Armidale Amblers 1/10/25
We thought a nice easy ride out to the Blue Hole, a summer swimming spot for Armidillos (locals from Armidale), would be a good idea. After a two hour drive from Tenterfield, we pulled up at a local park, assembled the bikes, had an early lunch so that there was nothing to carry, and off we went.
After a lot of gravel and corrugations and no real hills to climb, we were looking forward to a scenic walk to the gorge. However, we forgot the bike lock, so that didn't happen.
Our return journey, mostly on bitumen, was slowed by a 50km headwind. Even though it was only 20kms back to the town, it felt twice as long. We did eventually make it to our motel, where we discovered yet again, that no plates or cutlery are supplied, even though they have a toaster and a microwave.
We spared no expense and bought some gorgeous bowls and spoons from Cole's, so that we can enjoy our fresh fruit breakfast. (The last two days we made do with some empty containers and teaspoons provided for tea making). Now we have everything we need. This motel has provided fake plants, including a bonsai, as well as books, magazines and even a world globe, just in case we need to see where we are in the larger scheme of things.
Tomorrow we are off to Cowra, on our way to Bright.
There must have been quite a bit of recent rain it was very green with water lying around. The cows seemed pretty contented.
Plenty of waterholes and plenty of shade - a perfect picnic spot
Plenty of granite boulders and plenty of Brenda giving me a hard time
Sometimes you wonder where all that water is coming from
You might be able to make out the weir wall which was part of a late 19th century hydro-electric scheme which was washed away in a flood. The electicity was for a mining operation in the area,
Tranquility
Brenda is quite good at pushing things around. She gets plenty of practice on me.
At the gorge lookout this boulder had split. How does that happen?
Brenda just loves taking pictures of flowers. No idea what they are.
Part of the old engineering for the hyrdro-electric station. This was near to top of the penstock channel which ran down the side of the hill
More granite
More waterfalls with water seemingly coming out of nowhere.
Ride Notes
A really nice ride on quiet roads with a nice walk and even a swim at Blue Holes, if that's your thing.
The only problem we had was that there was a 40kph headwind with 50 kph gusts coming back to Armidale. Luckily Brenda had the electric bike otherwise we'd still be pedalling.
- It's not a long ride but there are no shops along the way so take all the food and water you need.
- Consider taking a picnic lunch as the Blue Holes is a great picnic spot
- The gravel road running down to the blue holes is a bit rough and corrugated
- The rest of the gravel roads were a bit better