Ride to Recovery ( Australian High Country )

[andrew2]

Talbotville.Not a soul in sight.Can you believe it.A lot of Ozzie is like that.Big country,small population.

It was hot so I decided to check out the river.

What?.I could'nt believe it.Company.An older couple in a 4 wheel drive towing a camper turned up.I walked over and started chatting and ended up talking for over an hour about our travels.It's amazing how travellers come together on the road.I met heaps of great people on this trip.

 

[andrew2]

Time to leave.Next stop Grant.

Grant was a thriving mining town.Virtually nothing remains now but ghosts of the past.

Then.

Now

 

[andrew2]

Back to Dargo for a bit of country chatting again:rofl .The next day I was heading for The Pinnacle,or so I thought.The road between my camp and Dargo.

The Dargo general store where I spent many an hour chatting to the locals.

Main street.

Dargo Hotel.The young girl behind the bar was less than friendly.But not a local from what I could gather.

Lyne,GSXR1000 and KTM 450 rider and really nice person out for a morning walk.

 

[andrew2]

Thanks must gp to Lynne and Kevin for charging up my camera batteries while I waited for my adaptor to arrive from home(why do BMW use that small power plug:rofl).
Next stop,The Pinnacles.or so I thought.Unfortunately the weather was to stop me but there are plenty of other things to see.On advice from Lynne I took the Freestone Rd to Briagalong.What a sensational road that follows Sportsman and Frestone Creeks.

Oh no,a tree across the track:eek1

I was planning to head up Marathon Rd to The Pinnacles but with low cloud cover it was'nt worth going in that direction so I kept going West to Cowwarr with intentions of looping around Walhalla and back to Licola for another crack at it tomorrow.
The road from Cowwar to Coopers Creek.

These were beautiful.I do know the "old" name for them but don't wish to offend anyone.I think they are now call Australian Native Grass but not sure.

 

[andrew2]

By now it had started raining lightly so I took the opportunity to put my wet weather gear on and call home which I try to do if I change my plans while riding solo.I took a detour down to Coopers Creek and found a beautifully restored pub.Unfortunately it was closed.It always amazes me finding these things in the most unexpected places.

I also found a great campground down there but it was still early so after a bit of a walk around I moved on to Walhalla.I'd often seen photos of Walhalla on the net and in bike magazines and every photo I had seen of the place it was raining.Guess what...:rofl

...so I found a shelter for some lunch.

 

[andrew2]

My intended route through to Beardmore was closed (according to the sign on the road) so I backtracked through Walhalla to Rawson and on to Thomson Dam.
They look like models but are real.

After a bit of "directional instability" at Rawson I finally found the right road to Thomson Dam,but first I took a detour up to Mt Erica.I did take some photos of this road but not sure where they went:dunno.Anyhow,after 15 minutes I still had'nt reach the campground and I was climbing into the cloud.It was absolutely stunning riding in these conditions but visibility was getting low so I turned back.
Thomson Dam supplies most of Melbournes water and it was down to 24%.The guy working there told me if it gets down to 23% it can't supply any more water(later I was told 18%).Either way it's getting low.

 

[andrew2]

Time to find that campsite.My map showed a campground acrcos the Dam to Beardmore then a right hand turn back down the (supposedly closed.I was later told a bridge was down but a road through a shallow river was still there) road to Walalla.I could'nt find it and the weather was closing in.

Visor up.

Visor down.

I spied a picnic area surprisingly called the "Thomson Dam Picnic Area" with a spot that had my name on it.After talking to a couple of the Dam workers and looking at the weather I concluded that I would'nt be disturbing anyone by camping there.
Dry for the night.

Nice.

 

[andrew2]

It was still damp when I got up the next morning but I had plenty of options.After another leisurely pack up I decided to hit the dirt to Licola for another crack at The Pinnacles before heading back to Dargo to meet up with NevGriff and Racketeer for the weekend.First stop was a lookout between Beardmore and Aberfeldy.

Then another.

A bit further along I came upon a grave.

I felt sadness at being alone out here even though it was a nice place to be at rest.

A tough life back in those days but an interesting story none the less.

 

[andrew2]

Still drizzly but just enough to keep the dust down.

The higher I climbed the thicker the fog which gave a sureal feeling to the ride.I love it.

I saw a fair bit of logging on my ride.A lot of it was for Mountain Ash which died in the fires.They only have a 2 year window to get what they can but after that the timber starts to crack and become useless.

They do leave a bit of a mess though.

Coming down out of the mountains and back into farmland country.I love this type of riding.

The road on the opposite side of the river is Tamboritha Rd,the road I would eventually take from Licola to The Pinnacles.

It was'nt until I reached Licola that I realised the damage caused by the recent floods.

 

[andrew2]

Licola,another lovely town with great people who have suffered enormously but show no remorse.

They just get on with life with a smile.First they had the bushfires followed by a mudslide then flood all within 6 months.Devastating.