Day 1 – Sydney to Canberra
On the morning of my trip, I got up bright and early because I was excited and couldn’t sleep. My mother had told me to wake her so she could say goodbye. I woke her up and she said she would help me carry the stuff down to the garage so I could pack my bike. Off we went down stairs and as I was putting the saddle bags on and I look over at Mum and she just swayed sideways and went down like a tonne of bricks. I ran over to her and she had passed out, but her eyes were still kinda open. I wanted to call the ambulance, but she refused so I sat her against the car while I continued to pack the bike and next thing she is on the ground again! This time I didn’t take no for an answer and the ambos and a family friend was called. The ambos were there within a few minutes and her colour returned a little and with much reassurance and protest I left for my trip, leaving Mum in the hands of the family friend.
I got petrol and then looked at the time and I was only 90min behind schedule, argh! I decided to bypass the Nasho and Mac Pass and KV because I was running late and just took the Princess Highway to Nowra. Along the way I was looked at with distain by some Ducatis near Wollongong because cars were passing me, but damn it, they might have been out for a latte, but I was on an Adventure and it was about getting there the fun way, not the fast way!
From Nowra, I cut down the back of Nowra and then took Braidwood Rd, which turns into Nerriga Rd to Braidwood. This was my first section of dirt and was fun, except for the fact that the 4wds cept tearing past resulting in me needing to slow to a crawl cause I couldn’t see a thing. I stopped off at Tianjara Falls, but sadly there wasn’t much water falling!
I also encountered a couple of trucks spraying water on the gravel rds, one was nice enough to stop the water as I rode the past, the other wasn’t. Then there was road works on the road as well and so I got stopped. The guy walked over and I had my visor down and he said “oh sorry mate, just gotta wait for an escort vehicle”. I put my visor up and said “that’s cool” and his response was “SHIT! You’re a girl!” I had been told by a friend that I should stop in at Nerriga pub, cause they are trying to trendy it up, but that they hadn’t seen a woman in there for while, and with this guys response, I started to wonder if there ever saw a woman before at all in these parts.
From Braidwood, I took Kings Highway to Bungendore and then Bungendore Rd and Macs Reef Rd to the Federal Highway, and then the last 12km into Canberra. I finally rolled into Canberra about 3 and caught up with a mate, before heading to my friend Sue’s place to stay the night.
some awesome pics and awesome routes there matey. :)
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