Ride Report: Bethanga, Melbourne, Barry Way and Talbingo

[ontic]

Alright, apparently this is the place for ride reports.
We've been back recovering for a while now so it is overdue to get this report started.
I'll start this today, with the hope that Charlie will pitch in adding his thoughts and photos.

This was a ride that was brewing for a while. The background was Charlie helping my buy my R90/6 last summer, our friendship forged over that adventure (and a Magna engine rebuild), and our plans to go on a ride together when the time was right. For me this involved finally finishing some studies and handing in a long drawn out and bloody thesis-exhausting stuff- and of course getting the bike ready and kitted out for camping. For Charlie, this involved trying to get Brunhilde back together after some significant work, and it was looking like this run could nicely coincide with the Talbingo Boxerworks rally.

The plans were pretty open. Visit a property and hut my good friend owns up near Jindabyne, via the Barry Way, spend a bit of time there, play it by ear and ride wherever we wanted, and then meet up for the Talbingo boxerworks rally.
The weather became an interesting factor once we hit the Hut, helping to restrict some of our plans to ride down to the east coast, etc, but everything else worked out well.

Here is the basic route we took.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&sour ... CmvmMBdkts

Not indicated is the nearly 5 times we did the majority of the dirt section of the Barry Way, and the side run to Mckillops Bridge.
(cheers Charlie for putting the map together)

Here's the Girls, Brunhilde (right) and The Princess (as she is currently known until a better name comes along, or this one sticks) (left). Two 1974 R90/6's.


Here's the boys. Charlie and me.


Day one for me was Charlie meeting me at my place after a day earlier riding from Bethanga to Melbourne.
I was still in frantic packing stages, so we ended up leaving a little late.
A nice run out of Melbourne until we hit the long straight slog out east. Good to get some miles done.
Met up with Grant at his workplace before taking his advice and grabbing a campsite in the fading light just off the road past Rosedale.
A little noisy with traffic in the morning, but entirely convenient for our position, with a sheltered table and firewood close by. A decent camp. Thanks for the tip Grant.
Dinner was a scrumptious steak with garlic and herb boiled potatoes, some (of Charlies homebrew) beers, single malt and even some red wine (drinks that became a bit of a tradition).
Heres my little Svea 123 frying up my steak to perfection. Steak at room temperature, salt and pepper rubbed in well, oil(butter) the meat not the pan, is a foolproof recipe for me. This was one of two excellent steaks we had on the trip.


Campsite in the dewy dawn light. Slight hangover.


By this stage, Brunhilde had lost her speedo and tacho, something that would not be solved until a few days later after Charlies work with a bicycle speedo and some ingenuity.

Getting ready for the next days run


I'll leave it at that for the moment.
I've just got Charlies CD of photos in the mail (cheers mate), so I know he has a lot of photos to contribute.
(Charlie: Do you want me to upload them to my photobucket account or have you already started uploading them?)

Teaser:
Barry Way coming up.
This photo was actually taken a week or so later but was a very similar time of day and light as the first time we past (both times we ended up riding the Barry Way through dusk and dark). I wanted to stop the first time, but we were again running late. It's a view that makes me smile inside.
Somewhere between Seldom Seen and Suggan Buggan I think. A very nice road and surface.

[Deleted User 287]

It looks like a great time!
Thanks for the map and the link, Charlie!

[Ross]

Great stuff guys... Love it...

This is stunning photo....

[SteveD]

Looking forward to this...great start Hans.



Here's a smiley for Charlie.

[Airbear]

Ah, street view. Great.
Rob, if you continue along through a couple of bends you get to this ..



... and a couple of kms later, the Seldom Seen Service Station ...



We didn't have time to stop there on our first run, but backtracked a week later to fill up and meet Dave ..



That's Lamboghini the sheep. Very interested in motorbikes, apparently.

[Ross]

I have just noticed that Charlie has Hippo Handlebar mitts.

[Deleted User 287]

yes Charlie, I had trouble finding a town called Seldom Seen, but I found the road. Only natural it follows a typically dry creek bed.

Do they have a pond where you can take the sheep?

[Airbear]

yes Charlie, I had trouble finding a town called Seldom Seen, but I found the road. Only natural it follows a typically dry creek bed.

Do they have a pond where you can take the sheep?

I thought it impolite to ask. I can give you Dave's phone number if you wish to make inquiries.
You would have to say she has kept her age well!

[Airbear]

I’ll take up the story for a bit …

As we rose in elevation we were greeted by some big scenery.



This is wild country. Lots of animals on the road. Samba deer, kangaroos, wombats, wallabies and cattle. Probably pigs, goats and Winnebagos if you looked hard enough. We took our time on the dirt part of the Barry Way and wound up travelling in the dark for the last 60kms, dodging the ‘roos and the muddier bits. We arrived at the Jindabyne hut at about 8pm, exhausted but happy. The track into the place involves about 3kms of very slippery mud, challenging ups and downs and so on. It was a relief to make it in. With candles lit, a roaring fire, food and some wonderful single malt in the bellies we were happy.



In the morning we were greeted by this fine young ‘roo.



And I had the chance to look at the place



The huts were built in the 80’s for use as a retreat by a generous family and their friends. The location is about 60kms from one of the best ski resorts in Oz (Thredbo). Facilities are simple and quirky, so I felt very much at home. Hans has a long history with the place and it was easy to understand the affection he feels for it. The trees are mostly Alpine Gums; all nice and twisty, hundreds of dropped limbs close by and very good burning. We did our best to mitigate the fire danger by burning mountains of it in the generous fireplace.

We were able to get a little bit of radio reception, and the news reports mentioned some impending weather. They kept talking about “the most significant weather event for 15 years”. Since we were above the snow line and very close to a ridge we thought it best to gather resources and batten down.

We went into town and loaded up with supplies for 4 (maybe 5) days. We spent the rest of the day dragging firewood and getting the bikes sorted. With the first blasts of wind we realised that the bikes would have to be tied down.



What followed was a Very Windy Night. I thought we would lose the roof during the worst of it, but the hut stood up well. We had a couple of inches of rain but not the expected snow. I was up before dawn to count the bikes. We heard about floods across the state on the radio as we settled in to hut life.



In the next installment I think it might be time to mention the food. (o, the food was magnificent. Hans is a gifted cook; skilled and resourceful, and well prepared with bags of garlic and ginger, herbs from his garden and little bags of favourite spices. O yes, the food …. )

[Sibbo]

You've done well Hans and Charlie ! I'd say getting to that cabin right on time was worth a Koala stamp and 4 points ! On far off Oz Pol we were wondering how you were faring ,all hoping you'd made it to some friendly old stone pub ....you did better than that by far ! Well Done and more please !