Our 4th Motorbike Trip – Central NSW

Exploring the Hunter Valley & Central NSW
10th to 14th of April 2009
by Hanna Ryan

We didn’t prepare and plan for this trip as much as we did for our last one. This was meant to be a real adventure. To start with we took too long to leave because we couldn’t find our camera. As you can see this is a trip without photos. We can’t find it anywhere, till now. That’s really sad!! I want pictures!!!

So, the trip, we didn’t have anything booked. Tate had left a lot of the planning for me and as you can guess, I’m not so good at it, but managed to get a few destinations and maps together. Called a few caravan parks but guess what? As we left everything to the last minute most places were already booked out so we just took our chances, hoping we’d find somewhere to stay. We were all set with our food, bike and camping gear, now we are pros in packing and unpacking our stuff on that bike.

We left on the 10th afternoon (Good Friday). First stop was Buffs Point, Tanya’s house. Easy ride. A little bit of traffic but not a big deal with the bike. It was nice seeing the girls again, as it’d been 6 months since last time we were there. By the way, you’ll see on the posts below just photos of our 2nd trip which was the Central Coast but I never got the time to write about it. One day!!!

On Saturday the 11th we had a big breakfast at Tanya’s to help us on the long tight budget trip and off we went. We rode through the Hunter Valley, got to see a few vineyards from a distance and the beautiful landscape of this region. We had a quick stop for a muesli bar at the something garden and even got to enjoy some live music sitting on the grass in front of the rotunda. After that we tried a little bit of off road biking to go to a look out but soon enough found out that it would not be possible. We rode through the upper Hunter which we ended up liking more than the crowded parts we saw before.

Because the caravan parks in Singleton were booked out we had to stretch out our ride a bit further to Denman. Which was a fantastic idea as I loved the caravan park there. We had our own private bathroom and plenty of space. At night was a little bit noisy as there was a big Indian family celebrating something there playing music with drums, guitars, etc. But it wasn’t too bad, very cheerful!

From Denman we rode to Mudgee through a brand new road (Bylong Valley Way) that would have it’s official opening day the next day. The ride was great, I love these little ways we find on our rides. There are so many hidden cute spots on this land. We got to Mudgee and settled in a caravan park that was quite full but we still fitted in it. That weekend they were having the Bike Muster in Mudgee, I guess that’s why there were so many people there. Mind you, that this was Easter Sunday and all the shops were closed when we got to Mudgee, so we had to have subway for dinner and no Easter egg. My first Easter without Easter egg, very sad.

On Monday, the weather didn’t look very nice but we had to keep going so we rode to Gulgong. It’s a touristic place in this area, some Australian important person came from that town and a pub was pictured in the old $10 note. By chance we met Tanya and her husband who were lost, trying to find their way to Forbes. That was really random. Coincidences are funny and interesting aren’t’ they? Then we had a delicious chai latte in a cute café there while we waited for the rain to go. Which of course didn’t go totally, we were heading to Orange where we luckily had some contacts (a friend of a friend parents lived there) who let us stay at their place. By the time we got there we were soaked, cold and exhausted. The Doyle family was lovely, they took us in, fed us and gave us warm and comfortable shelter. The best night sleep I had in the last few days.

The next day was time to go back home but as the day turned out to be beautifully sunny and pleasant we took the long way down. We went through places like Millthorpe, Oberon, Katoomba, Blue mountains, etc. It was spectacular. How sad we didn’t have the camera with us. The most beautiful views of the Blue Mountains that I have ever seen. And the ride, oh wow! Tate loved it! Lot’s of twists and turns.

I hope you've enjoyed another chapter of our adventures.