water.
Grey Gums Café, a welcome respite
half-way along the Putty - it's akin to
an oasis in the desert - cold drinks,
homely meals and hospitality worthy
of a stop. Descending into the Syd-
ney basin the madness of traffic and
the indifference displayed by phone
wielding drivers, a constant source
of frustration and disappointment.
Cash exchanged with Adventure
Moto, for various essentials, ensuring
a much better 'adventure experience'.
Another source of frustration was at-
tempting to pay an insurance premi-
um with QBE - after an hour on hold
and being flicked by two different
operators, I gave up and took another
policy with an alternate provider.
The evening closed with several
beers and a good meal at the Wise-
man's Ferry Inn. I think when they
turned the lights off, it might have
been a suggestion for us to leave.
Matchbox 20 and Rob Thomas sang
of being 'bent', and being afraid of
'not being put back together' - well
Rob, I've got a sure fire cure - ride a
motorbike!
Leaving Wiseman's Ferry relatively
early, we headed straight for the actu-
al ferry. Matthew (Whitworth), own-
er of a heritage series R1200, suffered
a battery malfunction, and had to
push his 'cast iron' R1200 off the ferry
and up the ramp to jump start it. We
all shared a laugh and captured the
moment on film, as we offered end-
less advice and suggestions. It wasn’t
the only issue of the R1200.
Riding towards St Albans, origi-
nally our overnight stop, was corner
carving heaven – the cool morning
air passed through our riding gear.
A clear blue sky above as the sun
filtered through bright green leaves
of the many trees standing straight
and tall.
From St Albans the word on every-
one's mind was DUST!
Despite the green, the road was
dry, the dust fine like talcum powder
TRAVERSE 60
and the wind virtually non- existent.
Back on the bitumen we wound our
way eastward, then turned north,
and ventured back onto dirt, sunlight
obscured by an overhead canopy of
vegetation - tall timbers and broad
foliage populated the verges.
The road, little more than a car
width, wound its way northward. We
found bitumen and another piece
of corner carving heaven - the end
result; smiles as broad as the Harbour
Bridge.
Cooranbong provided an opportu-
nity for coffee and food. The R1200
needed more ‘in field’ repairs.
We continued north and the Wata-
gan Forest offered more dirt and dust;
ruts and potholes that could easily
swallow a small rider and their bike.
Vistas well worth the ride greeted
us at Hunter Lookout, and provided
a vivid contrast to the dry, barren,
parched and distressed look of the
previous days ride along the New
England Highway.