| SNOWY MOUNTAINS 3 DAY RIDE 23/2/04 |
| The Snowy�s trip was organised by one of the group from work as a solo ride. Definitely No women allowed!! (well......unless you had a big handbag with lots of bottles in it).
On the Monday I woke super early (because I was like a little kid waiting for Christmas day, and was too excited to sleep) to the sound of torrential rain (bummer). Sydney had been in a heatwave for the last two weeks and right now it decides to rain!!! Just my luck. By the time I had got myself ready (a triple �S� and cleaned my teggies (you can ask me if you don't know!)), the dawn was cracking, and the morning had turned into a slow drizzle. My normal motor bike jacket and pants were packed (I was hoping for a sunny day), so I decided to put on my banana suit instead. What�s my banana suit? I hear you ask. Well....... It�s a bright yellow (and I mean BRIGHT) Sou wester jacket and pants, that would normally be worn on a boat (probably a prawn trawler), and not a motorbike. I look like a complete dork when I�m wearing it, but it does keep me dry so I don�t really give a fig. I put that on because I had the feeling that the day would clear up before long, and it�s easier to roll up and store the banana suit, rather than the proper jacket and pants, which are very thick with armour in them. I went to a mates house (Steve2) to collect him and his son, and we would ride down to the meeting point together. I arrived there early and we were all eventually geared up, packed, helmets and gloves on, when his son said he couldn�t find the key to his bike. He had just bought a brand new $34,000+ Harley Davidson V-rod the previous Friday, and it had an alarm on it. This meant we couldn�t just use the spare key, cos he only had one �beep-beep� alarm controller. All of us were dressed with so much clothing we looked like the Michelin man (except I was yellow and looked more like a Canary), we all waddled around and started looking for these keys. They weren�t immediately about to reveal themselves, and we were bumping into each other as we waddled around in the garage like out of control Daleks's. There was danger that one of us would fall over, and not be able to get up again, and besides we were starting to sweat, so we all start stripping our gear off again. We start emptying the saddle bags and go through all the pockets of the clothes in there, our jacket pockets were turned inside out (several times) and we were running out of ideas. Eventually I checked the bike out (without my glasses on I might add) and found them wedged and just poking out between the frame and the exhaust pipe. He had put them on the seat and they had fallen off when he was getting dressed. Time to gear up again. It was only a misty rain from there, down to the southern part of Sydney where we were to meet the rest of the guys at McDonald�s. We were late by this time and only had time for a quick coffee and to wrap our gums around a McMuffin, before we were on our way. I copped a fair ribbing about the banana suit, with comments of �where�s your Stop/Go lollipop sign?� �Where�s the �Road works� sign?� And.. �You can ride in front, so they know we are coming.� Lucky I�m thick skinned huh? There were 7 bikes and a back up vehicle. The backup vehicle was a turbo charged V8 Ute (pick up) driven by a young (crazy) prison officer from work. We were more in fear of him behind us than anything else on the road (including the pill popping semi trailer truck drivers). He drove it constantly like a racing driver late for his own wedding (or funeral). He was overtaking us on blind bends, double white lines, hard shoulders anything but the safe road. One guy (friends son) got a rock in the eye from his tyres when he overtook him on the gravel. We never knew when he would whizz past us so we all said he was to stay in front. We followed the old Hume highway down towards Mittagong. Much better than the motorway, more scenic and a lot less traffic. It had stopped raining before we left Macca�s but we all kept our wet gear on just in case. At the first rest stop we stripped off the jackets, and at the second stop we stripped off the pants. The sun was shining now, it was a nice day, and getting hot. From Mittagong we went down the old road again, through Bundanoon and on towards Goulburn. Goulburn used to be traditionally the half way mark when driving from Sydney to Canberra on the old road. People stopped here to re fuel and eat. Goulburn was proclaimed a City on 14th march 1863, by Royal Letters patent, by Queen Victoria, making it Australia�s First Inland City. It�s pretty much motorway all the way from Sydney to Canberra now and you have to actually turn off to visit the place. We fuelled up there and then went on back roads to Queanbeyan. This town is on the outskirts of Canberra. In 1828 an ex-convict named Timothy Beard who was known to be an innkeeper from Campbelltown, had a squatage called �Quinbean� (Aboriginal for clear waters) on the Molonglo river. Beard was credited with having the first settlement close to the present site of Queanbeyan. After that Queanbeyan was officially proclaimed a township in 1838 with a population of 50 persons. Some of the significant historic buildings still stand from those early days (McDonalds). We had lunch and a beer there, and then went on through to Cooma. Cooma lays fame to being the gateway to the Snowy mountains ski fields. From there it was on to the camp site called �Anglers Reach� on the shores of lake Eucumbene. We had two cabins booked at the campsite and they came with shower, toilet, kitchen, T.V., and all linen. Outside was a BBQ running on gas, and a half of a 44 gallon barrel for a fireplace. We got straight into the alcohol (I brought a bottle of Southern Comfort with me) before we had even unpacked. A couple of guys had brought fishing rods and decided to go fishing for trout (with beers naturally). The cost of the trip was $75.00 each which covered accommodation (2 nights) and all food. With all those guys food (of course) consisted of meat, meat, meat, and meat. Oh... and also some eggs, bread, and a super large bottle of tomato sauce. We had steaks, sausages, bacon, chops, ribs and chicken in vast quantities. There was a weak attempt at some salad on the first night but that was soon ignored. The next day after a big fry up of sausages, eggs, and bacon, one guy (who couldn�t get the time off work) left, to make his way back to Sydney. Two decided they were going fishing for the day and that left four of us to do what�s known as the �Snowy loop�. This is a circular ride that goes through the Kosciusko national park, taking in all the ski towns. As for the name of the park, a site says:- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using his instruments, Strzelecki determined that a rounded cone of bare granite about five kilometres away on the other side of a ravine was the highest (Mount Kosciusko). He pointed: "That is the highest ... most likely the highest point of the continent. It reminds me of the tumulus over the tomb of my countryman, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, in Krakow. He fought and died for Poland's freedom, therefore I name this Kosciuszko because here in this foreign country I am among free people." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cool huh?? Lucky for us the guy in the tomb wasn�t named something like �Iwanto Spankyabottom�, or �Imadaggyass Sheepsucker�, or something like that!!! As you can see the Kosciuszko spelling got changed to Kosciusko. We set off for the ride and spectacular it was too. Some of the countryside reminded me of the moors of Scotland, very barren very rocky and sometimes very hilly. The snowy mountains are famous for not only the skiing but also the snowy mountains water scheme. This a series of 7 power stations and 16 major dams. It was begun in 1949 and took 25 years in construction. It generates electricity for the national grid. There�s a great site below, click on that for more amazing stuff on it. After setting off into the mountains we realised we were short on fuel (Duhhhh). We just made it before we ran out of fuel to Kiandra, which has the distinction of being the highest town in Australia. We stopped for a coffee and a look at the scenery before hitting the loop proper. When we left there, the day was starting to warm up. The road round the loop covered everything from sharp winding bends, large open roads rolling moors and thick forest. There was an unexpected stop when one guy decided to do a bit of off road riding and ended up in a ditch. All quite unintentional, he took a right hand bend, and misjudged it. By the time he realised he was going too fast he was off the tar, on the gravel, and could only go with the flow. Fortunately he wasn�t injured. His bike was scratched up a fair bit and wouldn�t start though. Two hours later after taking bits off it all over the shop, a broken wire was found and a Heath Robinson repair was made. By then it was a bit late to stop for lunch and we had to pull our finger out to get back before dark. We made up a bit of time so stopped at Jindabyne for a bowl of rice and a pizza. Jindabyne is set up just like a Swiss alpine village (aren�t they all?). Winding streets, wooden steep roofed houses, all with the cow bells etc. Definitely very alpine. (Who�s Heath Robinson??? He was an artist of old. His name is synonymous with the drawings of his madcap contraptions. Check him out on the net.) We got back later than expected and the guys had already cooked. Fortunately they had a good fire going to thaw us out. We finished off what grog there was left from the night before (which wasn�t much because we gave it a damn good hammering that night), while we sat around and had deep thoughts (Nahhh not really, we spouted a lot of shite again about bikes and women). It was cool that there wasn�t that much to drink, because we had a long ride back to Sydney the next day and needed an early night. Eggs, bacon, and sausages again for breakfast, pack the bikes, and we were off on the road. Unfortunately it wasn�t a very nice morning and was raining on and off. We went back via Tumut and had various stops on the way back, including the dog on the tucker box at Gundagai. The Dog On The Tuckerbox first emerged into Australian folklore through an anonymous teamster's song of uncertain date. A version of this song appeared in the Gundagai Times in the 1880s in the form of a poem called 'Bullocky Bill' which focuses on a hardy, stoic and unlucky teamster who gets bogged at Five Mile Creek (a teamsters' meeting place five miles from Gundagai). The yoke of his bullock team breaks and, to make matters worse, 'the dog shat on his tucker-box. Various people have written about Gundagai since, including Banjo Patterson (of waltzing Matilda and The Man from Snowy River fame). From there we went to Yass for lunch (Mac Attack) and then up the motorway to Sydney. When leaving Yass one bike got a puncture and we ended up losing a couple of hours while that was fixed up. The weather was real shitty now. Gale force winds and torrential rain interspersed with would you believe bright sunshine was all the way to Sydney. I totalled 1400 kilometres of excellent riding. The whole trip was worth it just to do the mountains loop. That was truly stunning and shouldn�t be missed if you are in the area. |
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| Stop for a break. The shop sign (if you blow it) up says LoveJoys not LoveToys!! |
| Anglers Reach Camp site. |
| Camp site. |
| Cilvilised people having a civilised dinner. |
| Getting a bit uncivilised. |
| Pretty much uncivilised and pissed as..... |
| ......a fart!!! |
| Breakfast (YUM) |
| The highest town in Australia. |
| You can just see Anglers Reach to the left of Adaminaby. The loop goes all the way around it. Kiandra, Cabramurra, Khancoban, Thredbo, Jindabyne, Berridale & Adaminaby. |
| Steve2 the Michelin Man. |
| Nowhere in particular. Just a nice view. Vista Vista Verdant Vista. |
| The wildlife shot. Pre shower and pre breakfast. CRIKEY!!! |
| The bike after we pulled it out of the ditch, prior to taking it all to bits. You can see the skid mark through the gravel in the picture on the right. |
| For a neat site on the snowy mountains power sceme click here >>>>>> |
| Rotton picture, but I was bloody cold!!! |
| Dog on the tucker box. If you look behind him there's a big fresh turd that they put there every day. True.. they get them sent in from the local dog pound!! Trust me, would I lie to you??? |
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