50. Mount Panorama, Shrek, A Cave and A Dish

So, after testing the Camelbak on route to Parkes... I decided it is a definite keeper! I've found that on the bigger trips, I tend to not drink as much as I should but there's no excuse now! =) Love it!

Route: Sydney - Bathrust - Orange - Parkes - Sydney

Total Distance: ~750km

Map: Click here

The planned highlights for this trip were supposedly Mount Panorama and the satallite dish at Parkes... but as always, we discovered some other interesting attractions along the way!

We left later than usual at around 6am... we made our way to stop 1 at Mount Panorama, Bathurst and rode a couple of laps around the race track. It was sooo much fun!!! =)

On our way to Parkes... we came across this store that sold everything and anything and I even got to have lunch with Sherk! Eyeballs, intestines and what not... yummy!!

The next unplanned stop where I nearly shocked Thomas out of skin while I yelled into his headset was at the Borenore caves... we had to ride through a short distance of dirt to get to it but it was well worth it!

At this point, we were already running a few hours behind time but it would have been such a waste to not go to Parkes so we continued along. If I never made this trip, I would never know that a satellite dish is transparent from the back.

And... the interesting things one might came across in the ladies...

Overall a fantastic day however the ride back wasn't exactly the most pleasant... non stop rain, heavy fog, roadworks and cold. Even with wet weathers... I came home with guppies and goldfish in my pants and boots. I'll be looking to fix a few of the issues permanently so stay tune! 

49. Camelbak

My weekend overnighter was ruined when I was awakened by thunder at 2.30am in the morning.

Instead, the Saturday was spent shopping at Anaconda. During our long distance trips, both T and I found hydration to be a big issue... T decided having a convenient water back pack would be a great idea. After all his research, he recommended the Camelbak 2012 Classic - 2L water pack.

In store, the Camelbak felt extremely comfortable and seemed like a great idea... we'll be road testing it soon and will let you guys know what we think of it!

48. We Cater For All

We cater for all – Do you like long straight roads? Perhaps you enjoy the more thrilling twisties? Maybe something a little tamer like the big sweepers? And for the more adventurous, a quick trip onto dirt. To throw into the mix, do you fancy seeing some of Australia’s native wildlife?  What about giant teddy bears?

Our recent Snowies trip features it all!

During the 1.5 day journey, both T and I saw a myriad of Australian wildlife. The Taipan Snake – the world’s most deadliest, a wombat, squirrels, a kangaroo that tried to take T out, a blue tongue lizard and to our surprise a tortoise – one of land’s slowest moving creature.  Of course, there was also the standard cows, horses, sheep and goats.

As for the trip itself, here’s the short…

Route: Sydney – Goulburn – Yass – Wee Jasper (dirt)– Tumut (dirt) – Tumbarumba – Khancoban – Thredbo – Sydney
Distance: 1,120km
Google Map: Click here

…and long of it.

We took off from Sydney at 5am. The morning ride out was extremely peaceful and I loved it!

We arrived in Yass some 3 hours later.

From Yass, we winded up the mountains into Wee Jasper! The view from the foot of the mountain was spectacular. Unfortunately, it wasn’t worth the risk getting taken out by a car so there’s no photograph to share but this is something we both highly recommend!

Wee Jasper is mostly beginners dirt compared to our previous trips. The majority of it being loose tiny stones. Grip was good but it is a little longer than you'd expect so be prepared. 

We also managed to capture a picture of Lake Burrinjuck along the way.

As we approached Tumut, we were met with a sign that says “Tumut (sealed)” to the left or Tumut (unsealed)” to the right.

As expected, we picked the unsealed road.

We arrived in Tumbarumba just around lunch time and I finally got to visit the famous teddy bear place – The Four Bears Café! 

After that, we made our way to Thredbo via Tooma Road and the Alpine Way - Khancoban. As most would already know, the Alpine way is a series of nice twisties. Very enjoyable as usual! And no surprise, we were again greeted with fantastic views! 

The next morning, we started the day down my favourite road – Thredbo Pass which is a series of nice sweepers! It was than the express route back to Sydney. 

47. A Short Trip To Wollongong

The weekends have been fairly jammed pack with doing stuff for the house and spending time with both John and Milo... I did however manage to squeeze in a short day trip to Wollongong. 

T and I headed out on a sunny sunday and was greeted with some spectacular views of the ocean.

We also stopped for lunch at the Dunes Restaurant and the view was fantastic! Food was also quite yummy... fish and chips + soft shell crab! 

46. Balmoral Beach

Work's been pretty busy lately so there was no big ride planned for the weekend. For a change, the weather was also fantastic which warranted a ride to somewhere with some sand and water! 

Here's the view at Balmoral - a short 15km ride from home!

Lunch was at the Bather's Pavilion. The view was great and food was DELICIOUS! 

45. A last minute 1,000km Overnighter

Route: Sydney - Jindabyne - Cathcart - Tantawangalo State Forest - Bega - Ulladalla - Sydney
Distance: 1,065km
Google Map: Click here

Totally unrelated... Saturday morning before the unplanned last minute ride, John (my Mr who's still learning to ride) took me to breakfast at Bills - Surry Hills! Those corn fritters with scrambled eggs and avocado on the side was soooo yummy! And so was the hot chocolate! Definitely worth a try!

And back to business... late morning, T and I both agreed to do an overnighter down in the Snowies. The plan was to clock 1,000km over the weekend.  

12pm - we caught up to change my front brakes. We both thought there was none left but really, it was just rusting like mad and needed a good clean! And because of that, I'm now a proud new owner of a Stanley socket set!!

After some very horrible Sydney traffic, we finally arrived late at Jindabyne. After speaking with the local police officer, we decided not to ride into Thredbo in the dark. There was a fatality earlier this year involving a man and a deer. Last week, he hit one which was as tall as the bonnet of his 4 wheel drive.

Interesting fact: those 4 legged creatures are usually out and about until around 8am in the morning.

After assessing the limited accomodation, we ended up in the Lake Jindabyne motel. It was cheap and clean at $95 per room. Parking was out the front door with the back facing the lake.

Sunday morning, after breakfast, we headed off to Bega. The route we took was via the Snowy Mountains and Tantawangalo state forest. It was mostly dirt heading (with some steep descent) into Bega but a well worth trip! 

In Bega, we headed to the Bega cheese factory for a quick visit and lunch. Boy! Can you smell that cheese from afar! Lunch there was fantastic though! Best steak sandwich I've had... tender and cooked to perfection. All for $10.00!!

We also bought ourselves a little souvenir each - the cutest little cow with magnetic legs. Mine didn't survive past the first 10kms and decide she wanted to return to the wild. T seeing my disappointment, turned us around to find my cow but to no avail. T reluctantly gave his up. 

After that, it was an express trip back home to Sydney with some nice sweepers just after Bega along the Princes Highway and again from Jervis Bay. 

44. And A Little Bit More Dirt

Route: Sydney - Lower Portland - St Albans - Bucketty - Wollombi - Murrays Run Road - The Entrance - Old Pacific Highway - Sydney
Distance: ~380km
Google Map: Click here

Woke up Saturday morning... looked out the window and was greeted by a somewhat cloudy day. As we headed towards Lower Portland, the weather grew more and more sinister... however it wasn't pouring hard enough to ditch dirt for tar!

First dirt destination, Lower Portland to Webbs Creek. The best parts were the several hairpin corners! Great fun! View at the start was amazing too!!

We were soon overtaken by a guy on a yamaha dirt bike whom we later caught up to at the Wiseman's Ferry coffee shop. Had a bit of a chat with him and his mate on the KTM about some of the other fun roads to go exploring on.

After a hearty brekky of sausage and bacon, we continued along to St Albans.

And were presented with some awesome looking cows. I haven't quite seen this pattern before! A white patch in the middle of its body.

As we made our way towards Bucketty on this second section of dirt... the weather got even worst!

But as the weather got worst... the dirt got more fun!

And so did the rest of the day.

The first section of dirt along Murrays Run Road was fairly patchy with a little bit of tar and a little bit of light dirt. I did however get chased by a dog so I rode the bike as fast as I possibly could... I thought it might try to pounce on me... =( It was really quite scary!!

As we continued along, we hit the best part of dirt along Bush Creek Road! It was set in a rainforest with little creeks running perpendicular to the road! It was amazing! The terrain was however quite rough and treacherous with some very slippery section which I suspect was clay... Unfortunately there's no photo here. We were having way too much fun!! =)

We eventually popped out at Yarramalong... where T saw and eagle which decided to take off as I rode by... SPECTACULAR!

T was also electrocuted by fences that were meant to keep the cows in... or perhaps the humans out?

The day ended at The Entrance for lunch and before we knew it, it was time to head back home! And of course, we went via the old pacific highway...  

and stopped at ... 

And after such a brilliant day... it was time to give our bikes some TLC...