Bathurst to Bairnsdale

We rode away from Bathurst early enough to catch the workers scurrying towards Lithgow for a 9am start. Add to that, a bunch of race fans hurrying home to Sydney,  camper trailers flaring,  by the time we traversed The Bells Line of Road and reached the Pie in the Sky at Bilpin I had completely lost my appetite and Steve was left to dine alone.  It was warm riding on the eastern side of the ranges with the temperature up to 30 degrees. For the first time in 5000km of riding our jumpers were no longer required and we squeezed them into our already overfull panniers.

Kendalls Beach campsite

At Richmond, Steve found some quiet backroads and we headed southwards through one village after another all the way to Mowbray Park.  Plenty of folks live here in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, isolated from the big smoke by the elevation and the twisty roads. At Picton we jumped onto the B88 for an enjoyable ride until we reached the motorway on the outskirts of Wollongong.

Historic timber terraced shops, Kiama

The seaside town of Kiama became home for a week while we enjoyed the lanes and mountain passes around Robertson, Kangaroo Valley and Jamberoo.

If you love the world game, call into the pub at Jamberoo and stop for a while in the Johnny Warren room. The photographs and memorabilia will take your breath away as you follow Johnny’s journey from age five until his passing at age sixty-one in 2004; The pub is owned by Johnny’s brother and family.

Sea Cliff Bridge

Another highlight was the ride along the coast to the Sea Cliff Bridge which was built out over the ocean when rock falls destroyed part of the coastal road.

We nearly became permanent residents, we so enjoyed breakfast overlooking Kendalls Beach and the whales frolicking in the bay, but Devil and Dwarf had other ideas. After seven nights we were back on the road again enjoying some twisties on our way to Bairnsdale for the Barry Sheene Tribute ride; looking forward to that.

Another lookout, too lazy to remove helmet