Taralga Overnighter 22 - 23 October

This ride was by far the best yet. The countryside in this area is incredible with its rolling hills and the roads are smooth and winding so theyre comfortable to excecute.

We started off with brekky at the Peppercorn Cafe where Craig met Cathy and I at about 8:30am. Andrew lent Craig a bluetooth headset so we took the time to set it up so he could listen to his music and also communicate important things to me if he needed to , such as 'Fark I need a piss" or "if we dont stop soon so I can take a dump, things could get messy" anyway you get the idea.

So we left the cafe at about 9:00am and headed up the Great Western Hwy. We were going to go via Bells Line but we were warned that backburning was taking place this weekend.

Anyhow after a quick look at the map we decided to give the Cox River Rd at Little Hartley a try to get to Hampton but we soon found out that what was left of the road was poor (see pic below) and eventually turned to dirt so we turned back to the Hartley turn off to Hampton but not before taking a couple of photos. A habit that soon earned me the name "Captain Kodak" from Craig.

The Properties here were incredible.

Eventually we made it to the tiny Hamlet of Hampton just in time for a cold beer and share a plate of hot chips - just $3:50 for a large plate ! The publican was tops and advised us to go to Oberon via Jenolan Caves.

Mmmmmm beer.

The road to Jenolan - A Captain Kodak moment

Oh look a cave ! When we rode through it, I couldnt resist giving the Scooter a couple of blats - the sound was unreal but I dont think the tourists liked it much - sorry bout that chief.

Heres a pic of Craig wondering "what ? another bloody photo ?"

Craig took this next pic of us but what you cant see is the "no stopping sign" to our left just out of range.

No thanks, we'll ride

So we eventually reached Oberon and fuelled up the bikes and had lunch at this Cafe / Takeaway thingy.

On the way out of Oberon, I saw a sign for the Oberon Dam - Woo hoo another Captain Kodak moment.

"Cathy, just sit there and look normal" "mm mmmm mmmm mm" she replied.

Our babies doin there thang.

We took Shooters Hill road down to Taralga from Oberon, crossing the Abercrombie River

I love these old bridges. This one crosses the Abercrombie River which at the moment is a nice bubbling stream at this point.

Oh look, someone's left two perfectly good motorcycles behind near an old bridge over a bubbling brook.

Finally we arrive in Taralga at about 4:00pm.

I can never get over how big Cathy's head looks in that helmet - yes honey I can still see you behind there .

This next pic gives you a good idea of where Taralga is.

Alas we arrive at the wonderful Argyle Inn with its great hosts Rhonda and Tom. Rhonda was out to greet us and made us welcome soon after we pulled up - great country hospitality.

Once we sorted out where we were and what we were doing, we went for a quick blat around town. That didnt take long because its not a huge place but full of historical buildings.

This bike lockup gave us a bit of piece of mind, not that youd need it in a town like Taralga.

So we unloaded the bikes and had a shower and it was straight down to the bar for some cool drinks and great conversation with the locals and other travellers. 

The sign on the right says "best 12 inch and 9 inch in Taralga". It turns out they were talking about pizza.

No one that knows Cathy would be surprised by this next pic. however, believe it or not, she didnt take up the offer.

Rhonda took some time out, after cooking some 30 odd meals, for her guests, to talk to us about the resident ghosts of the pub and the town. She also conducts Ghost Tours and knows alot about the history of the town. She talked to us about "orbs" "mists" and "ectoplasms" which she has many photos of and many guests have also taken pics of. You can see some of her pics on her own blog .

Did I mention Rhonda is a chef by trade ? Here is Craig's flat head fillets and chips and Cathy's roast lamb and veges. It was great having a real pub counter meal.

I ordered a simple steak and eggs so you can imagine my surprise when this monster came out.

The lovely lady behind the bar was a top girl called Kathy (I hope I spelt it right). After a few drinks I was getting pretty cheeky and eventually she threatened to put me in the naughty corner with the orbs and ghosts and things.

In this pic she has just served up her first pizza to customers - Sonya and her wonderful husband whos name escapes me, Kathy got the big thumbs up for the pizza.

By the way bloody Sonya ate all my chips ! (thought Id ad that for her benefit in case she reads this blog)

Heres a pic of Craig standing on my bed and decided that the bloody curtains werent closed enough to keep the morning sunlight out.

Well we made it through the night and the only ghosts we heard came from under the bed sheets through the night. Just as well we didn't get any ectoplasms - that could've been bloody messy.

So after a shower to wake us up and a breaky of jam on toast and coffee, we packed the bikes once again and we headed off at 8:30am. As you can see, it was a perfect morning , the air was crisp but the sunshine was gorgeous. This mornings ride was simply stunning, I was actually sad to be riding away from the place but we just knew we were going back there one day.

We took the road to Oberon via Black Springs this time. Another great road - same but differant.

We found those bikes on the side of the road again , this time on a lovely winding country road.

See? told you we went through Black Springs.



We refuelled at Oberon once again then rode back through Hampton and stopped at the same pub for an early lunch. From there it was a smooth ride back to the Great Western at Hartley then back home, stopping once for a drink and a good bye to our riding buddy Craig. We made it back home at 1:45 pm , alot quicker as we by passed Jenolan Caves and the camera wasn't used quite as much.

"3 Day Ride" September 2011

This was our first overnighter ride together and we had a ball. Actual time in the saddle was limited to no more than 4 hours a day with plenty of breaks for photos, wee stops and a stretch along the way.
The scenery was excellent but being on a bike, you can also smell everything, including the bush with its eucalypts and road kill was never far away either. We would ride past a dead Roo or Wombat or some other poor unfortunate bastard and wait for the stench to hit us through the helmet vents. Sometimes the kill was fresh and the stench never came but most of the time the smell was strong enough to make your eyes water.
The other negative I experienced was "Swamp Arse". Our textile bike pants did a bloody great job protecting us from the elements but on Tuesday it was sunny and warm and the inner lining of my pants acted like a frickin sauna. It kinda felt like wearing gum boots full of water while walking through a cow paddock !
Taking the bastards off wasnt much better. I had to hang on to the bed head while Cathy pulled them off. They sounded like a pair of wet rubber gloves coming off after delivering a calf ! Didnt smell much better either.

Map

Day 1: We left home about 8am after packing our gear. We had saddle bags given to us by Andy some time ago and we bought another bag for the back rack and covered it with a "bag rain coat' donated to us by Daniel.

First stop was Windsor for Breaky and top up with fuel.

Next, we headed up the Putty Road and another stop at the "Grey Gums Cafe" - roughly halfway up the Putty.

Continuing up the Putty, there was no shortage of photo ops.

This bridge was one of many on the way to Wollombi but they are all being replaced with Concrete ones.



Lunch at Wollombi Tavern, home of "Dr Jurds Jungle Juice"

It turns out that the Jungle Juice is basically a mixture of Port and Brandy - bloody nice though.

Here we are at the Cessnock Motel - recently renovated and central to everything. We basically parked up, showered and went into town and in the evening, we had dinner at the leagues club and a beer or three.

Day 2 : After breaky, we were on our way once again. We headed back through the wineries but unfortunately couldnt stop for any tasting especially on two wheels.

Heres Cathy pretending to know where the hell were going and doing her best impression of the Michelan Man.

Broke was one of the first towns we rode through. Theres alot of these towns around and all a very old with heaps of history within them.

Next, the town of Denman where we had a drink and a wee break - oh and also had a chat to the information desk who gave us some advice to ride through the Bylong Valley Highway. This highway was the best. Heaps of unmarked road and the valley itself is beautiful. Had a close call with about 15 kangaroos who decided to hop across the bloody road. I thought "oh wow thats nice" at first, but soon realised "shit! they couldve caused us some serious problems"

Another pub in Denman

This was another interesting looking bridge.

At this spot, we hit a humungous pot hole and pulled over to check the bike and pick up our teeth from the side of the road.

Finally, we arrived in Rylstone and found this bakery to have lunch at.

Mmmm bakery made pies and sausage rolls.

The lady at the bakery advised us to ride to Mudgee through the village of Lue. This village consisted of about 6 houses so you can imagine the look on my face as we rode through looking for something a little more than half a dozen bloody homes ! Still very nice though.

And finally we arrive at the B & B we were staying at called "Kia-Ora". This home has alot of history and very nice to stay in. The only problem was, at a place like this, you need to give them a time for breakfast and we felt that it took away some flexability as to when we could get going in the morning.

Day 3 : Breaky at the B & B. Thank God they dont take photos for a living !

Riding away from Mudgee we pass the edges of  Lake Windamere. We didnt get any rain until we rode through Cullen Bullen (half hour outside Lithgow), then it didnt stop all the way home. It was a good experience though as we were very well prepared and were very snug in our gear while listening to music on our blue tooth communicators.

And finally heres what the bike looks like after riding long distances in rain. I didnt even put her to bed in the garage tonight - she was way too dirty. Mental note "dont follow trucks in the rain, even the spray on my helmet was brown"

Anyone wanna come over for a bike cleaning party ? Anyone ?