Left: Stephane; it was just the two of us. Stephane is also a keen rider. Normally he rides a lot to work, but this time around he tried to come along with no preparation, and a tiny regular water bottle.
It was quite hilly, up and down the whole way. It really took a bit of effort. It was hot so we needed water. I had about 4 litres, so shared that. The views were fantastic. The weather was not as bad as it could be given the clouds.
The properties along the way look very green right now with all the rain.
This is as good as this country gets with how green it all is.
Stephane was not feeling so good, and needed a lot of stops to recover.
Tarana Hotel - I'd love to stay here one time. It's a little gem, touristy, rolling green hills around.
The rest of the way to Oberon took the total distance to 45kms. Normally that's so easy cheesy. I selected it for that reason. The up/down is 1000m and this leg was up, up and more up. Stephane struggled, needing regular break stops, and bending over his bike like he was going to throw up. His arms got totally cooked in the sun.
This is the final 6kms into town, next to a rail line, pretty gentle, thank the Lord, for the end of the day.
The Borg panel factory dominates town, still on the path here.
The smell is quite pleasant but probably not great for your health. The little particles of wood are on the ground all around. In town you can smell it when the wind blows your way.
Oberon is quite a nice little town.
On day 2, Stephane stayed in bed all day. We were supposed to do 95km to Taralga, but there was zero chance of that happening. One local told me that road is also up and down like a yo yo, so probs a good one to miss.
Main street.
I had the war museum (pic below) to myself. The local guide (Neville?) told me about each exhibit. In the photo of Australian soldiers (here), there are apparently 2 or 3 dead soldiers in there, if you look closely, who had to be supported by their friends.
There's some Japanese flags and things from WW2 prisoners of war; a surprise for Japanese visitors who apparently don't get told much about the role of Japan in the war. He said he has to be careful with how he explains things so as to not offend people.
There's an article about the president Bill who got blown up mine sweeping in Vietnam, and apparently died for a short time while being evacuated out. Some v interesting other stories.
On day 3 we decided to go back down (about 200m down, but some ups as well) to Tarana for the train. We had to get up at 5.30am, so got to see the sun rise. My light was missing. No idea where that got to, or if someone nicked it.
When we got to the station, there was a train in there, which I though was some kind of XPT. It took off as we walked onto the station. I believe it was a regular one and we could have taken it. Instead we sat at the hotel, outside, for an hour and a half more. Oh well.
The train back has spectacular views. It's a single track winding through the rich green hills, bliss all the way, and differently amazing with the sandstone cliffs of the Blue Mountains. Plenty of space on board for a bike.
I loved this trip!
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