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NSW 2007 - PART THREE |
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TTC (Cruising) by Al
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Our trip back to Brissy was pretty quick cos we were cruising and I’m proud to say only cost us $18 bucks in accommodation.
After having new tyres fitted to the rear of the bikes, we headed out of Sydney, avoiding the tolls, to Windsor and the Putty Rd to Singleton. We caught some interesting pickies of haulpac’s on the way and lots of pollution pouring out of the stacks from the generation plants. We stopped on the side of the road to admire the landscape being carved up by the mining and breath in the air laden with the stink of burnt coal from the generation plant down in the valley.
We pulled into Singleton around 4pm and decided to get a campsite at the local caravan park just before the bridge. The residents at the caravan park were very friendly and came over to admire the bikes, have a chat and offer us a power lead so we could pinch some free power to charge the mobile and run a light. That evening we went into town for a pizza and a bottle of red. You can tell there is a bit of cash in the area. The cars are big, and the shops are full of junk.
The next day we left Singleton and headed out to Muswellbrook. As we went over the bridge into the Singleton township you negotiate a set of lights. Anyway, Meredith didn’t make it to the lights in time before they went red. So she pulled up. Coming through the lights was another biker on a Harley. Well, untrue to form he actually nodded. Now we know why Harley riders usually appear to grip their handgrips with a look of terror as they ride straight by without acknowledging oncoming riders. The nod to M caused the bugger to lose his line bike and he nearly went clean over the edge of the bridge. Meredith could hear the audible crunch of rim on the concrete curb as he scraped around the corner and headed up the bridge.
At Muswellbrook, we called into the information centre. You see the information centre is one of those must do places if you like a drop of vino. You can get a free wine tasting and usually pick up a bargain case of vino. This time I was able to get a mixed case of vino from Chocolate Hills. Alas, its all gone now, probably another trip to NSW is required to get some more of that Shiraz.
We did a deviation off the New England Hwy onto Fossickers Way via Nundle and into the back of Tamworth. A must do trip as long as you don’t mind a bit of dirt. We had lunch at the show grounds in Nundle and contemplated staying the night at some camp ground along the creek bed just out of Nundle. Instead we decided to stay in cruise mode and continue up Fossickers Way and see how far we could go. We had also been given a tip about a place just north of Tamworth that was supposed to be pretty good for camping. We didn’t actually make it to the place we were told of and instead we pulled into this free camp spot just out of Manilla at Split Rock Dam.
Once again a swim was out of the question as the water level was very low, in fact the water was miles past the end of the boat ramp. In addition there was plenty of signage saying don’t drink or swim in the water. So it was out with the purification pills to treat the water so we had some for cooking and drinking. The amenity block was pretty good with hot showers and flush dunnies.
The next day we headed north to Goondiwindi calling into North Star at the local shop for a burger and a breather. On the way we had to pass a road train on a narrow bridge at Bingara. Stopped for a bite on a hill top overlooking the local surrounds just out of Warialda and got to see lots of interesting towns on the way. Fuel was pretty easy to get and the road wasn’t too challenging.
We came in through the back of Goondiwindi and located a Caltex for fuel. Not wasting too much time we then headed out along the long trip toward Toowoomba. We decided not to stretch the cruise mode and stopped at Yarramalong Weir just out of Pampas. Took a bit of finding, and even the locals at the servo were not sure where it was. At the campsite we checked out the irrigation plains (they are as flat as). In the evening they look real specky as the sun sets on the horizon. Well worth the effort to see at least once.
The next day it was back to Brissy through Toowoomba. We took a detour via Hampton to Esk and over Mt Glorious to finish a decent travel, tour, and cruise.
~v7~
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