Subject: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:15 am
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).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Stopped at Gulgong to give Black Betty a drink and some chocolate for me (excuse me, I was on holidays)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Stopped briefly at Mendooran for a coffee and to rest my arse - only 1.5 hours to go!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] The Wattle - this is where the green and gold colours come from for our sportspersons.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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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Oz1200Guzzi Don Abbondio
Posts : 6086 Join date : 2014-03-13 Age : 69
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:27 am
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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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Oz1200Guzzi Don Abbondio
Posts : 6086 Join date : 2014-03-13 Age : 69
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:40 am
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Wheat is popular along with sheep and cattle. Other grains grown are sorghum, oats, barley and chickpeas
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] The road to Walgett - really busy
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] You can see all the traffic queueing up behind me while I stopped.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Here's the sign - there should have been one on the other side, so I guess it has become collectible.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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)
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Oz1200Guzzi Don Abbondio
Posts : 6086 Join date : 2014-03-13 Age : 69
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:44 am
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] the Castlereagh river sometime has water in it - often it is disconnected pools - more often it is just a river of sand
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beetle GRiSO Capo
Posts : 10198 Join date : 2013-09-30
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:46 am
I would happily see every Wattle burn. Yes, it's beautiful, but so fucking sneezy. A pox upon it!
. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . In GRiSO we trust! .
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Oz1200Guzzi Don Abbondio
Posts : 6086 Join date : 2014-03-13 Age : 69
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:53 am
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] You have to know when to expect no more bitumen
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Some of the road home - note the traffic!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 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.
MrBob, LBC Tenni, Bill Hagan, Weißgerät and drburt like this post
Oz1200Guzzi Don Abbondio
Posts : 6086 Join date : 2014-03-13 Age : 69
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:58 am
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.
beetle GRiSO Capo
Posts : 10198 Join date : 2013-09-30
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:14 am
There's enough Wattle in Wagga to kill a man. I mean me.
Nice write up! I need (we all need) more practice.
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Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:09 pm
Fiery farts, Pete?
Street L'Innominato
Posts : 3420 Join date : 2013-05-29 Age : 65
Subject: Re: To Coonamble and back in one piece Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:22 pm
Oy vey!
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Subject: To Coonamble and back in one piece 
Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:15 am
