Kim's Journey - Bushwalking/Geocaching/Biking

Whilst the Reps are away, the COMCAR Driver might play

12/11/2018

With only the Senate sitting this week (Gawd knows why), it means there won't be too much work for the enabling team. So, the morning looks spiffy, I have no commitments, I have 3/4 of a tank of gas, the sun is shining, the magpies have been fed - I'm orfffff !

Thought briefly about a coastal blast but I heard the roads around Crookwell are nice, and guess what.....they are! The ride took me through the villages of Sutton, Gundaroo, Gunning, Crookwell and Goulburn. No traffic to speak off, and unlike the ex-Treasurer Joe Hockey, I like the look of wind farms - far better than smoke stacks. Thought about lunching out there somewhere - I thought about Boarding School Days - there was a boarder from Crookwell whose family owned a milkbar - Stephen Samios, your snacks enabled me to survive the hell hole that was boarding school - didn't spot the Niagara (I think it was called). At Goulburn, my Highway Playlist was cranked up - chose a different Rest Area on the Federal Highway for the traditional leg stretch . Really enjoyed this spin in the country! (and there was 2 litres left in the tank when I refueled at Majura Park)

Therapy !

1/11/2018

.I had some serious surgeries on both my big toes. Recovery has been slow but I figured that riding Bernie, my BMW C650GT could be good therapy as I am not putting weight on my toes.. except when stopped at Traffic Lights etc. And Bridezilla's dream has come true, she has had her offer accepted on a errrr, ummm, shack (she says the correct term is heaven) down on the stretch of coast north of Wollongong (Scarborough to be exact).
                 The Weather forecast was good, if not a little too warm. They also missed the bit about underwear changing strong gusty winds. Set off around 9 ish, fueled up without a firm view on final destinations but I really wanted to see the old train station at Robertson on the Southern Highlands, it's famous you know!. I would then decide on what to see and do after that. Well, very disappointed by the train station - the rail side is hidden by a locked fence. Couldn't even have a leak! I'm sure it is pretty if you can access the rail side.
                    Decision time - let's do Macquarie Pass, its mid week, mid morning, should be fun. It was ....s sort of but maybe a few too many real tight turns incorporating much steepness. To be honest, I did prefer the Clyde Mt. But the windy bits are only 8km so it is not an lengthy period of time to cover the distance. Hit the Princess Highway and headed North to the Headlands Hotel at Austinmer for lunch. Those keen readers of this blog might remember that I had my birthday ride lunch at the same place - then I waited eons for a slightly disappointing hamburger - None of that today - Beaut fish and chips and it didn't take long at all.
                     Another decision point - oh well, better go look and look at the shack and see if it is as bad as I remember it. You can look at the Pics - judge for yourself - I think I have taken my very last holiday to anywhere - insert very sad emoticon (which I don't think this web builder platform supports).
                          Time to head back, the temps were hovering around a beautiful 25 down the coast and were hovering around 35 on the highway back. I did detour through Mittagong, Bowral and Moss Vale to avoid the freeway but the winds were freaky. Goulburn actually managed to land one drop of one rain on me. Did my now traditional leg stretch at the first rest area on the Federal Highway - Bernie does allow a leg stretch whilst riding with my feet extended forward. Home now, my toes are throbbing (maneuvering the 275 kg bike is hard going on the extremities). The heat is hard to manage with wearing protective clothing - I'ms sure I will sleep well tonight.

Meet a Cheetah.......so I did !

15/9/2018

My birthday present this year was a voucher to meet a cheetah at the National Museum and Aquarium. Have to book the encounters a bit in advance but the long range weather forecast for this weekend last weekend (I know what I mean :-) ) was good. As it turned out , the forecast was wrong , it wasn't sunny at all and a cold breeze was blowing. The Zoo has received a land grant or 2 from the ACT government so it really has expanded.
    Krystyna and myself got there a few hours earlier. The Zoo does a good job in bringing to visitor's attention some of humankind's bad environmental practices. All of the glassed enclosures have signs up asking patrons not to tap on the glass yet dim witted parents watched on as their feral kids did just that. 15 minutes before my scheduled encounter time, I had a safety briefing and could watch the group before me go in. One of the guests looked really nervous and we could tell from the watching area things were not going smoothly.
   When it was my turn, one of the keepers came out to explain that the cheetah was spooked and my encounter could not go ahead. I had the choice of rescheduling or going to another enclosure to meet a 10 month old cheetah cub "Solo" that was being raised with a rescue dog as it had been a single child and apparently cheetah mothers don't cope well with single children. I chose to meet Solo and what a good choice that turned out to be. There was purring, there was patting, the pup and the cub wrestled and the keepers took some really good shots with my camera. It was a fantastic experience.
   After that, we retired to the new cafe to get some chippies - as it was late in the afternoon, they threw in all the calamari left over for free. As we made our way back toward the exit we were victims of a kidnapping episode, a young Malaysian girl much preferred our company to her parents - luckily, a diplomatic episode was averted. All up, an absolutely awesome (correct use of the word) day !

To the Bay and back !

20/8/2018

I had a latish start at work scheduled and the weather of late had been, I think the technical term is "yuck", so today, with the sun shining (we'll forget about the minus 4 start) and the wind died down, time for a ride. After fueling up, I decided to head for Braidwood and then decide whether I was up to tackling the Clyde Mountain. There were gusts of winds to unsteady me but the traffic was light so after a pit start at Braidwood, I headed toward the Clyde. Been quite some time since I had driven (let alone riden) the Kings Highway but there has been some money spent on it and it really is a good road. I enjoyed the descent and Bernie's CVT did really well with engine braking. Got to the bottom unscathed, bit of a traffic jam in the Bay itself but got a park, right next to the fish and chippery. Ate my snapper on the deck but there was a cool wind blowing so I knew it was winter. Got back to the bike where a group of Japanese women were admiring it and in broken Engrish said " I had a very nice bike". Now for the return - the Clyde is sooooo much more fun on a bike going up and again with next to no traffic, I had a ball. But the wind had freshened and the temp had lowered so it wasn't as much fun getting back to Bungendore. I took the back way to the highway where the wind really did pick up, fueled up at Costco and got home safe and sound. My new Boots, socks and merino midwear all performed well.

The Birthday Bash

4/7/2018

Unseasonably warm day forecast, both for Canberra and the Coast. Bernie, the faithful steed was up for it so we hit the road just after 8:30 am One bit of roadworks held me up for 15 minutes before Bungendore but that was OK (had I known, I would have turned the engine off and gone for a walk). The road between Tarago and Nerriga isn't the best in the world but it is quite scenic. Lots of shade though, that can hide the potholes but I kept a speed I was comfortable with and being midweek, there was very little traffic. But once one has passed the village of Nerriga, the road becomes truly fabulous, especially on a bike. Long sweeping turns, good visibility and when the time comes, just saying, plenty of places to pull over for a leak.

I probably didn't navigate the best way through Nowra as there were lots of little traffic jams but they were soon in the mirrors. Not far North of Nowra, the freeway starts but I was surprised how long it had taken me so far. I think I blame Google Maps as it forecast I would be probably maintaining 100 kph on the windy pot holed bits. The Reserve fuel light came on just as I approached the outskirts of Wollongong so I filled up near my forecast lunch spot at 1:00 pm

Lunch was at the Headland Hotel, the weather was a balmy 21 c and I wondered why everyone was sitting inside. My burger took ages to arrive and for the price, I was a little disappointed. AND, I didn't even finish all the chippies. I really thought I would be having lunch 2 hours earlier and the wind was quite strong. I decided against one of the real reasons for the trip (a blast up the Macquarie Pass) and decided to proceed along Lawrence Hargrave Drive, past our usual Easter accommodation to the scenic "Sea Cliff Bridge". I had Michael's GoPro on a chest harness (my next task this morning is to YouTube that) so all was not lost......except when I got to the bridge, I had to follow a slow ugly bus. After ascending from the coastal strip, I pulled over to turn the GoPro off and as I touched the off button, it fell from the harness - that was lucky.

The wind was really picking up so it was a bit unnerving. The only really scary part of the trip was when I turned onto the Picton Road and a huge semi began to pull out in front of me - he had no excuse for not seeing me and he did slam on his anchors and we all lived to tell the tale. Once I hit the Hume Freeway, either the wind died down or it was in my back. I had my "highway" play list pumping tunes into my helmet and I set my sights for home. I was getting a little stiff and sore when I got near Goulburn so I pulled over once I hit the Federal Highway and had a little stretch. It was dark as I hit the 'burbs and I haven't ridden at night on this bike before. Good lights but it was good to hit the driveway. The garage door wouldn't open for me and I soon figured out the reason for all the Electricity trucks next door - power had been off since 1.00 pm so good thing I had been out and about. I was knackered though, some 570 km over the day (200 the day before). Still time for a birthday feast with the family and then this achy body hit the pillow. Might not go for a ride today !

COMCAR Riders

3/7/2018

There are a few riders among the hearty brave lads (and ladesses) that make up COMCAR. Every so often, normally during non-sitting weeks, a ride is suggested and those hardy enough (for a winter's day) ride turn up.
Today's ride was to start at Sutton and head north to Gunning on the back roads, along the old Hume highway and Southern Rd eventually coming to Goulburn. There were 3 riders (Daryl, Bruce and Phil ) waiting at the Sutton bakery and I made the 4th.

A few foggy patches along the way (where the temp plummeted back toward 3 degrees, lots of wind turbines along the way. The length along the old Hume was an eye opener - considering that the freeway is relatively newish (20 years ?), really slow bends, tree lined. There were a few almost black ice sections which were interesting. As a newly returning rider, I can keep up the pace on the good bits of road but I am very slow on the twisty bits of road that I don't know. We stopped at Trappers Bakery at Goulburn for an early lunch but I was very pleasantly surprised by the offerings and the big open fire. I had chores to attend to in Canberra so I bid farewell and blasted down the free way to home. All up, about 250km and a great day for riding.

Smeg! That was cold!

22/6/2018

I toyed with the idea of a jaunt down the coast. However, an overnight low of minus 5 soon put paid to that idea. I just could not keep my core warm; hands and bum were warmed by the technology but I was shivering. After fueling, I passed by Canberra's own mini Stonehenge and rued that I didn't come a day earlier in case there were any druids a visiting. The Tarago railway station looks very polished. I headed further north to Goulburn but my teeth were still chattering so turned for home. 223 km so that is my furtherest ride to date.

The Definitive Canberra Hill Climb!

7/6/2018

The first service is beckoning, better do all Canberra Hills (including Capital Hill) in the one go. During this ride, the helmet comms were tested as Michael rang me. I said Answer and we chatted (I did pull over). Thought about commuting to work this afternoon but I might give night riding a miss for a while. Have I mentioned what a good ride Bernie is ?

Today's Blat to Gundaroo and Gunning

3/6/2018

Well, we ain't being blessed with truly glorious riding weather - funny how Winter can do that. Getting up the kilometres toward the first service so we are sticking to the side roads with just a little freeway thrown in for a change. The villages of Gunning and Gundaroo in all their quaintness, were looking charming today. Almost stopped at Murumbateman as the bladder was almost bursting. A few fat drops of rain along the way. Where to next ?

The Tidbinbilla Circuit

31/5/2018

This will be a regular riding route but not on weekends when all the peg scrapers have a go. Fantastic roads, nice views but one must stay alert for all the skippies! I wasn't expecting it but there was a bit of drizzle along the way. Not to worry, windscreen in highest position, heated grips set to automatic, smile set to widest !