Wee Jasper on a whim..

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
So, Roger (1200GSA) rang me and said "We're off to Wee Jasper over ANZAC day long weekend". :shock: That was 2 or so months ago so I put it into my calendar as "Roger's Fault" - that worked really well when the missus read my calendar and saw it was all Roger's fault. :lol:

The gist of it was for Roger & I to leave down here (S.E. Melbourne) earlyish on ANZAC day, ride up to Beechworth to pick up Al (the main instigator - 1150GS), and continue on to Wee Jasper to meet up with Al's BMW riding mates.

GPS Track Log:


As we had a fair chunk of day on ANZAC day, we decided we'd head up through Noojee - Matlock - Woods Point - Mansfield. We both attended the Dawn Service at Dandenong (how ironic - we attended on a Japanese bike and a German bike), and then hit the highway out to Longwarry. After a coffee we started heading northbound towards some gravel and dirt.

They've had log truck running up and down the road between Noojee and Matlock, so it was very smooth, but very slick where it was wet. It's not often I can get past Roger on the dirt, but his Anakee(?) wasn't liking the slick stuff as much as my Trailmax. A few times I backed it into corners like the best of the GP riders, albeit by accident instead of good planning.. :oops:

Stopped at Matlock for a looksee at a mate's hut, and to get some lungfuls of nice clean air:




The new Forma boots seemed to be doing OK - my feet were warm. Everything else was bloody cold though. It was cold, windy, and the clouds were so low and black I was sure we were going to get snowed on. We scuttled off down the hill to Woods Point just in case it did.

Heading through Woods Point:



As an experiment I'd put the lanyard of my camera through the straps of my Camelbak so it wouldn't hit the road if I dropped it while riding and snapping shots at the same time, so excuse any average "on-the-move" shots!

Heading out of Woods Point towards Frenchmans Gap:

 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
After Frenchmans Roger seemed to find his groove and took off at a great rate of knots down the hill towards Gaffney's (well, to me it seems like a great rate of knots - it's probably only pootling along really). I cruised on down the hill at my pace, until I came around a corner and found a GSA lying on its side looking towards me, with Roger picking himself up out of the dirt.. :eek:

He'd had a good go at trying to get a mine started in a gold mining area:


I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of a sleeping GSA (damn me and being soft hearted!), but I did get the "what the fark have a broken?" shot :p:



A bit of McGyver'ing with sticks and straps, and we were ready to roll again. Bent crashbars, bent aux light, bent pannier. Not too bad all things considered. On inspection of the scene, it looks the the rear wheel had slipped sideways into a rut, causing a highside of sorts.

We cruised on out to Jamieson, and then on to Mansfield for a fuel stop.

Dodged the Police in Mansfield and headed out towards Whitfield. I was getting excited as it's been a real long time since I've ridden that bit of road. Got to the first 45km/h corner and promptly dragged a crashbar on the road. :mad: So, the KLR is obviously not a sports bike. Adjusted my technique a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed myself until I got stuck behind some traffic 6 or 7 k out of Whitfield. Decided that was a good time to practice taking photos on the move again:



:cool:

Got ourselves into Beechworth to pick up Al, who promptly led us on a merry chase through Granya ( :wink: ) to Walwa where I really needed fuel as I'd been on reserve for the last 30km's (and they reckon the KLR has got a big tank?!). No such luck - the servo was shut for ANZAC day, so we set up camp 5km's down the road at Neil's Reserve on the banks of the Murray until we could get fuel in the morning:



A couple of bourbons, a fire, and a chat between mates. Doesn't get much better really. :D
 
Last edited:

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Fueled up on Friday morning (21 and a bit litres into a 22 litre tank), and headed off towards Tumbarumba via Tintaldra and Tooma.



Had to stop heading up the hill because of the roadworks that have been ongoing for at least 18 months:



At least there was a view while we were waiting:



Roger giving me the "I'll shove that camera so far up your date.." look:




A bit further up the hill, we stopped for a photo op at the lookout:



Not sure why we all parked so far away from each other.. :looney: :lol:

Kept on scooting up the road towards Batlow dodging tourists and log trucks:

IMG_0026_zps85a84416.jpg


 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Stopped at Tumut for fuel and supplies (Good burgers at the Oriental Hotel, as long as you don't mind paying for 'em).

Got a bit further down the road and Al had to consult the map. Not real sure why when the road sign was telling us what we needed to know:



:???:



Anyhoo, apparently it was the correct road. We kept getting people assuming we were off to the Tumut Valley Riders Autumn Leaf Rally as we were heading the same direction. As I rode past the driveway there were a couple who tried to wave me in - sorry boys - I'm on a mission!



Turn, turn, turn!! We'll come back the other way..



Keeping a close eye out for sheep, cows, kangawallafoxes etc..



I think I know where we are:



More eatin' dust, but we're nearly there:

 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
"Down in the bottom of that valley boys" says Al - "That's Wee Jasper":



Where we've just come from:



Al struggling with the technology while I'm snapping away with the P'n'S:



While we were stopped taking pics, Roger decided that he had too much air in his front tyre, so let some out. Well, 2km later, he decided that he'd let too much out so had to air up again:



Rolled into "town" (I use that term very loosely) and pulled up at the pub.

Give ya a free tip - buy ONE drink, don't make eye contact with the Publican (Deb), and leave pronto. She's what we refer to as "Odd", and not in a real good way. My understanding is that she's managed to ban pretty much all of the locals from the pub, and she's banned from the camping areas.. :looney: Actually, on second thoughts, take your GoPro in with you and offer her $200 for her French Wood Heater - I'd love a copy of the footage when she's done with you.. :box:

We scooted about 8km back out of town to one of the campsites along the river, and set up (rolled out a swag and cracked open a bourbon :scull:). A little later on all of Al's BMW mates showed up (and proceded to set up all over the place so I couldn't get them all in the same shot!):


From the old bloke who rides hard enough to wear out the crashbars AND the head covers, to the bloke who only bought a GPZ1000 the week before to come along for a ride, they were all a bunch of good blokes (even if I'm sure that a few of them were cunning old codgers who know EVERY trick in the book!).

Went to sleep in the radiant glow:

 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
So Al decided that we were going to start heading south again by heading north first and around through the Brindies. Across the bridge at Wee Jasper, then start climbing up the hill:



Stopped for some more scenery along the way:





Considering how close we were to Canberra, there was bugger all traffic:



If you look real close, you can see the tower on Black Mountain in the distance (and keep in mind, it was taken on a P'n'S, so no big zooms here):

 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Skirted around the edge of civilisation, and headed up the hill through the Brindabella National Park heading towards Brindabella. The amount of people using that road astounded me. There were Subaru's, Discovery's, Mountain Bikes & Hikers..

We stopped at the top for a breather:





Before starting the descent down into Brindabella:





Stopped for a bit of a looksee at one of the rivers for a while before I realised the others hadn't stopped, so I should really get a move on:



Great bit of road through the Bondo State Forest heading back towards Tumut:



Roger must have been off with the fairies along this stretch because I got to overtake him again. Here I was hoping for some encouragement (you know, "you're getting better on the gravel mate"), but no... I get "So you think I'm going too slow so you pass and shower me with rocks".. :looney: :lol: I'm sure I'm innocent of that - the KLR doesn't have enough power to throw rocks.. :whistle:
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Back out through the plantations to Tumut:


(Told ya there'd be some average shots!)

Until we got back into Tumut:



Turns out that Tumut had the Festival Of The Falling Leaf on, so the town was chockers, with roads closed and all that. We dived into an eatery for a bite to eat before the crowds dispersed from the parade and there was nothing left. Stocked up with some more supplies and continued heading in a south-ish sorta direction back towards Victoria.

Was getting sick of getting smacked in the cheeks by bugs (well, I assume they were bugs even if they did feel like marbles!), so the goggles came back out:



I'd go back to a road helmet, but I really miss the peak when I'm not using the chook chaser lid.

Almost looks Mad Max'y:



Pulled up on the Murray somewhere west of Jingellic for the night (before the big bouncy things came out to play). Al figured this was a good spot to camp:



:lol:

KLR 1, both BMW's 0.. (that'll come back and bite me on the arse)

Set up camp:



Looked at the scenery:





..and then kicked back and relaxed:

 

Williamson

Part of the furniture
Keep it coming Macca .......

:clap:

.... the Publican (Deb) ..... what we refer to as "Odd", and not in a real good way.......

May be a sister to the odd guy Brian (BJay), and his mate Warren, met at Wee Jasper on the way to the New Years Rally at Micalong Creek around 16 months ago.

I'll let him tell the story, he knows much more "intimately" better than me.
:sick:
 
Top Bottom