We got off to a great start of our 10 day Canberra trip departing from Croyden and heading through Yarck to Whitfield for lunch and then some time exploring Beechworth before overnighting at Wodonga.
Once the early rain and traffic cleared we could enjoy the roads and the views. We met some riders from BMW Motorcycle Club Victoria at Whitfield. They were completing a 2,000 km tour. We encountered a splendid Ceylon Yellow M440i and its owner in Beechworth. He purchased it when a Mustang Dark Horse deal fell through!. He did not seem to be missing the Mustang.
Day two started off with a 9am briefing on a perfect sunny day in Wodonga and was followed by a stunning drive along the banks of the Murray River with sweeping bends and glorious sunshine. Heading in land and up hill changed that to majestic views of snow tinged mountains and tighter curves.
Lunch was at Corryong followed a bit of fun for some at the Thredbo Alpine Coaster and viewing the surrounds before Horizons in Jindabyne for excellent accommodation and a first class meal celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary Jill and Jeff Palmer (who survived the Alpine Coaster - just!).
After dinner, some snuck off for a whisky tasting session whilst the rest went off to bed.
Day three was a more relaxed start with a lovely breakfast at our Motel at Jindabyne with a fairly short leg to our first stop at the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre at Cooma for morning tea.
An easy casual drive took us to the (relatively) recently upgraded Tharwa Bridge before arriving at the very interesting Tidbinbilla Deep Space Communication Station.
Our final destination was our accommodation for the next four nights at the Pavilion Hotel in Canberra.
A lovely dinner in house was enjoyed by all.
From here there was no fixed programme but each day a varying number joined in the main activities.
Day 4 took a group of us to Yass and then the Carey Caves at Wee Jasper.
What an amazing tour guide we all had. So much information and knowledge it was an honour to be in his presence. What was supposed to be an hour tour turned into a full afternoon, but no one complained, as he was so passionate and informative about the caves and his life long work looking after them.
So, 4 hours later and after what was the best cave tour we’ve ever been on, we headed back to Canberra via the Cotter Dam.
Such an amazing sight and again fantastic driving roads picked and plotted by Graeme.
The run of good weather had to end so best to heads inside on Day 5. Some headed off to the Australian War Memorial. Always an amazing place to visit, sadly the rear huge display is still being rebuilt, but the rest is still very much worth seeing. There is so much history here and some of it very confronting and moving. For anyone that has family serving in the military it is a must see when in Canberra.
Canberra is, of course, our Nation’s capital and is replete with embassies and consulates, many built in national style (the UK embassy being stereotypically boring!). As expected, the USA embassy looks the biggest and most palatial. As a former Canberra resident Lawrence had plotted a TourBoss route past the best of the embassies which also took us past the Royal Mint.
Unlike the Note Printing Works in Melbourne, they welcome visitors here and it was very interesting to see it all working. We even made our own $1 coins that are actually legal tender, real coins! Pretty cool! Put $3 in and watch a blank get stamped out and issued to you with a folder to put it in.
We continued our tour, with a detour up another look out viewing point then back to the motel before heading in to the city for dinner with the gang.
Some even tried to watch a certain horse race happening back home, but the pub had the TV on the wrong channel. So they watched a different race somewhere else.
Another awesome day out on Day 6 exploring the countryside surrounding Canberra, literally! We headed off on a shortish drive to our first stop at The Cascades at Lake Googong.
We needed a quick stop to check a tyre that was losing a bit of pressure, luckily Trent had a tyre pump on board to help out.
Lovely short walk to see the river below the dam, then back in our cars for a short drive to the dam wall viewing area. Lovely spot on such a lovely day.
Our next location involved a couple of kms of good gravel roads and it was great to see no one was too precious to not drive down to the car park at the Woolshed at London Bridge. It was a bit of a hike to this one and we were very proud that everyone made the 2km hike to London Bridge to see this natural limestone formation. There was so much else to see and enjoy too, we saw echidnas, kangaroos and even a big fat wombat came out to say hello.
Some went to Honeysuckle Creek, site of the former communication centre used by NASA during the space race and Apollo moon shot missions, sadly now abandoned but one of the dishes is at Tinbinbilla.
We headed back the long way to the splendid Mount Ainslie lookout with grand views over the Parliamentary Triangle and lake, so impressive the way the city was designed and laid out.
From here we each went our own ways for a couple of hours before our last full dinner together as a group, as some were due to head home the next day.
For our last full day in town (Day 7) we started off with breakfast with a most of the group, joined by one of our friends from E30 Racing that lives in Canberra. Great catching up and chatting about cars and life in general.
Some went to the National Library for a coffee and a look around and bought some books for the grand kids. Went for a walk around the lake front and enjoyed the sunshine on such a lovely day.
A visit to Canberra is incomplete without a visit to Parliament House where we wandered around and discovered parliament was actually in session. No photos inside the house, as you can’t take anything inside, no phones, cameras, even smart watches. After watching the kindergarten (sorry, Question Time) for a while we left to go up on the roof and take in the views. It really is a magnificent building. Well worth the visit.
Trent visited the Royal Australian Mint for a look see and managed to grab us some of the just released that day, gold and silver commemorative poppy coins marking 80 years after WW2. So very thankful to Trent, as we missed out in the pre release ballot for the limited edition coins, so thank you Trent.
We tried to go to Black Mountain Tower (best known as the Telecom Tower) to take some pics, but it is all closed up, forlorn and deserted looking, pretty sad really for such a prominent spot. You couldn’t see out much for the trees as even the lower area of the tower is all fenced off. Looks like it is only used as a drift park these days. Probably pretty lively at night with the local lads judging by the tyre marks in the car park.
An early start to Day 8 so we could be packed and loaded up ready to head off at 9 as we had a bit of driving to do today.
We said farewell to Canberra and headed for our first stop at Braidwood. NSW’s first heritage listed town. Lovely old town, we had a short stop for coffee and a comfort break, quick walk down the street then off to the coast.
We arrived in Bateman’s Bay (made accessible by forst a punt ferry and then a succession of 2 bridges) with time for a half hour wander around, look at the shops and the foreshore before taking the scenic route on to our lunch stop at Narooma Golf Club.
Lovely lunch, very picturesque location with delightful views along the coast and out to sea.
We left here around three and headed to our overnight stop at Merimbula.
Once checked in to the motel, some headed to the bowls club for dinner, some had something more simple.
After a lovely night in Merimbula Day 9 saw half the crew were up early to take a longer inland jaunt through the Snowy Mountains to tonight’s final stop at Lakes Entrance. The rest took the very scenic coast road with time for a leisurely wander around Merimbula before heading off
First stop on the coastal run was Eden, with a visit to the Whaling Museum and then a bit of a tour around town.
The Museum was very interesting, lots of memories of the old days of catching and carving up whales here. Brought back my own memories of a visit to the Whaling Station at Albany in WA, when I was a teenager, whilst it was still operating. If ever you have been there you will know why it sticks in your mind. I can still remember the smell and the blood and the sharks trying to climb the ramp to get scraps from the butchering. Most of all the smell though! Very happy they don’t do it any more!
From there we headed down the coast, back across the border into Victoria, then on to lunch at Mallacoota.
Awesome road into Mallacoota, by the way, and so great we got to do it again on the way out!
We chatted to some locals that run the cafe in town and the young bloke recommended we head down the coast a bit and stop at some of the lookouts, as there were still a few Whales coming past. So we did and managed to see some breeches in the distance. On our way back out we met the first rain we have had since Tuesday in Canberra. We have been blessed this whole trip with perfect weather, so a little rain whilst driving didn’t really upset anyone.
Our next stop along the coast, other than a couple of lookout stops, was at Marlo Pub for an afternoon coffee and sit in front of the fire. Perfect for a slightly wet afternoon!
Back on the road again for the final run to Lakes Entrance and by the time we got to the motel it had stopped raining so we could unload and rest up before dinner.
Our last dinner together as a group was just delicious! Perfect spot on the waterfront to end the last full day together.
The group presented Jo and I (and Peter) some lovely gifts and a thank you card that touched our hearts. So thank you all.
We still have a fair drive home tomorrow yet to come, and some great roads to enjoy and things to see, but this has been such a wonderful time away with a truly lovely bunch of people. We have loved every minute of it.
Thank you all for coming and we both hope you have all enjoyed it as much as we have.
But before departing on Day 10 there was time to explore Lakes Entrance a little and have a casual breakfast.
We found a lovely cafe for breakfast then wandered around and took a few pics and explored a lovely antique/brick-a-brack store for some bargains before heading back to the hotel to meet everyone for the trip home.
Our group has been shrinking almost each day, with some heading directly home from Canberra, one heading home last night and a couple staying in Lakes for an extra night.
So we are now down to 7 cars in convoy this morning. We headed to Bairnsdale, with a stop at the lookout over Lakes Entrance, then off the highway again to Heyfield for a lovely lunch in a family run cafe.
Again a couple left for home direct from here whilst the rest of us stopped by Cowwarr Weir for some pics and our last stop together. Lovely spot, lovely roads to get here too so we might have to come back again for a visit.
From here we started splintering off and finding our own way home.
It’s been an awesome time away, so many amazing roads to drive, sights to see, all with a great bunch of people.
Thank you all for coming and enjoying it as much as we have.
Thanks to Peter for all the organising of the original route and trip notes.
Most of all, thanks to Jo for all the planning, booking, checking, confirming, rebooking, hearding cats, endless calling of pot holes, tight corners, debris, oncoming vehicles, dips, jumps, mud, water on road, echidnas, wild brumbies, road kill, and commentary along the road. We’d be lost without you!
Thank you all for following us on tour too.
If you love our stories and pics, come and join in!
We have a lot of fun away on tour as we do on all our drives and events. Watch out for the next one!
Graeme Bell #1
