Canberra to Kangaroo Valley; Wednesday 9 May 2012

After a foggy Canberra start in the morning, Dave and I rode out of Canberra in the cold, through Queanbeyan, to Bungendore and Braidwood, both cute little old villages, via the Kings Highway. We stopped for a Subway lunch at Batemans Bay and it had got quite hot by then, so we stripped off our winter motorcycle gear to cool down. Then up the busy Princess Highway for a while and through Ulladulla (love the name of this little township), to Milton through to Nowra.

Damn Nowra! I was riding behind Dave and he took a wrong turn into a "No Entry" sign at a big shopping car park, so I thought I better not be so naughty and went further up the street to find the correct entrance, did a wrong turn and ended up doing a Cooks tour of Nowra, through several traffic lights and yes, I got lost from Dave! I knew I'd lost him when my helmet speaker system crackled and then dropped out. Never mind….I kept on riding around Nowra till I finally found the car park where Dave had parked his bike and trailer, and I didn't see Dave standing on the corner waving at me because I was busy watching the roundabout I was negotiating! He found me as I was getting off my bike. A cup of coffee in the main street helped us…at least I knew where to go for this as I'd ridden past it earlier.

Today we came across road works just about every half hour. There were lots of lovely rainforest views and a few poor dead wombats. Then as we got closer to Kangaroo Valley we had some awesome views and lots of hairpin bend riding. Down and down we rode into a gorgeous emerald green Kangaroo Valley, where we booked into a cosy little cabin for one night. This little village seemed to be a world away from a crazy busy world, and so pretty with the greenery and the scenery! We walked into the little town and explored an old colonial timber suspension bridge that was built in 1897. Called the Hampden Bridge. The area underneath with a river and high cliffs has a very strong Aboriginal presence to it…later I read that Kangaroo Valley was regarded as a paradise for the local Aborigines. No wonder, then one of them led a white explorer down into the valley around 1818 and that was the end of the paradise for the original human locals.

At sunset we had a beer on the verandah of the local old pub, and then went inside to enjoy a yummy roast meal. I'd been hanging out for a good old fashioned roast meal for ages…a bit hard to do in camp kitchens.

We walked home in the dark to our cabin and a great night sleep in a place that wasn't a tent. It's my dear little granddaughter Orlena's 3rd birthday today….gee I miss being able to give her a special cuddle and kiss for her big day! Dave and I are finding our laptop is great for keeping up with how all our grandkids and rest of family is going while we are away from them for the year.