Slept another great sleep. Wahoo, I might have it beat the only prob is that I still am super tuckered around noon...it should pass about the time I am ready to head home. Well today I looked at the map...once I crawled out of the sac, looks like I'm going from Bateman bay to a lil town called Jindabyne.
   
I am having a bit of a time with names of towns...for example....Tangambalana, Wangaratta, Woodonga, Corowa,Coomba, Kyabram, Echuca....do you get the point, these are all names of towns. Seems they defy my logic for how letters are suppose to go together in the english language. Now....if asking any type of directions imagine those names being said as it it was coming from the mouth of a martian when asking directions or for tips. I only can stare....and sputter and kinda do the ...come again? To everyone.....starting to think the problem is with me hearing or something. Seriously put marbles in your mouth and say Tangambalana....5 times fast. Now put it in a sentence that might sound like how the locals say it. Is it a verb is it a noun is it a pronoun....crap....In a sentence I can not tell that that is the name of a town. But I do get some laughs...the locals are bemused how I screw up my face trying to say the names right....they mostly say ya mate....some day you'll get it. But I digress.
 
Time to scrub off and pack up and load the bike. Was surprised the seat was still there had visions of bats swarming and eating the seats in the middle of the night...not sure why I thought the seat.....but was a pleasant surprise to see them still there in the morning. Ohhhh and what a morning blue sky and warm already. All seems good and was loading the bike when a local wandered over to bend me ear for about half an hour. Pete, great guy has a beemer also a 1150r....its like a naked RT. Either way he was complaining he wanted to be riding but had to take the wife so he is in his 4 wheel cage....and envious of me. Thought that was funny....just nodded. But I had to get going so begged me leave hopped on the bike and went to reception to settle me bar bill (drinks are expensive it seems 10 bucks a beer seems pretty common).   The guy at the reception was the same as last night so he got to talking me ear off again. He had a suggestion for me to see the danger bar in adlkfjlasdfashfhlsdgkajf (remember the name thing I got him to point to it on a map that I can understand. Seems it is near a spot where the continental shelf does something to the water current, end result is that boats end up rolling over and rescue crews there try to save the blokes tossed into the pond. This bar is where they hang out. With that sorted I tried to pay me bill.....debit card seems to be a hit and miss thing here. Works most of the time but never know how...tap, or ship, or have to swipe it, or say its a credit card. It always seems to work but always in a different way. Bill was paid and it was time to go.
 
So needed gas. They use goofy nozzles here...kinda like the ones in europe. Get this though....you pay inside....and they trust you to come in to pay. So I pull up put in the nozzle and do what I have done hundreds of times....cept this time I moved the nozzle a bit and these nozzles I think were designed for people with no upper body strength. So you can hardly tell if you have it squeezed for it to start pouring....well....I turned to look at the pump....the nozzle moved a bit and next thing I know gas is spewing everywhere. Soaked the bike.....and me. I was good until I saw the steam rising from all the gas dripping on the engine....did a quick hope there are no smokers here.....nope. I grabbed a bunch of paper towels and commenced to soak it all up. Good news...no explosion. With that paid up....dude at the counter did not like my earthy aftershave.
 
So my route today takes me along the coast for a bit then turn west to take me inland at Narooma, where the bar is. So the ride was great. I decided to head off the gps route and head more towards the coast. I can not believe how many beaches there are. I stopped on a ridge and climbed down to wander the beach....had to put some footsteps down. Lot of people here have houses on the beach almost. Great views for all. I kept mosing along and hit Narooma. Sadly... I for some reason could not find the bar...I did find the marine rescue center up on a hill overlooking the treacherous water area. The water did seem rough and a lot of boats were in it. Great view though. I also found the lifesaver station. They had a cafe so I decided to take a break. Lemon lime and bitters seems to be a good combo. I hit the road again and the ocean was in the rear view mirror very shortly.   
 
The landscape changed as I continued inland. Kind of reminds me of inland BC.....the roads are great and not too much traffic. The ride is a bit curvy thought gentle hills. as I passed through a small town saw a bunch of bikes parked under a bakery sign.... Pies. In case you didn't know if you ever see a bunch of bikes parked at a bar or restaurant or bakery in this case...stop....its probably worth your time. So I did and wandered in past the crowd of bikers. Everybody was saying hi to me. While I was in line a big guy approached me and asked if I was the other RT rider. Seems he had one in front too. Sooo I learned that bakery pies here are meat pies, of all sorts. So my fellow RTer Chuck filled me in that this is voted the best bakery in the area. I forgot what bangers and mash was....he filled me in sausage and potatoes. I settled in on steak, bacon and cheese......what in that selection could be bad.   OMG...good and Chuck and the rest of the gang entertained me whilst I chowed down. They were all on a charity ride for a childrens hospital. Chuck warned me about the wildlife. I learned if a kangaroo and a wombat are on the road in front of you aim for the kangaroo....the wombat is apparently like hitting a boulder. Was again warned to not ride at night....period. Seems cows like to sleep on warm roads and Kangaroos like to find out what headlights are.....everybody had a story. I got the point.
 
I managed to break away they were going the other way they told me I had some nice roads ahead. They were not kidding. It was a great ride up a mountain range I finally managed to get the tires roughed up so they were not sliding out on me, but they were still hard metzlers. Not trustable in my book. Ended up going into a different type of terrain. Very Montana like ...... Cept.....I counted 6 dead kangaroos and 3 wombats...and something I have no freakin idea what it was and was not going to stop to sort it. Not seen a live Kangaroo yet though....or wombat. Lots of cockatoos.....still wild to see them flying around and holy moly are they loud. I learned that when in aussie land do not feed cockatoos on our deck. Seems if you don't feed em regularly they will eat your deck, serious...they eat wood. Did not know that. I get the idea locals think they are pests...like magpies for us.
 
The run into Jindabyne was pretty cool....its on a lake and a pretty sleepy town. My hotel is okay...I got a room with a deck on the lake and it had washing machines and a dryer in the room. Hmmmmm I got settled in and wandered to the store to find some detergent.    Makes sense to clean up what I can when I can. Nice thing was I got there not too late. Didn't feel too sore.....and not rushed. Decided time to hang out at the hotel bar....and do supper there. I discovered 150 Lash beer goooood stuff and have to say Pork belly is a good thing. Clothes were clean time to hit the hay. Still not seen a Roo.....alive at least.   Tomorrow I tackle the snowy mountains.