C
Clowndog
Guest
This is a spur of the moment trip that I embarked upon last weekend but first a little background.
The weekend prior I had undertaken an 800k trip to visit some friends and test my newly purchased camping equipment, having never really camped before. The trip initially consisted of a large amount of dirt travel from St Albans north of Sydney to Moonan Flat and over the Barrington Tops to Gloucester. Unfortunately the weekend was a wash out. I was drenched for two and a half days and after slipping and sliding my way from St Albans to Broke I altered my path and stayed on the bitumen. I don't mind dirt roads but a wet one on a vstrom loaded with camping gear was more work than fun. In the end I completed the trip and was glad to have done it, but due to the weather I came out the other end tired, and with very few photos to show for my efforts.
I had resolved to take a break the following weekend and maybe just do a ride around Sydney, but come Friday afternoon and ideas started to float around my head once again. Before I knew it I was down at Woolworths buying tuna, melba toast and nescafe coffee sachets. :razz:
The weather forecast was good and so I packed the bike ready for an early departure on Saturday morning. I planned to do a relaxed trip, 250k on Saturday leaving me with plenty of time to setup camp and relax followed by 250k on Sunday to get me home. I was looking forward to setting up my tent and relaxing a little, the previous weekend I was soaked, reading tent instructions and fighting the rain as the sun was going down.
The route takes me south out of Sydney down to Mittagong via the M7. From Mittagong I head west to Wombeyan Caves and eventually to Mt Werong where I plan to camp for the night. Day two takes me north to Oberon and then east on my way home, with a side trip to the Jenolan Caves.
I left home around 6am, hoping to arrive at Mt Werong in plenty of time to set-up camp and have a lazy afternoon. The sun was still partly concealed by clouds and low above the horizon as I cruised down the M7.
The M7 is one of Sydney's newest additions leading south. A good way to get out of the city and get the real riding started.
After a quick breakfast at Mittagong I began my journey west along Wombeyan Caves Road. I noted that Mittagong and the surrounding areas had a really sweet smell, kind of a mix between pollen, honey and sherbet
I passed some trees covered in hundreds of flowers later on, a likely source.
If I recall correctly, the Wombeyan Caves road was only tarred up to somewhere around High Range, which I think was only a locality.
This was a stunning little driveway proudly displaying a fantastic view of part of the owners property.
I took the opportunity to grab a shot of the strom, patiently waiting for me, as I once again stop for photos. It was at this moment I got the crazy idea to try a panorama shot, of sorts.
I herby present, Clowndogorama !
Warning, objects may be more peculiar than they appear!
As seems to happen on each of my trips, my passing had not gone un-noticed. To the un-trained eye these may appear to be nothing more than cows attempting to elude the heat under the shade of a tree, but don't be fooled. These creatures are members of a clandestine organisation operating on a global scale. Their motives are as yet unknown, but they are intelligent and they are organised.
My feeble attempt to slip past casually failed, of course.
I was interrogated at length by one of the henchmen.
A lengthy discussion followed and I was eventually granted permission to pass, whew !
Once again, Dodgy Bro's Inc is running on a tight budget and special effects don't come cheap. I foresee a mirror shot in the near future.
Not long after the road turned to dirt I was skirting the boundaries of Nattai NP.
Ok, so it's not as grand as some of the tunnels you will find in this forum but it was pleasing to the eye just the same. Better than the M2 tunnel at least ;D
WARNING - POINTLESS SIGNS NEXT 20 Kms !!!
Yea yea, sounds like too much work for Dodgey Bro's Inc.
More Photoshop trickery
Soon after I took a quick break at, ahem, a lookout. Woodenwally something or other.
Quite a nice spot, just on the edges of Nattai NP, wooden, wombe, wallawalla, bah.
Ah yes, as I was just saying, Wollondilly Lookout. of course.
I would love to just grab a backpack and head into that if I wasn't such a lazy bastard. Back on the bike I say.
The gray/white, dirt/gravel road gave way to red dirt in the space of about 5 meters.
The plant life along the road changed colour quite dramatically also.
As did the road markers. In fact, if you look closely, even the 20 or so flies resting on the top of it have been dyed red.
More to follow...
The weekend prior I had undertaken an 800k trip to visit some friends and test my newly purchased camping equipment, having never really camped before. The trip initially consisted of a large amount of dirt travel from St Albans north of Sydney to Moonan Flat and over the Barrington Tops to Gloucester. Unfortunately the weekend was a wash out. I was drenched for two and a half days and after slipping and sliding my way from St Albans to Broke I altered my path and stayed on the bitumen. I don't mind dirt roads but a wet one on a vstrom loaded with camping gear was more work than fun. In the end I completed the trip and was glad to have done it, but due to the weather I came out the other end tired, and with very few photos to show for my efforts.
I had resolved to take a break the following weekend and maybe just do a ride around Sydney, but come Friday afternoon and ideas started to float around my head once again. Before I knew it I was down at Woolworths buying tuna, melba toast and nescafe coffee sachets. :razz:
The weather forecast was good and so I packed the bike ready for an early departure on Saturday morning. I planned to do a relaxed trip, 250k on Saturday leaving me with plenty of time to setup camp and relax followed by 250k on Sunday to get me home. I was looking forward to setting up my tent and relaxing a little, the previous weekend I was soaked, reading tent instructions and fighting the rain as the sun was going down.
The route takes me south out of Sydney down to Mittagong via the M7. From Mittagong I head west to Wombeyan Caves and eventually to Mt Werong where I plan to camp for the night. Day two takes me north to Oberon and then east on my way home, with a side trip to the Jenolan Caves.
I left home around 6am, hoping to arrive at Mt Werong in plenty of time to set-up camp and have a lazy afternoon. The sun was still partly concealed by clouds and low above the horizon as I cruised down the M7.
The M7 is one of Sydney's newest additions leading south. A good way to get out of the city and get the real riding started.
After a quick breakfast at Mittagong I began my journey west along Wombeyan Caves Road. I noted that Mittagong and the surrounding areas had a really sweet smell, kind of a mix between pollen, honey and sherbet
I passed some trees covered in hundreds of flowers later on, a likely source.
If I recall correctly, the Wombeyan Caves road was only tarred up to somewhere around High Range, which I think was only a locality.
This was a stunning little driveway proudly displaying a fantastic view of part of the owners property.
I took the opportunity to grab a shot of the strom, patiently waiting for me, as I once again stop for photos. It was at this moment I got the crazy idea to try a panorama shot, of sorts.
I herby present, Clowndogorama !
Warning, objects may be more peculiar than they appear!
As seems to happen on each of my trips, my passing had not gone un-noticed. To the un-trained eye these may appear to be nothing more than cows attempting to elude the heat under the shade of a tree, but don't be fooled. These creatures are members of a clandestine organisation operating on a global scale. Their motives are as yet unknown, but they are intelligent and they are organised.
My feeble attempt to slip past casually failed, of course.
I was interrogated at length by one of the henchmen.
A lengthy discussion followed and I was eventually granted permission to pass, whew !
Once again, Dodgy Bro's Inc is running on a tight budget and special effects don't come cheap. I foresee a mirror shot in the near future.
Not long after the road turned to dirt I was skirting the boundaries of Nattai NP.
Ok, so it's not as grand as some of the tunnels you will find in this forum but it was pleasing to the eye just the same. Better than the M2 tunnel at least ;D
WARNING - POINTLESS SIGNS NEXT 20 Kms !!!
Yea yea, sounds like too much work for Dodgey Bro's Inc.
More Photoshop trickery
Soon after I took a quick break at, ahem, a lookout. Woodenwally something or other.
Quite a nice spot, just on the edges of Nattai NP, wooden, wombe, wallawalla, bah.
Ah yes, as I was just saying, Wollondilly Lookout. of course.
I would love to just grab a backpack and head into that if I wasn't such a lazy bastard. Back on the bike I say.
The gray/white, dirt/gravel road gave way to red dirt in the space of about 5 meters.
The plant life along the road changed colour quite dramatically also.
As did the road markers. In fact, if you look closely, even the 20 or so flies resting on the top of it have been dyed red.
More to follow...
Last edited:
