CWC - Day 2: Wellington to Gulgong

Day 2:  Wellington to Gulgong 78 kms

Not only was it the longest day of the trail today, but it was also 1000m of up. Just between you and me, that's a lot of climbing. As I was sipping my caffe fantastico (yes still duo lingoing, thanks Lynette) and Ray was having his peppermint te at the Four Cats cafe this morning, he was explaining the route. I knew there was a 23 km climb at the start, but he failed to mention the arduous climbs at the end. 

No matter, we made it, stopping after 48 km at the gorgeous village of Goolma, which has a population of 95 (a wildly exaggerated number) and four tennis courts in case passers-by are in need of a game. I was looking forward to an ice cream from the roadhouse, but I think it closed down about 100 yrs ago. The pub has been permanently closed for years. Thankfully I had the trusty cheese and biscuits on hand and we managed to climb over a fence to sit at the only picnic table around. Fortunately the flies had abated somewhat. 

We coudn't stop for food earlier, as the flies would have carried it and us away. Luckily I had packed the fly nets. You can drink water through them, otherwise you would be drinking in flies. Other interesting wildlife that we saw today was: our first and only kangaroo (3 times), two goannas, two bunnies, not to mention a turtle and one dead snake. Speaking of dead, Ray almost stacked it when he road into some powdery dirt, and then when we were almost at our final destination, some idiot in a fwd missed him by inches.

The weather was a little cooler today, the sky is true blue and the roads were almost traffic free, so apart from the ups and the near misses, all is still good on the trail.

Pics

You can't get any more Australian than merino sheep sheltering under some gum trees. Hang on, you can but you get the point.

Not Bald

Ready for the fly onslaught. We stopped for a few minutes just after this and they almost carried us away. Unfortunately, it was not in the direction we were going.

These rocks have got to be too big not to have a name, but we don't know it.

Apparently I should have telepathically known I was not to ride off when the light turned green. Waddya riding off for? The light turned green.... But I wanted a pic of you waiting at a red light! Holy mother of Mary!

This will probably fall over one day. I just hope I am not riding by when it does.

The most pleasant part of the ride today was riding along beside Uamby Creek. Who knows how many years this wreck has been sitting there, but it is showing surpisingly little rust.

A shot of the winding track beside Uamby creek. Very pleasant... and downhill.

 

Not far from Gulgong we came across this turtle crossing the concrete causway over a creek. Luckily we missed him/her.

About 20 acres of solar farm, which is big business in the area. I wanted a shot of a solar farm at least twice that size, but Brenda didn't want to be run over by cars  - wimp!

This 2m long snake is not going to be biting anyone any time soon. If anyone can recognise what it is, leave it in the comments below

Unlike many Australian country towns which are situated on river banks, Gulgong is atop a hill, surrounded by more hills. The colour of the sky and the sunset was incredible.

Brilliant illumination of a very interesting old town from the spectacular sunset. This photo really does not do it justice. On the next corner (out of shot) is the Ten Dollar Hotel. We thought: Oh no! we should have stayed there - it's only ten bucks! But no, apparently Gulgong is the town on the original Ten Dollar note (ie legal currency)

Ride Notes

• A relatively hilly ride with 1000m of climbing according to ride with gps
• They were doing roadworks for about 15 klms (late oct 24) which meant a lot of stops for stop and go girls and/or automated traffic lights
• It also meant riding on gravel instead of tarmac for about 15klms - most of it uphill
• You will need take all the food that you need for the journey as Goolma (after 48klms) is a no go for food. You can get some  water from the community hall which is in the street just before you reach the main highway (on the right)
• Generally the gravel is quite good but there was a section of about 4 klms where it was extremely powdery. I have about 15 extra kilos on the back rack which does not lend to bike stability, and i thought I was going to stack it, but just managed to stay upright at the last second. So take care. This was around 12 klms after the Goolma stop.
• There was very little traffic on the gravel roads, which was a big relief