Riding on

Left Thredbo this morning after a really nice weekend; good company, great place, spectacular scenery. We were undecided which way to ride towards Victoria though. One of the blokes who had stayed in the same house over the weekend suggested we ride towards Albury and Walwa, over the Alpine Way. Another option was to go via Dalgety, and a third via Barry Way which is mostly dirt. 

However, Barry Way was binned as the bikes are a bit overloaded and one of our group is not a confident off-roader,  so a toss of the coin meant that eventually, we took the Alpine Way. And what a beautiful road that turned out to be, rising up to the crest of the Great Dividing Range   ( and through a village called Siberia) and then descending a long long descent into the Murray Valley. 

According to Peter Theoming in the Australia Motorcycle Atlas, Siberia was allegedly named after a comment by Mrs Petrov, a defecting spy being hidden with her husband in the area back in the 1960s. She reckoned that the climate up there was like that of Siberia in the winter. Although I have been to both, (and both on a motorcycle) its been during warmer parts of the year, and the climate was great.

The Alpine Way was forested all the way down, and the smell of the eucalypts was pungent, leaving my head zingingly clear thanks to the fug loosening effects of their vapours. 

Gum trees are tall and densely packed so it is hard to see through them to the mountains but there were several places on the road which afforded views right across the ranges, with the trees seemingly to going kilometre after kilometre. 

It was great riding with them towering above us; it puts you in your place in the global pecking order and makes you feel very small, a reminder that despite what we may think, we are not the only things on earth that matter.

After leaving the mountains we continued into the Murray Valley and followed the Murray River for a while, crossing it and the state line into Victoria.

It was  pasture land down there, green and lush and wide open.

It was also very windy, making staying upright on the bikes quite a challenge. As the bikes are so small, they don't go too fast which means there is plenty of time to look around and take it all in as you potter by.  

However, the posties rode better today following the culling of excess baggage. Our top speed is only ever about 80 kph, and that's on a good day, downhill with a following wind. But today the wind was gusting, and from the side so we were even slower ( 60 kph being the top speed, even with hill assistance) and hanging and keeping it rubber side down was the  priority.

Later...

We wild camped in  Mt Lawson State Park last night, ducked down amongst the trees for a shelter from the wind. 

A few animals scratched around the tents in the dark but they were no bother. In the pitch black, it's easy to imagine all sorts, and to focus on tales such as Wolf Creek and Picnic at Hanging Rock. 

But I made a conscious effort not to be such a Mary ( no offence to Marys intended) and watched the stars instead which were something else - the sky was  just full of them, no clouds, no light pollution, just stars. And they seemed to envelope the whole place, reaching down at the peripherals of vision and gathering everything up. With the exceptions of a few direction signs, we were the only human additions to this place. Unless of course,there were people hiding in the bushes....

At first light, the birds started; their calls mixing together in a sort of peal, like bells all tuned and rung together by experts who really know what they're doing. There's no clashing, no competition, just a mixture of sound that works. It was only interrupted by a gang of cows having an early morning moo, not too far away.

The wind dropped during the night, allowing a light coating of frost to settle on the bike seats. But then the sun came up and it soon went.

The air was still cold when we set off, following the shores of Lake Hume towards Albury. As we neared, a crowd of galahs perched on a roadside fence squawking, stopped, looked at us then launched themselves overhead as we passed, before circling back and resettling on the same posts they'd left just seconds before. 

Just after that, we interrupted a couple of Wedge-tailed eagles having a dust up just above the road, but unlike the galahs, they just carried on battling, regardless of our presence.

A few pelicans were hanging around on the shore also ignored us, as did the man who was standing at the water's edge watching them. 

We stopped at Bellbridge for breakfast, and found a little cafe come shop hidden amongst the houses. 

The lady in the shop was really nice and made us all fresh rolls and some great coffee. She was also the oracle of useful information which she volunteered, unsolicited. 

Turns out she that she and her husband had just returned from a trip to the Northern Territory and had driven some of the tracks we are planning to do. They had done it in a troopie, and reckon they will go back next winter to do more. They gave us good info on places to camp and visit. And her name was Belinda; whaddayaknow!  There are not too many of us about. And before anybody comments, yes I know,  that's probably a good thing...