Walwa to Bright
31 January 2019
Master Map
It promised to be hot again and I was full of good intentions about getting on the road early. Like so many good intentions, they didn't amount to much and it was around 0930 when I got under way.
Walwa is on the southern bank of the Murray River which divides New South Wales and Victoria. I decided to pop over to Jingelic on the NSW side to check out a campground. I found a good one on the banks of the river next door to the pub.
The CB inspects the Murray River.
It's a pretty ride west from Walwa along the banks of the Murray until you come to the man-made Lake Hume. The next couple of photos show it to be a bit short of water.
Two letterboxes I found at the northern end of the Omeo Valley Highway
Hiding in the shade at Mitta Mitta. It was getting very hot by then
This abandoned church at Granite Flat just south of Mitta Mitta was built from locally made bricks in 1875. For a time during the Australian Gold Rush, Granite Flat boasted about 500 miners. The last settler left the area in 1919. The last service held in the church was the funeral of one James Walsh in 1936.
How could a motorcyclist not love a sign like this? What makes it even better is that it's slightly misleading. It's around 100 kms from Mitta Mitta to Omeo and very little of it is straight.
Gotta love a good letterbox
For the first time riding this road, I stopped at Anglers Rest for water and something to eat. It was hot. As I finished lunch, these two bikes arrived. The bloke on the Triumph didn't want to talk to me; but I had a pleasant enough chat with the other bloke. He had a neat ornament on the front mudguard of the Midnight Special. I think they were on the way to a big Triumph rally.
It was still hot when I got back on the bike, but I noticed it getting cooler and cooler as I rode the 30 kms to Omeo. So much so that I stopped, put two layers in my jacket and donned heavier gloves. The weather app told me the temperature had dropped at least 15ºC.
It didn't rain, but it was cool and occasionally misty. I stopped for this photo which marked 100,000 kms that I had ridden on this bike. When I bought it, I had no idea I would spend as much time on it as I have; let alone that I'd ride it for 100,000 kms. It is thanks in no small measure to the CB1100 forum and the accident of accepting an invitation from Pterodactyl that it has happened.
Above: Misty conditions and some attractive alpine bush for the milestone photo opportunity
Just west of the Mt Hotham township (largely deserted in summer), is this high point on the road
Looking east from The Cross
If you follow the link to the full-size version of the following image, you will see the scar of the road I followed on the other (western) side of the valley. It is a reasonable ride to that point as the road follows the ridge to the left in this photo.
This photo shows the view from the western side of the valley looking back to where I took the one above.
Soon after that, having stopped to strip out the thermal layers to deal with the rising temperatures, I set up my tent beside a stream in the Bright Caravan Park.
To my delight, I walked out the back entrance to the park and discovered the local brewery. The woman behind the bar apologised and said the only food available was pizza or chips (fries to those in the US) as the kitchen staff were having a golf day to thank them for the efforts over the holiday season. The beer was welcome and the pizza surprisingly good.
