To Coonamble and back in one piece

As has been mentioned elsewhere, I travelled to see the house I had just purchased, sight unseen.

Well I've seen it, know what needs to be done. However the journey was also an adventure, I had not been out that way for around 25 years, so it really was a home-coming for me. Now, I do not profess to take great photos and I would never consider Bill's efforts as something that I could do, nor aspire to (you keep going Bill).

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At Capertee

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Capertee again

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Stopped at Gulgong to give Black Betty a drink and some chocolate for me (excuse me, I was on holidays)

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Stopped briefly at Mendooran for a coffee and to rest my arse - only 1.5 hours to go!

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The road to Pilliga from Coonamble - runs almost dead straight for 80 km - there is a "bend" in the middle but you will never wear out your tyres as it's almost imperceptible. The last time I was on that road was more than 40 years ago. It was black dirt then and wet and I slipped off into a culvert (driving a HQ Holden and towing a trailer with my bikes on it). I had to wait till my mate, whom I was following, realised I was not behind him. He was busy looking to see where the rain was falling. Farmers Huh?

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For the life of me, I could not tell why this section was rougher than the rest of the road. Perhaps the local council likes to feel they are doing something?

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The Wattle - this is where the green and gold colours come from for our sportspersons.

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Some more wattle and a section of the Pilliga Scrub. The Pilliga scrub used to run from southern Queensland to northern Victoria on the west side of the Great Dividing Range. Today it is small patches in NW NSW and has been made into state parks and national parks. The rest is now farmland.

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Coonamble is technically part of the North-West Slopes and Plains. In reality, there are way more plains than slopes. This photo is looking back at the Warrumbungles from Pilliga Road. These volcanic origin mountains are over 60 km away from where I took the photo. Yes, flat!

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The good thing about Spring is the plethora of insect life, annoying but really necessary. Just the 2 hours travel on my visor here.

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This is canola growing. When planted, it produces a good crop. Often it just sprouts itself wherever it was and spoils whatever the farmer intended. I wonder why they call it rape, out there! I have seen it 6' high and actually tried riding my bike through it, looking for someone who had gone missing - that's a story for a campfire.

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Wheat is popular along with sheep and cattle. Other grains grown are sorghum, oats, barley and chickpeas

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The road to Walgett - really busy

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You can see all the traffic queueing up behind me while I stopped.

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This is a (family) famous intersection on the Walgett road (part of the Castlereah Highway) - it's 20 miles from Coonamble and where the dirt stuff starts

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Here's the sign - there should have been one on the other side, so I guess it has become collectible.

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This is the famous dirt road. It goes over a bridge (over the Castlereagh River) and immediately turns to good dirt (if the council has left it alone) or bad dirt (if the council has just graded it or it has rained and a road train has totally fucked it)

I rode down the road towards CBC...

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The bridge

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the Castlereagh river sometime has water in it - often it is disconnected pools - more often it is just a river of sand

I would happily see every Wattle burn. Yes, it's beautiful, but so fucking sneezy. A pox upon it!

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You have to know when to expect no more bitumen

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And it ends just like that. If you are not prepared, you are dancing on marbles. I left the road for another day - it's more appropriate for the V85TT. Though, the road looked in good condition this time. However, if you meet a double decker (cattle) or a triple decker (sheep) coming the other way, they will not share the road - there is a culvert on both sides. Very tricky on a lard-arsed road bike.

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Some of the road home - note the traffic!

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I zoomed in a little - took me around 3 minutes to reach the top of the hill (not zooming, riding).

I left at 0910 on Wednesday Morning and arrived at Coonamble at 1545.
This morning, I left Coonamble at 0713 and arrived home at 1350.

I need more practice at long haul trips. My longest in the last 20 months had been 60 km.

Hope you enjoyed this little story.

Funny you should say that Mark, every day at home, I cough and splutter up bits of lung for an hour. Not one skerrick in Coonamble. Bonus: Good for my Physical as well as Mental Health. I could smell the wattle as I was riding by, brought back memories.

There's enough Wattle in Wagga to kill a man. I mean me.


Nice write up! I need (we all need) more practice.

I have in mind a great destination! Stay tuned...

A very enjoyable write up, and you photog skills are just fine!

Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy the pics of the landscape there.

You were really scraping the pegs on that road, eh Tony?

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You bet, Pete. well done.

Great write up. Thanks for sharing.

Street wrote:

You were really scraping the pegs on that road, eh Tony?

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Hmm...looks more like diarrhoea than sparks.

If it were me at that angle..it probably would be!

Come on Mark, think the "globe of death"!

Think of diarrhoea in the globe of death!

Oz1200Guzzi wrote:

Come on Mark, think the "globe of death"!

I do not think of the "globe of death". Imagine trying to ride a big block Guzzi in the "globe of death".

LBC Tenni wrote:

Think of diarrhoea in the globe of death!

It's one way to shit in your own mouth...

beetle wrote:

Hmm...looks more like diarrhoea than sparks...

Jeez, some pretty harsh art critics around here! (But you're right. Is this any better?)

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Fiery farts, Pete?

Oy vey!