At first there was a fair bit of interest in the reccie ride but it ended up just being Leen, Dazza and me from Canberra, with a plan to meet Alli (from Adelaide) at Echuca.
The weather forecast was truly horrible and I got a phone call from Leen on the Saturday morning to say they were taking the car, I could join them if I wanted. I chose to ride...
We met up at Gold Creek and set out under gray skies towards Jugiong for morning tea at the cafe there, which was quite nice. There was a little second hand bookstall set up there which we poked around in and the lady showed us the picture of the radar where we were heading... nasty.
Splash and dash for fuel at Gundagai and there we left the Doom behind, heading out through Nangus and onto Wagga the back way. Leen and Dazza stopped to check out a few swim spots along the way, I took the wussy option and waited on the bitumen hahaha.
We pretty much bypassed Wagga (YAY) and the lunch stop was left to me. Rolling into Uranquinty the signs for the bakery started appearing. It wasn't raining then but it was looking black as ahead so I decided the bakery would do. And it was fabulous, would definitely stop there again.
Before long it was time to hit the road again, and the stormclouds, heavy black and pendulous towards which we were riding, looked most terrifying. We turned left at Walbundrie and before long we were in it. Hail. Rain so heavy I couldn't see the speedo. The road was under water. I was soaked to the skin in seconds. The car slowed down and I followed them I think at about 40km/h, just hoping that I wasn't going to get run over by a truck from behind (I didn't).
Into Corowa for fuel, I was freezing!!! and wishing I had of gone in the car hahaha. The Seven started playing up after this as well, don't know if it was the fuel from Corowa, or whether it was carb icing but he wasn't happy (and neither was I!) Eventually we made it to Yarrawonga and found our motel for the night where we settled in and had a couple of drinks before heading over to the pub where there was an engagement party AND a bucks party - it was pretty crazy in there. So not in the mood for crazy. Back to the room and got a few hours sleep.
Sunday morning dawned clear and fucking freezing! My gear was all still soaked so I got back into it all and we started freezing our way along the Murray Valley Highway towards Echuca. The Seven was still playing up and it was worse trying to match the speed of the car so eventually I cracked the throttle (cough cough splutter ROAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR) and off we went. Some dude was stopped on the side of the road so I pulled up to make sure he was okay - dude from NZ just lost hahaha so we poured over the map for a bit, I hope he found his way okay, I'm not very good at giving directions!
Eventually caught up with Leen and Dazza in the car again and then we were in Echuca. We got to do laps of the back streets of Echuca cuz they didn't know where the visitor information centre was hahaha then I managed to get a little spot to park right in the centre of the touristy bit but Dazza had to go off to find somewhere to park the car. Alli turned up at pretty much the same time so we sat around and had coffee, then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride which was pretty cool and then spent a few hours poking around the shops. Finally it was time to get moving again and we got fuel in Moama and then off through Deniliquin and Conargo and into Jerilderie. I remember those roads :D Found our accommodation at the pub in Jerilderie and the drinkies started flowing, dinner at the pub and then it was bed time.
Monday Alli was heading back towards Adelaide and I decided to make my own way home so said goodbye to everyone and just made a beeline for home - Urana/Lockhart/Junee/Coota/Harden/Home It was a nice ride through some nice countryside, though what's with all the canola?? It seems there is more and more every year, now it seems like all you can see is canola fields.
OH and a decision was made - while Echuca is nice, it is waaaay to touristy for the swim ride and the road is too boring so the Swim Ride will be at Howlong :)
I only took one photo for the weekend and it is still uploading!
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