CWC: Day 6: Mendooran to Ballimore

Day 6: Mendooran to Ballimore 60 klms

Several hours after arriving at Anna's B&B, Ray remembered that we had to pay the bill in cash, of which we had none. There was no obvious ATM in the township and the post office was closed. I suggested that we ask at the pub if we could get some cash. We were on our way to have a drink anyway. Luckily, just as we were about to enter, I noticed a small sign for an ATM inside. And why wouldn't they have a money machine, they were broadcasting every horse and dog race known to man. Gambling lives on, even in the smallest townships. 

Ray was able to relax, knowing that we could pay Anna the princely sum of $70 for accommodation and breakfast. We waved arrivederci the next morning and were on our way to an even smaller village.

I hate gravel, well not all gravel, just the rutted, loose, rocky and soft sandy stuff. Today's ride involved 48 kms of all of the above. Ray lost control in the loose sand at one point, he wasn't impressed. Having a 100 ton laptop on the back of the bike didn't help. At least with the track being so difficult, we didn't come across any traffic at all. Although we did come across some red-tailed cockatoos, when we could look up from the dangerous gravel.

We made it to The Hair of the Dog Hotel in one piece and we thought we had reached Nirvana when we found the ice cream fridge. Another pub meal tonight on our last night on this trail. It's back to the big smoke of Dubbo tomorrow

Pics

See ya later suckers! Just kidding. Not sure why Brenda has an obsession with pics of me riding off into the distance. Is she trying to tell me something?

This was typical of the country we were in, the Goonoo State Conservation Area. Lots of Eucalypts, Casuarinas and Cypress. It looks like a bushfire has come through here in the past 12 months. Fortunately it looks like everything is coming back.

Casuarina down! This looks a job for Branch Man. No, not the Branch Man who works for the big banks closing down bank branches in every small country town and some bigger ones as well.

It's the Branch Man that cleans up dead branches and fallen small trees from tracks, trails and paths. There have been all manner of this type of detritus on the CWC and Branch Man has been called into action on a number of occasions to help keep the community safe.

A dam placed on a dry water course. Possibly created to help in bushfire season.

We emerged from a creek gully to see this vision before us. We have travelled thousands of kilomtres by bike out in the bush and never before have we come across anything quite like this. 3 sets of tables and chairs put there with the express purpose of giving cyclists something to sit on apart from an uncomfortable bike seat. Thank you, thank you to the owners of Lynwood homestead who went to the trouble of making some cyclists happy.

Just had to post the full suite

They even got into the spirit of halloween with skeletons and massive brightly coloured spiders. Not that I support the import of foriegn traditions that have no meaning in Australian culture.

Another in the Bucolic series

Gracie, the sheep dog was obsessed with fetch. According to her owner, she will fetch a leaf. She is also very clever and obedient when she wants to be. Fittingly, at the Hair Of The Dog Inn

Looks like there is going to be a gnarly tree series as well. This one is in the Ballimore township.

Ride Notes

• Not a lot of climbing today, but the roads were not all that great so it was sometimes a struggle even on gentle slopes.
• In the first half of the ride there was not a lot of the prewarned sand and rocks - Punks Trail was generally pretty good - , but after crossing Forest Road, things took a turn for the worse
• I fell off the bike in a tiny creek crossing where there was a lot of loose sand. I underestimated the depth of sand, didn't have enough speed coming in, had not selected the right gear, came to complete stop, and promptly fell over. No damage done fortunately
• The second third was ok but the final third was especially bad with corrugated roads. A number of times we had hopes that the road was going to improve, only for those hopes to be dashed.
• You will need to take all food and drink with you today.
• Take advantage of the rest stop at the Linwood station at around 40klms from Mendooran. Chairs and tables for cyclists!