Canberra - Omeo 2nd. leg
Canberra - Omeo, click for map
According
to the weatherman, the skies were supposed to have cleared up, but instead I
left Canberra in a slight drizzle and a headwind. It must be a rather
privileged job to have, in order to continuously mess up and be able to hold
the position!
Feeling
wet and cold, I headed south on the Monaro Highway toward Cooma. The clouds
disappeared after a couple of hours, the roads dried up quickly; and with a
nice shoulder to ride on, it was back to business as usual = pedaling.
Now
with a good distance away from any major city, the traffic had dwindled down to
a trickle. The fast food rubbish next to the roads as well as all that nuisance
tire piercing junk such as nails, bolts, rivets, brackets, tools, drill bits,
springs, coat hangers… had disappeared.
Leaving
Cooma in an easterly direction toward the Snowy Mountains also meant going
uphill to some higher elevations. Another stop was Jindabyne, a town that was
relocated in the 1960’s due to Jindabyne Dam. The original site of the town is
now submerged in the lake. Although the town is only 915m above sea level, the
temperatures at night dropped down to the single digits (C). This was colder
than I had anticipated, as it was summer after all, okay for cycling, but not
for sleeping in a tent with lightweight equipment. Cold toes during the night
forced me to go and purchase some heavy duty woolen socks, which made a world
of difference in sleeping.
The
road then leads to Kosciuszko National Park, with the same name as the highest
peak in Australia of 2228m. It was named by Polish geologist and explorer
Strzelecki in honor of fellow Polish hero, General Kosciuszko. Further up the
hill is Thredbo, one of the Australian ski resorts, which also sports the longest
ski runs in the country. With the slow pace of going uphill and lack of
traffic, there was plenty of time to look around, taking in the different
smells of eucalyptus, pine trees and flowers. The top came with the arrival of
Dead Horse Gap of 1582m and what a relief it was. Unfortunately it wasn’t just
cruising downhill thereafter, but there were more ravines to cross with some
nasty steep uphill climbs, eventually leading to the Murray River.
Along
the Murray was one of the most peaceful and flat stretches during a 100km ride,
perhaps a car every half hour or so, just beautiful! The biggest distraction
would have been the Upper Murray Estate Vineyard in Walwa, where the handlebar
just wouldn’t go straight anymore. As it was lunchtime, it was perfect to take
a break for some wine tasting. Rested, but with some extra weight in the
panniers, I headed west following the river past eucalyptus forests and cattle
farms. This is also the area where the Murray Grey Cattle comes from, which
“we” all love on our plates.
At
the end of that day, rather tired after riding 120+ km, I reached Granya, a
town that was established during the 1860’s gold rush but has the feel of a
ghost town today. I only found a couple of souls in town at the Granya Hotel,
the owner and the cook. Normally they’re closed on a Monday, but as it was
getting late, with no other civilization within 40km and averaging 20km/h, it
would have taken another two hours, so Mick opened up the place for a lonely
cyclist to serve food and drink. With the approach of thunderstorms, he also
let me sleep on the premises. I’m still very thankful for
his hospitality that day and hope if ever anybody travels that part of the
country to stop by for a cold one to say “G’day.”
Now
the turning point had come to pedal south again. Though the roads were still
wet from the overnight thunderstorms, I left Mick’s Pub with fond memories.
Soon I arrived at the junction to the Omeo Highway leading to Mitta Mitta. The
“Highway” (a road where 2 cars can pass and without a center line are in
Australia often referred to as Highway) snakes over parts of the
Victorian Alps and the paving of the dirt road was only just completed as of
May 2014. It took 2 days to cross, and it was a very scenic and enjoyable ride
with no really steep grades over the 1345m pass. With hardly any traffic, I
only saw the occasional logging truck, which changed the air scent quickly from
eucalyptus to fresh cut lumber. The funniest thing on this stretch, though,
would have been appropriately at the “Joker Camping Area” where a Kookaburra
(see pic) was warming up over a campfire!
In
spite of the lovely countryside, it was a pleasant feeling to roll into Omeo,
as it meant fresh coffee and a hot meal.
Until
next time from down under,
Tony
Bike
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