WhEN hUmaNS PlaN

By Steve & Meredith Herpich, Members #4294 & #4295 (Port Macquarie, NSW)

Motorcycling Through 3 Australian States during a Pandemic...

In November, Steve & Meredith and Darrel & Trish had a short ride to Harrington for lunch, and to resolve the annual question “What are we doing for Christmas”.

So the plan was made. Commencing from Port Macquarie NSW, ride to Hampton just outside of Oberon, via Gloucester, Dungog, and Putty Road. Spend 2 nights there exploring the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. Move on to Tumut for one night, then Jindabyne for 4 nights including Christmas Day.

Trish and Darrel would then travel home via Goulburn, to visit family, Steve and Meredith would continue through Victoria, staying in Beechworth for 3 nights, Alexandra 1 night, Ballarat for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and then to Mount Gambier SA via the Grampians, to visit family and friends.

The trip home would be planned later.

So bookings were made, routes plotted on basecamp, bikes serviced. What could possibly go wrong, the planning was exemplary. We departed on the 20th December.

Just prior to departing on the 20th December, there had been a COVID outbreak in the Northern Beaches. Not a problem, we will be nowhere near. OK, plan is still intact.

A little bit of rain as we rode to Gloucester. Second breakfast stop at Roadies Café and onto Grey Gums Café on the Putty Road for a shared lunch with the flies, who had no concept of social distancing. A quick scan of the mobile devices revealed that Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains has now been declared a hotspot. OK let’s not panic. Our plan was to refuel at Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains. We have enough to get to Oberon, so no stopping, luckily traffic lights were in our favour and we did not step on the Blue Mountains. So technically we could claim we had not visited the Greater Sydney area as the definition of the verb visit is “go see and spend time with (someone) socially” - OK, plan needs to be adjusted. After all a wise man once told me plans are only guidelines.

Because we could not explore the Blue Mountains, and the Hampton Halfway Hotel accommodation was appalling, we decided to spend only one night, and add another night to Tumut.

A great ride to Tumut via Taralga, Crookwell, Boorowa, and Jugiong. We stopped in Jugiong to explore, and came across this statue in memory of Sergeant Edward Parry, killed in the courageous execution of his duty on the 16th on November 1864, in a gun battle with the Hall Gang Bushrangers at Black Springs, Jugiong.

From Tumut we did a day ride to Tumbarumba, and back to Tumut via Rosewood. The countryside was recovering from the devastating bushfires, and you could see that the fire had been very intense,

it must have been frightening.

Back in Tumut Steve and Meredith had to make plans to get into Victoria after Christmas, so had to apply for a permit, as anyone who had visited the Northern Beaches, or the Greater Sydney Area would be refused entry. Hmm, by our definition we had technically not visited, (our feet had not touched the ground), so with a clear conscience I ticked the box “have not visited”. We got our permit to enter Victoria.

We left Tumut and had a great ride through the Kosciusko National park to Jindabyne where we would spend Christmas at the Banjo Paterson Inn, a place we have stayed several times on the Snowy Ride. The national park was beautiful with the wild flowers in bloom.

On Christmas Day we had a picnic lunch at Charlotte Pass, where we spotted the Australian Alpine Bear sitting on a gum tree. These creatures are as rare as Bears in Alaska. During our stay in Jindabyne we had two day rides, the first to Lake Eucumbene, the major storage dam for the Snowy Scheme and the second one to Khancoban.

The Banjo Paterson Inn normally provides a cooked breakfast as part of the deal, but due to COVID this is no longer the case, and a boxed breakfast is supplied in the room. We had been informed of this prior to our arrival. The dining area is open for

lunch and dinner, but not breakfast. Is this COST CUTTING?

Trish and Darrel left for Goulbourn on the 27th and we continued into Victoria, passing over the border just before Corryong where our passes were checked by the young policewoman, who found everything to be in order. It pays to be truthful.

Our first stop was Beechworth, and our accommodation was very comfortable with a great view overlooking a valley. Unfortunately meal options were limited to a pretty ordinary pub and

a very expensive pub. All other places were shut over the Christmas/New year break. On our first day we did the iconic Great Alpine Road Loop through Mt Hotham, Omeo, Mount Bogong, and Mount Beauty, arriving back at the motel about 4:00pm to find the room not serviced. Due to COVID we do not service the room on multiple night stays. Were you not told this on check in?

No, that is why we dropped our towels on the bathroom floor as instructed. COST CUTTING again?

Just for you Duncan, there are Bears in Beechworth.

Our second day ride from Beechworth was a short loop through Stanley, Myrtleford, Kancoona, Dederang, and Yackandandah. Whilst in Beechworth we applied for our pass to enter South Australia. We had not been in any hotspots, no problem.

After Beechworth we left for Alexandra via Jamieson and around Lake Eildon. We had been wanting to do the Jamieson Eildon road for some time, as the last time we did it many years ago, it was still dirt and Steve got a puncture on his R1200RT. This road is part of the Great Tarmac Rally now and is quite challenging with many 30km/hr bends, gravel and debris on the road.

Meredith had the pleasure of leading a group of Lotus sports cars that were parked at the pub, through this great road. (“That blue one is the best” – Meredith)

We stayed at the Historical Alexandra Hotel, and again had very limited options for meals. We had an expensive but fantastic meal at our hotel as the only other hotel serving meals was fully booked.

Our next stop was Ballarat, for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Our planned route took us through Flowerdale and Broadford. Just before Broadford is Murchison Gap with stunning views of the area known as the Valley of a 1000 Hills.

It was a relative short ride so we took our time, and diverted to Trentham for lunch, a quaint little town 60kms out of Ballarat. It has a very old bakery, but it was closed over the holiday period. It is also the town of all creatures great and small.

A quick look at the mobile device revealed that South Australia will be closing its borders to NSW residents, due to the Sydney COVID outbreak, at MIDNIGHT tonight. OK DON’T PANIC! we will have to adjust the plan. Cancel the accommodation in Ballarat, get on the bikes and head to Mount Gambier. It only adds 360kms to the day and it is only 2:00pm. Plan revised.

Safely over the border, we stayed in Mount Gambier for a week with friends, and caught up with family and of course we had to do the iconic walk around the world famous Blue Lake.

We began planning our return trip. This is where it became a bit interesting. Victoria is open to SA, but is not to NSW. We are NSW residents so we need another permit. On the Victorian website you can only get a permit if you are transiting through NSW to Victoria from another state. Hmm, does this mean we have to go home via BROKEN HILL? We waited a couple of days, and then another option appeared, which allowed us to get a permit to transit from SA through Victoria to NSW.

So our plan was Mount Gambier to Moama NSW, Moama to Orange, Orange to Tamworth, and Tamworth to Port Macquarie. Book the accommodation, plan in place.

Two days later a COVID case travelled from the Northern Beaches to Broken Hill via Orange. OK change the plan, cancel Orange and stay overnight in Parkes instead.

And that is how we got home after our trip of 5,100kms.

MORAL of the STORY

Make plans, but be flexible. The greatest risk we had was being stuck in hotel quarantine, if we had not had correct passes or inadvertently stayed in a hotspot. We also found it important to book ahead, both accommodation and evening meals. It was further complicated by travelling during the Christmas New Year break where many cafes/restaurants chose to remain closed despite the fact that all the towns were packed with visitors.

If you are planning to travel interstate you need to check each state’s conditions of entry frequently, and the latest news for potential outbreaks, as they can change at very short notice.