March 26, 2024
Honeymoon Pool
Collie to Nglang Budja hut
The Black Dimond lodge proved to be quiet and comfortable. My makeup of sunscreen, sweat, mosquito repellent and dust seems impossible to remove so I don’t bother with makeup remover any more. Both items in my courtesy pack thus remained untouched.
We faffed around in the morning with shopping and breakfast. Collie seems to have embraced the slow food movement. Not the healthy slow food movement, just the ‘bloody slow to the point of annoyance’ unhealthy slow food movement. At the first cafe we stopped at there was a bloke enjoying the classic breakfast combination of cappuccino and hot chips. We didn’t hang around long enough to see if he was dunking them.
When we did find another cafe, breakfast took an age to come, much like the place yesterday where our maltless milkshakes took at least 20 minutes. Lucky they didn’t have malt or it would have taken half an hour. They were virtually empty and had 2 staff on. Come to think of it, it was called ‘Burgers and Barista’. They seem to like unusual coffee combinations in Collie.
The ride out of Collie followed along the edge of the main highway for 8 kilometres on a bitumen bike path. It was noisy and hot and probably the least enjoyable riding of the trip so far. That changed as soon as we turned into the forest. Normal programming was resumed.
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Not far into the forest we cycled past a golf ball sitting smack in the middle of the path. With no golf course in the vicinity I suspect it would have been launched by my mate Chris. A very occasional and talentless golfer with a horrendous slice, he once launched a drive that went 750 kilometres! It was windy day at a course in Moss Vale where he lashed a drive that was still going up as it cleared the out of bounds fence and continued at right angles to the fairway towards the railway line just as a goods train was passing. His ball landed nicely in an uncovered wagon and was last seen heading towards Melbourne.
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8 months ago
It was very hilly today with some quite technical sections that were definitely not designed for bikes with panniers. Our legs have been copping a beating from overhanging branches and we’ve been stopping regularly to pull sticks out of our spokes and running gear. Pea gravel makes the odd appearance, but it’s barely an issue.
After lunch in the shade of the forest we climbed more single track before sliding our way down the other side through a dozen or more switchbacks. We then diverted off the track onto a sealed road and flew down to Honeymoon pool. What a gorgeous spot! It was hot today, well into the thirties, so a dip in the river was what the doctor ordered.
I was tempted to test the ‘50% sock, 50% shoe, 100% comfortable’ theory as I was getting changed back into my riding gear and could only find one of my socks. I cast a suspicious eye at an over friendly duck that had been circling our bikes whilst we were swimming and eventually found it 30 metres away down by the water.
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From there a short but steep climb out of the valley then back down to the Nglang Boodja hut for the night.
Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 418 km (260 miles)
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