Willo's Winding Way to Wooli, and Weturn

[Williamson]

Day 1:


Met Phil at the Hume Freeway / Clonbinane interchange (to avoid taken the heavily loaded Mighty ST1300 over some rough gravel road to his property.




Dinner, bed and a full breakfast was $87 per head, seems a bit pricey until you see how big the meals were - bottom line, highly recommended.

Time for a walk and a few pics before breakfast.

Main Street:


I thought I heard trains overnight (three times):


Post Office:


General Store:


Old world charm in the dinning room:


More to come .......

[Cerebral Knievel]

I wook forward to weading the west of your wide weport 

[Biggles]

STIMPY!!  Don't encourage wacky wabbit behaviour!   

[Biggles]

I thought I heard trains overnight (three times):

Ghost trains?

[Cerebral Knievel]

STIMPY!!  Don't encourage wacky wabbit behaviour!   

Sowwy ! 

[Williamson]

I thought I heard trains overnight (three times):

Ghost trains?

Station is closed, line is active - very active.

[Williamson]

Day 2 went something like this:


Before we left Binalong, I had time to take a pic of the old railway station:




A stop at the Crookwell visitor centre, pick up some Cartoscope maps, a coffee and tea at the tea rooms over the road.



Then off to Oberon via Taralga and the Abercrombie River.  The road in and out of the Abercrombie Gorge is in much better nick than the last time, should have got some pics but .......

If you don't you don't know Taralga, it's worth a visit AND some pics, here's some on the link to a Google search: https://www.google.com.au/search?newwindow=1&biw=1093&bih=479&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=k-X2WeGrE4TB0gTwtY-YCg&q=taralga+buildings+australia&oq=taralga+buildings+australia&gs_l=psy-ab.12...10927.14386.0.16709.10.10.0.0.0.0.372.2425.2-3j5.8.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.1.239...0i13k1.0.VplXQxyvPYM

Then via Bathurst and a couple of laps around THE circuit, at the bottom:


At the top:


Then Sofala:








Then on to the Paragon Hotel at Mudgee where we met Joso (Robert) who gave us an alternative route for tomorrow.

[Bodø Glimt]

Can anyone do laps around Bathurst or do you have to know someone?  I plan on going through Bathurst next week (provided I don't get lost).

[Cerebral Knievel]

Can anyone do laps around Bathurst or do you have to know someone?  I plan on going through Bathurst next week (provided I don't get lost).

It's a public road,but has a 60 speed limit.Every time i've been there i got stuck behind caravans or held up by roadworks 

[Williamson]

Can anyone do laps around Bathurst or do you have to know someone?  I plan on going through Bathurst next week (provided I don't get lost).

You gotta know someone.  Send a few $$, and I'll set it up for you.

Can anyone do laps around Bathurst or do you have to know someone?  I plan on going through Bathurst next week (provided I don't get lost).

It's a public road,but has a 60 speed limit.  Every time i've been there i got stuck behind caravans or held up by roadworks 

Don't listen to STimpy, send $$ to me.   Pay extra and you to ride both ways.

[Bodø Glimt]

 

Someone else mentioned riding it a day or two ago (either here or on the facebook page) so I was curious.

[alans1100]

Can anyone do laps around Bathurst or do you have to know someone?  I plan on going through Bathurst next week (provided I don't get lost).

We did the lap on our CX500 TC sometime in the early 1990's and opposite to race direction.

If it wasn't for the arch over conrod straight you wouldn't have known you were on the track - might be a little different now.

[Cerebral Knievel]

I gave you a pineapple at Wooli   

[Williamson]

We did the lap on our CX500 TC sometime in the early 1990's and opposite to race direction.

If it wasn't for the arch over conrod straight you wouldn't have known you were on the track - might be a little different now.

What a difference ~25 years makes:






You be the judge.

[Williamson]

Day 3 didn't go as planned due to a suggestion from Nev (from AusTouring) and confirmed by Rob (an OzSTOC member - Joso - from Mudgee).  Anyway, both recommended a route via Premer and then back roads into Tamworth.

First stop was Gulgong for breakfast:







Then Coolong:





No pics at Premer, as there wasn't anything worthwhile.

At Werris Creek, Phil went to look for a mechanical workshop to adjust his chain (silly chain thingys on those Suzuki's), I went in search of lunch and a drink, $6.50 got me a chicken and salad sandwich which I should've shared with Phil, I also took some pics:





Bendemeer:



Sorry I didn't get all of the pub, but the Mighty ST is better.

Then Gostwyck, I'd been there twice before (recommended by Nev? a few years ago).  Phil hadn't been there, so it was worth the detour:





Back to Uralla:



And then overnight at the Royal Hotel in Armidale.

[Williamson]

Day 4

Despite some advice to avoid the section between Tenterfield and Legume (due to some  gravel), the advice from a couple of local (Byron Bay) riders on a day trip that this road was okay, and this latter advice ruled the day. Phil said something along the lines of, "Those guys are a BMW GS1200 and a Triumph Tiger, of course they'll it's okay".

Anyway, first things, first......

We departed the Royal Hotel Armidale at a sunny, but crisp 8:00am and headed to Guyra for breakfast. Again, on OzSTOC advice, we headed for the "last place on your right as you head north out of town".

As we headed north out of Guyra, we didn't notice anywhere that served breakfast, but by the time we got to the Caltex roadhouse we thought we had gone too far, so we U-turned and headed south.

Back in town we spied Rafters, "this must be it", and so it was. For the reference of readers, Rafters is still in the town. Admittedly, it is the last place on your right as you head north.

The U-turn was worth it. Keep Rafters in mind when next in the area.

After breakfast, we swapped bikes for the ride to Glenn Innes. As I mounted the Suzuki GSX1400 I thought this is a sports bike (well, at around 230kg versus the ST1300's 330kg, what else would I think?).

A quick squirt of Suzi's throttle and few gear changes and I found 6th gear. Uphill and down dale, Suzi didn't a gear change for around 80km. I would like to say that I enjoyed the ride, but I didn't. I missed the full fairing and sans buffeting, and was glad to swap back at Glenn Innes.

Phil said that he didn't enjoy the ST, but I think he was fibbing. I checked to TomTom's memory later that day and asked him if he knew who was doing 155 on the ST earlier on. He said he didn't know.

Then Tenterfield via Deepwater.

Railway Station:






Post Office:


Tenterfield:




The gravel, approx. 22km of it, was pretty good. Phil of Suzi:


Then Legume:


Tooloom Road:


The views are spectacular:




So is the road:


A lemon squash at the Urbenville pub:


And on to the Woodenbong for the night.