Our Weekend Camping

The Sidecar Rally was on last weekend.  The site is beside the Macquarie River, along the Bridle Track and only about 80kms from home, so a nice and leisurely trip out.  It is the third time we have attended this friendly, family oriented rally. 

We took “Snubby” the silver BMW and the camper trailer this time.  Some good friends joined us for the day on Saturday on their brand new Triumph Tiger.

The weather on Saturday was glorious.  Ideal for sitting beside the river and going for a bit of an explore.

There were a few tiny wild flowers.

Also, some maiden hair fern hiding under a rock.  When I was a kid I used to love looking for the different ferns when we went to collect fire wood, and dug some up to take home as pot plants.  I know that is a no-no now, but they actually did quite well.

I loved the colour of this gumleaf that fell onto my lap.

Walking beside the river gave a great view of the old road construction.  The Bridle Track was exactly that, a track to the goldfields at Hill End for those on horse, or foot, pushing their barrow.  It was too narrow for a stagecoach to get through.

Not far beyond where we camped there is a really steep part, called Monaghan’s Bluff, where the road is only just wide enough for a car, with a sheer cliff above and another below to the river.  About eighteen months ago, in all the wet weather, there was a landslide and a rather large boulder is blocking the road.  The Council doesn’t know how to move it, so the road remains impassable, except for solo motorcycles.  As a result, the road surface this year left a bit to be desired. Actually, it really is just a track at the moment.

Back at the campsite, there were silly games.  I just love this photo of Mick in full flight.  He is supposed to be running,  but it looks more like skipping to me.  Of course, he still has his trademark hat on.

Here’s another shot of the river.  It is such a lovely spot. 

We all sat around the campfire in the evening and started to get a few spots of rain on us.  Unfortunately, there was a bit more rain during the night and when we got up in the morning it set in to be quite wet.  We got ourselves packed up and headed back to town.  The road was really quite treacherous, being really slippery as well as rough.  We came across one sidecar that had split the sidecar tyre, so once we got home, Mick turned around and went back with the ute and trailer and a spare wheel he had borrowed from a mate.  Fortunately, the wheel fitted and the fellow was able to ride home.  Mick has since learnt that there was quite a high attrition rate of bikes on the way out.

As we drove out of Bathurst we noticed lots of water everywhere.  Obviously much heavier rain had fallen in town and then the landscape turned white!  It looked like a reasonable fall of snow, but was in fact hail.  There had been a really bad storm in a relatively small area, but it caused quite a lot of damage.  It was only small hail, but lots of it. I was able to get this photo of it on the road, although this was no where near the heaviest area and was also about three hours after the event.

By way of contrast,at home we had only received a light sprinkle.  Not even enough to settle the dust on our road.  To cap it off, we had to stop on our drive to let a brown snake get out of the way.  The first one we have seen at home for the season.  Yuck!  Just as well Mick saw it in time.  I don’t like the idea of riding over one.  I’d feel a little too vulnerable in the sidecar.