Blayney to Walwa
18 October 2016
Click on the image for a detailed map
The morning dawned cold but glorious. The sun was shining and the forecast, although a bit discouraging for later in the day, wasn’t so bad. I went in search of the kitchen and a cup of tea.
The large gentleman was in exactly the same place as I’d seen him 12 hours before. Still making toast and stuff. Had he been there all night, I wondered?
"Can I make a cup of tea here?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied, "but there’s no tea. They don’t give you anything. You have to have your own."
"Right. Thanks," I said and wondered off to finish packing and take my custom to the bakery across the street.
Things move slowly in Blayney and it took a while to get breakfast and fuel. Normally that would not have been a problem, but we were due to meet noroomtomove at around lunch time in Gundagai. By my reckoning that was around three and a half hours away.
We set off along the main road to Cowra before turning off near Woodstock to ride the Reg Hailstone Way to Lake Wyangala. A pretty ride, but, of course, the road we intended to travel had been blocked off and we were forced to take a detour which cost us more time.
A familiar sight: Pterodactyl steams ahead
I think this is rape seed. Whatever it is, it’s pretty.
We stopped for fuel in Harden; I sent a message to noroomtomove; and we got our skates on for the rapid ride along a great and quiet country road to Jugiong.
It’s a pretty road from Harden to Jugiong. Quick as well.
At Jugiong we joined the Hume Highway: the main artery between Sydney and Melbourne.
This is the major route between Australia’s two biggest capital cities. I guess its modest size reflects the fact that our population is only around 24.5 million
As we charged down the Hume Highway to meet noroomtomove, I was sure I could see wisps of smoke from Pterodactyl’s bike. I got up close behind him and then alongside in the adjoining lane a couple of times and looked hard, but I just could not be sure.
We got to Gundagai and parked alongside a white CB1100 (and one makes three). After a while noroomtomove appeared and I met him for the first time. I also told Pterodactyl about the smoke and he had a good look under his bike.
I’m pretty sure I’ve exhausted most of the jokes about ‘one black one, one white one, but don’t let that deter you. At this point, given the state of Pterodactyl’s undercarriage and rear tyre, it was as near true as it was at any time on the trip.
This was not long after a post on the CB1100 Forum about a leaking K&N oil filter. My bike had been serviced at a new place which had installed a K&N filter. I was telling Pterodactyl about the post only a couple of days before. We had, of course, agreed that we needn’t worry.
You can see it coming, can’t you? Of course Pterodactyl had a K&N oil filter on the bike and of course it was leaking. The smoke was oil on the hot exhaust and the engine block. On inspection, there was a good deal of the stuff on his rear wheel as well. At moments like this you acknowledge the gods of motorcycling and give thanks. Although I have no idea when the leak started, had been under way on the way between Harden and Jugiong where Pterodactyl had the bike leaded over more than on the freeway, this story may have taken a different turn.
We ate and made phone calls. Of course there wasn’t a bike shop in Gundagai, but there is one in Tumut some 40 kms away. When I rang it had a HiFlo oil filter that would fit so I asked them to put it aside for me and set off for what was a pretty, but totally uneventful ride. Not boring. It was an enjoyable road. Armed with two oil filters (I wasn’t risking mine doing the same thing and resolved to change it soon) and a new pair of waterproof trousers, I headed back to Gundagai and found Pterodactyl and noroomtomove in a workshop where a slightly unhelpful chap had been persuaded to lend Pterodactyl an oil filter wrench. We decided not to push our luck by doing a mass oil filter change.
The lads had done a good job of cleaning the tyre. So, with the new filter installed, off we went back towards Tumut intending to ride to Tallangatta for the night.
noroomtomove checks something before leading us out of Gundagai
Riding towards Tumut
From Tumut we headed for Tumbarumba.
These two photos are taken near Batlow between Tumut and Tumbarumba. The last one is included mostly because of the accidental capture of the Cormanus mobile photo technique. In the background are the Snowy Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range
Shortly after these photos were taken our old friend the rain re-joined the ride and kept us company for the rest of the day. The new pants were an improvement on the Frogg Toggs, but not entirely making me wonder whether I should pay a bit more attention to how I dress myself when it’s damp.
At Jingelic we crossed the Murray River and the border into Victoria. Time passed, the rain continued to fall and we made our way through Walwa and along the C547. More time passed and we came to the junction with Guys Forest Road where there was a sign telling us the road ahead was closed.
Pulling our bikes under a large eucalyptus tree, we strategized.
Ten minutes later we’d booked rooms in the Walwa Hotel and, with rain dripping from our gear, were enjoying the first beer of the day. Shower, dry clothes, more beer and some food (I forget quite what now) washed down with a glass or two of red and the day was complete.
Somewhere during the evening, I made the acquaintance of the Schitt family. They were interesting folk and kind enough to pass on a copy of their family tree which is of such interest that I thought I should share it with you.
The Schitt family tree
