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A series of day rides in the NSW and Victorian High Country: Wangaratta - Tumbarumba - Woodonga - Myrtleford Read more
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  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 1

    Heading to the High Country

    April 20, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It felt like "google maps" was sending me on a rather circuitous route as I found myself traveling though Kangaroo Ground, Panton Hills and Wondong before popping out onto the Hume, but in actuality it didn't take too long and it was really rather pretty. With Wangaratta as a destination there was no other lunch option than Fowles Winery - a real favorite. The tastings were closed but they were happy for me to try a few things at the table prior to lunch so that I could settle on a glass of the Stone Dwellers Shiraz (mmmmm) to have with a delicious seafood chowder (I know... you're supposed to drink white wine with fish but seriously I've never tried one that doesn't taste like fly spray). Any how I had an enjoyable and leisurely lunch before completing the journey to Wangaratta and the Gardenview Motel. Pity the "garden" is the local lawn cemetery but never mind ... it's clean, comfortable, convenient and inexpensive... I even scored a free up grade to a "deluxe villa" (think little onsite cabin - again can't complain). Coffee on the deck and then a ride into the center of town for a few groceries .... looking forward to an evening of trash TV and an early night with a book... simple pleasures!Read more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    2
    Day 2

    Bread, Cheese & Wine .. shopping by bike

    April 21, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After a complimentary breakfast in the motel's converted chapel it was off to Milawa Gourmet Region. The day started out quite foggy for the 20km ride along Oxley Flats Road (which as the name suggests is rather flat) to Milawa. By then it was time for a coffee at the Milawa Cheese Co. which has a rather nice bakery. Having caffinated and stocked up on some lovely bread and blue cheese it was back on the bike and off down Snow Road. The bike path is semi sealed and so it's a pleasant ride to Oxley where I took a little detour to John Gehrig Wines for a tasting and a bottle of red before the final leg of the 50km loop back to Wangaratta. Then it was in the car for the just over 2 hours to Tumbarumba. The first 100km or so was straight down the Hume before turning off down a meandering series of roads which gradually started climbing. It was all very pretty but to be honest I was starting to worry that Google maps was having a bit of an episode and just taking me off to the back of beyond but then I spotted some signs for Tumbarumba and I was much reassured. Apparently, Tumbarumba is a small town in New South Wales, about 480 km southwest of Sydney, in addition, according to tourism NSW, it is a divine mix of landscapes, with surrounding mountain peaks standing sentinel over bushland, vineyards, lush pastures and gurgling streams. It's best know for chardonnay (eww!) and pinot noir (not eww) on the wine front. The town seems quite nice, small, although processing at least 3 pubs... hmmm. I was there just after 1.30 checked into the motel (a bit sparce given the rates... no microwave or crockery.. thank goodness I have my trangia!!!) and then went for a wander... I found the local Gin distillery and had a lovely chat and tasting with the distiller - I can highly recommend their signature dry, a bottle of which also seems to have found it's way into my bag. By the time I got back to the motel the Ghost Riders had started to arrive... time for a chat then off to the room to do some work, make dinner and then have a lovely slothful evening in front of the TVRead more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 3

    Riding to Rosewood

    April 22, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    It was a leisurely start to the day... we by my standards anyway.. exercises.. a jog around the lovely riverside park... yoga .. some breaky and a bit of work before stepping out to join the Ghostriders for our venture down the rail trail. And what a lovely day for it.. mild and sunny with only very light winds! The rail trail is rather new and is in fact the first to be opened in NSW.. the literature bills it as "21 kms of vistas, serenity, gentle gradients and sweeping curves". It is certainly a well put together trail... bitumen surface with good infrastructure (eg signage and toilets (at stations)). It is also well integrated with the local agricultural industry with on trail cattle grids (surprisingly smooth to ride over... particularly with a bit of speed up... I'm sure there is a scientific basis to that), fencing, bridges and underpasses. It took only an hour to get to Rosewood where a coffee was in order at the "Rail Trail Cafe". Not bad coffee either (although they hadn't heard of a "Magic" ... perhaps it's a Melbourne affectation....?) and a complementary mint slice biscuit... how nice. I was a little concerned that the return would be a slog with about a 7km climb to look forward to and being almost (there is one other) the only non e-bike rider in the group I thought I might be slow.. so I headed off a little in advance but surprised myself with the relative ease of the return which took about 1 1/4 hours ... it really is a lovely trail! Back to the motel for a shower, lunch and a meeting with my PHD supervisor .. then it was time to relax (and read a few papers) before dinner at the Union Hotel. A typical "country pub", the seafood "basket" (sans basket???) came with a surfeit of chips and there was a distinct lack of anything approaching a decent dark beer or stout (ok ... I know... I'm fussy) but it was a cheerful place and the company was great... now I think it's time for bed! What a great day.Read more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 4

    Tumut and Talbingo

    April 23, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It was cold when I went for a morning jog along the river so a hot cup of coffee was very welcome for breakfast (the trangia has been a savior, making morning coffee and re-heating curry for tea). At 9am we gathered for a briefing on the plan for the day ... it was off to Tumut No3 power station (which is actually in Talbingo) this is a small town on the Tumut River at the edge of the Snowy Mountains (410m above sea level), about an hour and a half up winding roads with some really amazing views. The purpose of the visit was a fantastic tour of the power station which is part of the amazing snowy river hydro scheme. "Tumut No 3" is one of 9 power statins, 2 pumping stations, 16 dams and 225 km of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that make up the system which was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The new Snowy 2.0 will come on line in 2025. A lovely young electrical engineer called Will (as a favour to Ken - a Ghostrider from Cooma) had come in on his day off to take us through the power station... it was amazing and fascinating ... we saw the turbine hall and even when down to the lower levels to see the inlet and pumped hydro pipes. The system fired up briefly while we were there ... what a racket! After the tour it was back down to Tumut where I popped into the Tumet River Brewery for a beer (and some to take home to share with Sam) before rejoining the Ghostriders at the Riverside Café for lunch. Post lunch it was time for a brief ride on what was a glorious autumn afternoon around the Tumut River, River Flats.. just a quick 26 or so km be quite delightful... then the hour back to Tumbarumba as the sun set over the spectacular mountainsRead more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 5

    A scenic drive to Wodonga

    April 24, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    It was a lovely sunny morning to be heading out on the drive to Wodonga. Not being in a particular hurry was lovely and my first stop was the impressive Paddy's River Falls not far from Tumbarumba. It is possible to walk right down to the falls and I am told that the locals will even clamber behind the falls themselves, although this was not something I was going to risk - the rocks looked very slippery and the water was belting down at a great rate. Back on the road I soon came to the "Southern Cloud Lookout" near Tooma. This roadside view point looks across to the ridge line where the Southern Cloud, a tri-motor airline, crashed in 1931 with 8 people on board. As such it was the first airline disaster in Australia and prompted significant safety changes to the Australian airline industry. The crash site was not found for 27 years when in 1958 a worker from the Snowy Mountains Scheme stumbled upon while bushwalking. Despite the somber story behind the lookout, the view was rather special. From there I drove on down into the Murry River Valley and crossed back and forth from NSW to Victoria and back to NSW, finally popping out on to the Hume Hwy some 50km north of Albury. After refueling and restocking with a few groceries it was time for a picnic lunch by the River in Noreuil Park. There was also the opportunity to enjoy a very pleasant ride for about 8km along the river to the Wonga Wetlands. This is a series of lagoons which are home to over 150 species of birds and which has a very pretty 2.5km loop walk which I enjoyed. The other interesting part of the ride was the series of indigenous sculptures along the way - known as the Yindymarra Sculpture Walk it features a series of stunning contemporary Aboriginal sculptures lining the Wagirra Trail from Kremur Street to Wonga Wetlands. Fifteen sculptures created by local Aboriginal artists have been installed along the trail and they are really pretty cool. Getting back to the car it was only a few minutes drive across the causeway to Motel 24 which is home for the next 3 nights. Unpacking and settling in didn't take long so I was able to do a little work before heading out for tea at the Albury Brewhouse 4.5km across the river and an easy ride. There I enjoyed some flathead tails and a really rather nice chocolate porter before heading back to the motel.Read more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 6

    The highs and the lows..

    April 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    OMG... what a day... It started off well as I headed off up the high Country Rail trail to see how far I could get. I confess I had some vague idea of making it all the way to Shelly, but when I worked out it was almost 85km one way with a 500m + climb in the last 20km I just decided to go as far as I could in a reasonable able amount of time leaving sufficient time and energy to get back. The trail starts not far from the motel and heads in a gently undulating manner towards the Kiewa River where there are some rather pretty bridges and trestles. It then climbs slightly towards Bonegilla. The Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre which is not far from the trail but was unfortunately closed being ANZAC day, was a camp set up for receiving and training migrants to Australia during the post World War II immigration boom. The camp was set on 130 hectares (320 acres) between the Hume Dam and the city of Wodonga. The site was a former World War II Australian Army base, and is adjacent to the current Latchford Barracks. Before being requisitioned by the army, the site was originally a section of large pastoral land. The camp opened in 1947 and operated until 1971, over which period it received over 300,000 migrants. It is estimated that over 1.5 million Australians are descended from migrants who spent time there. At the old station along what is now the rail trail was an art installation of metal suitcases which was rather compelling. Not long after Bonegilla the trail starts to skirt the edge of the Hume dam (for about 30km - all the way to Old Tallangatta). The Hume Dam, formerly the Hume Weir, is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River it is important for flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. Along the way there are several cool bridges over large inlets. I had a brief stop at Tallangatta which is apparently known as the ‘town that moved in the 50s’. The town was moved eight kilometers to the west, to a site known as Bolga, to allow for the expansion of Lake Hume. Every now and then, when the Hume Dam is at a low ebb, the ghostly remains of "Old Tallangatta" can be seen above the water. The trail grew a bit iffy after old Tallangalatta but steadied out again a few kilometer's of rough riding including a quite notional section apparently involving a detour through a paddock. Around Bullioh the trail started to climb and although the surface wasn't too bad it was clear that this section is still being worked upon... there were several magnificent trestles is a very bad state (more detours) although there was still reasonable signage. The trail crossed under the road at the 61km mark and I thought that is was probably about enough as there was still about 14kms of climbing to go and I still had the return journey to consider. It was just as well that I did ... but more of that to come.... I decided to ride the road for a while and headed down the hill at a fair clip spinning along in the sunshine at a comfortable pace before regaining the trail just the other side of Tallangatta. I was, in fact just considering taking a rest break with about 22km to go back to Wodonga when disaster struck... my derailer snapped... the bloody thing just snapped off .. smashed one of my spokes and just hung there being both useless and worse an impediment to forward progression. In the end I kind of hooked it out of the way and started walking interspersed with kind of rolling down the hills accompanied by kind of leg waving activities... I slowly progressed this way for another 12 km before a couple riding past on an electric tandem (with their Snoodle Beau in a basket on the front) stopped to assist me ... the kindly Ian had a chain breaking tool and a replacement clip meaning that we could detach the derailer and the shorten the chain... it wasn't pretty but did mean I could sort of ride down the hills a little better and FINALLY just as the sun was setting I made it back to the motel... tired .. filthy and rather annoyed at the whole bike thing .... it's either major repairs or a new bike... either way I'm not sure I'll be doing other than head home... sigh!Read more

  • TravelerHigh Country Ride
    Day 7

    No riding today ... obviously

    April 26, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    After breakfast this morning I hit the internet and the phone to try to sort out what to do about my bike and the rest of the trip... it took about half an hour but I finally came up with a bit of a plan that will see me going back to Melbourne tomorrow and seeing a couple of men about a couple of bike options. Then, how to spend the day and riding wasn't an option and really the weather was just to gorgeous to sit around sulking.
    The first stop was Yackandandah, described as a "a small tourist town in northeast Victoria" it is actually a former gold mining settlement (gold was discovered in the area in 1852) with many original buildings... so much so that the town center is now classified by the National Trust. While it is a pretty town the appellation "tourist town" is accurate, in that the main street now consists of mostly cafes, old wares stores and designer clothing boutiques. The main attraction for me was the extension to the rail trail from Yackandandah to Osborne Flats. It really is very good. The surface is a fully sealed sort of pebble-crete and the bridges and new and well made, perhaps a little more signage ... but it's clearly a work in progress. I enjoyed a lovely stroll the 6km each way to Osborne Flats, the trail undulates gently through the bush and it was all rather pleasant.
    Then it was on to Beechworth and lunch at my favorite Brewery... Bridge Road, home of the famous chocolate Easter ale.... yummo.. combined with a apple and gorgonzola pizza and I was in heaven. Post lunch it was time for a stroll around town visiting the Butt-butt tree (a massive 600 year old apple gum) and enjoying the Autumn leaves before making my way to Bilson's Brewery.
    Bilson's is "billed" (pardon the pun) as one of the oldest continuing beverage manufacturers in Australia. While they originally made beer (currently in hiatus due to COVID apparently) the later diversified to cordials and more-recently pre-mixed vodka things and even more recently Gin. I had a bit of a tasting and came away with some cordials and some interesting Gin (a weird purple one and a "Durif" gin - both VERY nice). Leaving the beverages and the car at Bilsons I then set off for another walk - this time it was a loop through the Beechworth Historic Reserve.
    beechworth itself is apparently a charming and well preserved gold rush town with many restored colonial buildings and a historic precinct which includes the goal and other official buildings. It is also increasingly know as a "gourmet" destination having the 2 breweries, many wineries and heaps of local producers from fruit, cheese, honey and heaps more. The Historic Park to the west of the town incorporates "The Gorge" which is a deep river valley, bordered on both sides by rocky outcrops which afford a view over the town. It is apparently where the infamous "Kelly Gang" hid out for a time. There is a 5km loop road through the area which takes in the Beechworth cascades which are rather nice. I had another enjoyable stroll and then finally ended up back at the car at about 530 for the short drive back to Woodonga.    Read more

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