Wednesday 11 April 2012

Ulysses AGM at Mildura – Getting There

I’ve been rather tardy in posting about the rest of our trip after Nundle.  If I don’t do it now I’ll have forgotten most of it.

We got a relatively early start from Nundle on the Sunday morning.  It was rather fresh travelling along and we hadn’t brought much in the way of thermals, as it was only March.

Home to Nundle to West Wyalong 152

As we travelled west we left the mountains behind us and entered the slopes and plains.  Even though it isn’t that far from home, we have never travelled the road from Dunedoo to Dubbo.  It just isn’t on our direct route from home to anywhere, so it was nice to see some new scenery.

Home to Nundle to West Wyalong 170

Once we headed south from Dubbo and Forbes we started to see the wide expanse of flood waters from the recent rains.

Home to Nundle to West Wyalong 188

Home to Nundle to West Wyalong 193

We travelled as far as West Wyalong on Sunday, staying in a nice caravan park and having a lovely Chinese meal at the local club.  It was here that we started to meet other Ulyssians making the trek to Mildura.

On Monday morning we once again got an early start.  However, that was by the sun, not the clock.  It is amazing how much later the sun rises as we headed west.  Of course, being the last week of daylight saving accentuated it as well.  I love taking photos of our shadow in the early morning.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 002

As you can see, it was just glorious weather for riding along.

The slopes and plains made way for just the plains.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 019

There was still plenty of flood waters around.  There was quite a bit of water flowing down Mirrool Creek between West Wyalong and Hay.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 022

Of course, the water birds are loving the conditions.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 041

Fortunately, the worst of the floods had passed at Hay.  However, about 10kms west of the town we encountered this sign, so prepared to get a little damp.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 044

We needn’t have worried.  This was the extent of the water over the road for the whole trip down, which was much better than we had expected.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 046

So many people complain about the Hay Plains being the most boring road in Australia.  We have travelled it a few times now and just love it.  Admittedly, there isn’t a great deal to see.  We didn’t even see a great deal of wild life this time, just a few emus, which we were glad kept their distance.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 056

It is nice, though, to get to Balranald at the other end.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 058

We finally reached our destination at about 3 o’clock on Monday afternoon.

JH W Wyalong to Wentworth 061

We registered for the rally, admitting up front that we had left all our paperwork at home.  Oops!  I remembered everything for Nundle, but didn’t give the Ulysses paperwork a thought.  Oh well, we certainly weren’t the only ones.

At the end of the day it was lovely to catch up with all our friends from the Rockhampton Branch of the Club.  This is now the fourth time we have camped with them and it is one of our favourite things about the rally.

Now that I look back at the photos I hope they aren’t too boring, just lots of photos taken from the side car.  However, as we had to travel about 1200kms in a day and a half, stops were few and far between and usually just for fuel and a quick bite to eat, no sight seeing along the way.  That is being saved up for our four days in Mildura.

1 comment:

Chookyblue...... said...

loved the pics............the camp looked great too..........