 

About a week (or was it two?) after my bike trip south to Sydney I flew back down to pick 'er up for the trip home. I had a few ideas for the route home and it looked like the weather was going to cooperate.

South East Queensland Mash Up - Chillertek Style

Okay sports fans, as you may have seen HERE, Chillertek has been and conquered South East Queensland (SEQ). 

He has pretty much covered it all but here is the trip from my angle.....to go with his full-blown write up.

Prepping for little Bro's arrival.

To Green Mountain

The planets seemed to align for me today as I was able to participate in a ride that I have been trying to do for about two years now. It is not a particularly difficult ride nor is it technically challenging. What the climb up Duck Creek Road does offer though is breathtaking views of the Scenic Rim and O'Reilly's Guest House as a brunch destination. I have previously had the opportunity to briefly visit O'Reilly's and was amazed by the beautiful rainforest that visitors have to pass through to get to the guesthouse. I was hoping to have a closer encounter with the forest from the back of my mountain bike, rather than encased in the cocoon of a modern car.

Five of us set out from the western end of Duck Creek road in cool conditions under a thin high overcast. It was definitely a morning for armwarmers, but the hills looming in the near distance hinted that they might not be needed for long.

 Our first stop at one of the many lookouts showed why we were all sweating profusely despite the cool conditions. We had made a solid climb in just the first six kilometres or so.

During this climb we added to the numbers with Eric (or Groundhog) chasing us down due to his slightly mistimed arrival at the starting point! He certainly put the hurt on himself to catch us up and it was nice to finally put a face to a name that I seen many times on MTBDirt. In fact it was good to meet and get to know all of my fellow riders as I have seen them at a distance or read of most of them on the forum. Mountain bikers really are decent people. Especially the ones that like to challenge themselves a bit more than the "norm".

Anyway, onward and upward. The climbing continued, almost without let up for many more kilometres. The next stop was for a gate which was very kindly being held open for us by one of a band of four local MTBers who were on an epic ride. Canungra to O'Reilly's, down Duck Creek rd and then back! About one hundred kilometres and 2000m (6500ft) of climbing! Pleasantries were exchanged and as we left we decided that as a point of honour we should not let them catch us on their way back up! We upheld our honour, but only by about fifteen minutes. they are seriously quick lads!

Our next stop was at a cracker of an outlook. In the distance are Mt Lindsay and Mt Barney to name but a few.

After some more climbing we passed Luke O'Reilly's farm with more breathtaking views.

From here it wasn't far to the top of the mountain and breakfast. Six very hungry mountain bikers were about to help prop up the restaurants takings. Most went for a version of bacon and eggs. I decided to make a bit of a pig of myself with a double order of pancakes with a coffee to wash it down. Darb, displaying equally good taste went the pancake route as well. There must be something difficult in the make up of pancake batter as the others were all finished their breakfast before Darb and I even saw ours. Mine, without the requisite dob of ice cream, was mostly dispatched without much chat, although I have to admit it did beat me and I was forced to leave some behind.

Being soaked in sweat it became quite cool lounging around the restaurant, so several local newspapers sacrificed themselves as riders stuffed them into their jersey to help ward off the chill as we would be basically descending constantly for the next eighteen kilometres.

The ride down was an absolute hoot for obvious reasons! To my slight disappointment we whizzed past the massive old trees that lined the road. I would have loved to spend a bit more time exploring but I guess that gives me an excuse to return.

The roll down was mostly uneventful. There were a few minor "pucker" moments as I smashed into water bars like a sack of spuds on my hard tail, rather that gliding gracefully over them as I was picturing it in my mind!

After the main descent was over I foolishly commented on how there were no flat tyres for the run down despite the steep, rocky track. Not more than five minutes later the call went out "Flat tyre"! Calwyn (I think, sorry if I have that wrong) had scored a pinch flat on the rear of his now not-so-clean Yeti 575. He had it sorted very quickly while I quietly expounded the virtues of going tubeless. Don't you just hate those smug individuals that offer advice about their superior setup when you are struggling with your broken ride?

And that was the day done! We were back at the car in four hours all up. Thirty six kilometres and eleven hundred metres climbing were the stats for the morning. Thanks to all whose good company helped make the ride another great outing.