Rob 'n BOB on the BNT
Omeo, NSW - 24 March 2004
Well Mates, here we are again, a little sooner than
anticipated, which I'll explain in a moment.
From Canberra it was a matter of
following the excellent city bike trails to the southern end of the
city. Oh, did I mention in my last update that I hadn't had any
broken spokes yet? That was a direct challenge to the Spoke Gods,
because, yes indeed, the very next day, while heading out from
Malcolm's on my way to Tharwa, I broke my very first spoke! It
broke in a funny place too, an inch or so from the rim, very unusual,
since they invariably break at the hub. But I was able to repair
it without even taking the wheel off. At the southern edge of
Canberra I went to a carwash to hose off the bike - especially the
drivetrain - and the operator insisted on paying for the wash!
Here I joined the BNT again and followed the (lesser used) road to
Tharwa.
Tharwa has a general store, and a
school, but that is about it. I camped by the Wurrumbidgee River,
just past the community, and it was wonderfully peaceful and quiet,
amazing really when you consider how close to the city I still
was.
The next day it was on gravel roads
and tracks again, slowly heading up the valley, and I realised that,
since I collected my cold and wet weather gear in Canberra, I was now
carrying an obscene amount of gear. At my first opportunity I
would have to get rid of some less essential stuff, because hauling
this load through the "High Country" just doesn't make sense.
Now, I don't carry a lot of luxuries, so this will be a tough decision,
what to mail on and what to keep, but something has to go!
However, the first post office won't be until I get to Khancoban, so
I'll have to suffer from the weight for a few more days.
I broke another
spoke nipple,
bizarre, that's the third one, but the last time that happened was at
the end of December, so I've been lucky in between. For the next
several days I stayed at huts - a bit of a novelty, since I've lived in
my tent for five months now. The first one was Horse Gully Hut,
where a group of teenage girls had just arrived moments earlier.
They were on a group bush walking and camping experience, and luckily
they were tenting and I had the hut to myself! They were
accompanied by one of their dads, Brian, and we had a nice visit - a
good yarn, I should say now!
From here on the forest track and
gravel roads continued to Yaouk, which I finally discovered, is
pronounced "Ya-yak", in a wide, flat open valley. It was still
early in the day, so I decided to push on to Oldfield's Hut (no
joke),and a push it was! As soon as the track entered Kosciuszko
National Park it became exceedingly steep and I needed all my strength
to push my heavily loaded bike the 400 m uphill. However, once
there, the track became blissful and quite enjoyable. 
Very different
though from the way I remembered it, and that is because of the ravages
of last year's fires. Ninety percent of Kosciuszko Park were
burnt! And although many eucalypts have a remarkable capacity of
recovering from forest fires, Snowgums don't. They're dead.
For the next several days, the
forests were all open, without canopy, all grey and black
trucks, with
some trees sprouting new leaves from the trunk or base, but most
totally barren. This was a long weekend, and just before I
reached Oldfield's Hut I passed two groups of bushwalkers. 
But,
again, one group used their tents, and since Oldfield's has TWO
bedrooms - it really is a luxury hut by mountain hut standards - I had
a room to myself. Although most of the forest around the hut was
burnt, the hut itself was in fine condition. However, many huts
in Kosciuszko were burnt as well. One of the blokes was a keen
bushwalker and knew a lot of the huts in the area, and he suggested
that Circuits Hut was a nice one to stay at. This is off the
official BNT route, but it is on a track through a much prettier
valley, and since I'd done this section five years ago, I was pleased
to do something a little differently this time. It even included
a bit of singletrack. Circuits is a marvellous hut - FOUR rooms
- and since I was here all by myself, I could pick the one that
suited me best. I had a nice little fire in the fireplace that
night, while contemplating all the great places I've stayed at over the
past few months.
The following day it was over a
ridge
and then a long and sometimes steep descent down to Lake
Eucumbene. The lake was so low, that I was able to cross the
river right at the Providence Portal campground site. The little
shop was open, so I had a couple of meat pies and a can of orange
squash for lunch. Always beats crackers and peanut butter!
On my way across the river I somehow lost one of my socks, and now I
was forced to finally start wearing the second pair that I've been
carrying for five months now. Wow, new socks, they feel so
good! Once across, it was a long steady climb up into the high
country again, where I camped at a little creek (Tibeaudo Ck) on Happy
Jacks Plain.
The night was eerily still, no wind,
no bird sounds, no insects, only the quiet little murmel of the
creek. It was only 2̊ in the morning, quite a difference from
only a few weesk ago, when I would still be sweating, uncovered, on top
of my mattress. Now I do need my sleeping bag! Across
Happy
Jacks Plain, down to Jappy Jacks Pondage, one of the stations in the
Snowy Mountain Scheme. 
The bridge was
out - burnt in the fires
last year - and even though they are about to put a top on it again, it
still had a big hole in the middle, so I had to ford the river.
Once across, a parks ranger had just arrived on the other side, and
during the conversation we had, he mentioned that the flies were down
considerably from a couple of months ago. Isn't it all so
relative? I keep cursing the little pesks daily - can't imagine
what it would have been like two months ago!
Another long but
gradual climb out of
the alley, over a ridge, down the next valley, and up again, to
Blackjack Fire Tower.
Dave, the fellow who works there as an
observer, remembered me from 1999! We had a great visit again,
and he invited me in for a cuppa, and when I left he gave me a bag full
of fruit, fresh tomatoes and cucumber, AND a can of beer for the
night! So, when I got to my campsite at Pounds Creek, after a
long and steep descent along the Murray Powerline Track, I had a beer
to go with my beer nuts! It was also a real pleasure to enter
some living forest again that afternoon - something I hadn't seen for
days.
I love my new little bicycle
computer, which I had mail ordered and installed while in
Canberra. It showed that my maximum rates of ascent and descent
that day were 20%, the average up was 7%, average down 8%, I went up
1059 m and down 1881 m. It shows all kinds of other information
as well, but some of it even I am not really interested in.
Another enormous climb out of the
valley the next day, requiring a bit of pushing, but mostly rideable,
and then a screemingly fast downhill ride on bitumen towards
Khancoban. I collected my parcel at the PO, a new set of tires -
my fourth, and final - and food packets. Also got a few other
groceries, called Gwen, and mailed on some stuff that I don't really
need, or at least think I can do without.
I didn't leave Khancoban until
noon
the next day, and it was an easy day's ride to Keebles Hut.
Although it was a very gradual climb over Geehi Walls, the descent on
the other side was quite steep. There were a few other people
around the hut, but nobody stayed in it, and I had it all to myself
again. This was truly a magic spot, a beautiful stone hut, on a
nice open grassy plain, beside a clear clean river, with glorious views
onto the mountains. Mt Kosciuszko you couldn't quite see, because
it is just behind Mt Townsend, which is 10 m lower. Mt K, by the
way, is the highest mountain in Australia, and it is all of 2228 m
tall. To put that in perspective, Highwood Pass in Kananaskis is
2224 m!
From here on to Tom Groggin, and this
day I broke through the 6000 km mark - another milestone! It was
an easy day, following the bitumen Alpine Way. At Tom Groggin
Station I crossed the Murray River, the longest river system in
Australia, but a very tame river at this point, and into
Victoria. The last couple of meters of the crossing were a little
deeper than I thought and BOB actually floated! But he kept my
stuff dry - it was only for a few seconds anyway. I didn't stay
at the hut here, it was too grungy, so I tented right by it, at a
picnic table. A few other campers were nearby, and in the course
of the afternoon a number of 4WD-ers came cruising by, one of whom
offering me a nice cold brew - Cheers Mates!
Another steep climb along a 4WD
track, then a fantastic ridge ride with great views onto the Great
Dividing Range and Mt K, a boring section on a newly gravelled road,
and a delightful descent on a smooth little track to my next hut.
Oops! It's burnt down. But a nice grassy field to camp
on. It's the first day of fall, and appropriately the next
morning I woke to a frozen tent (0̊ outside). This day, at 1472 m
of climbing, was now my second best uphill day.
On to Limestone
Creek, but again, a
good steep climb, with a lot of hard pushing to start the day with (400
m up in 3 km, of which almost 200 m in 1 km!), followed by a VERY steep
descent to Limestone Creek. Then and there I disovered that my
rear brake pads were worn out! They'd lasted all of almost 400 km
- I only just had them put on when in Canberra. The previous set
lasted over 6,000 km!!! I hadn't counted on this scenario, have
no spares, and will have to bail out, along regular roads, to Omeo.
So that's why I'm here, early (only
by a day), and now having to wait until the postal service shows up
with my new pads, which I ordered from bikefanatic.com, an Aussie
internet merchant. They just emailed me that they are
shipping
them today, express, at no extra charge. So hopefully they'll be
here before the end of the week! 
Omeo is not exactly a metropolis
- a cute little town though - and calls itself "Gateway to the High
Country". I'm sure I can amuse myself for a day or so.
Other than that, the bike is okay, so is BOB, and I only have some
bruised ribs, from a slide while following brumby pads (wild horse
tracks) along Limestone Creek, to avoid some exceedingly steep sections
of 4WD track, of which Martin Gibson wrote two years ago, that he and
his brother TOGETHER had a tough time pushing one bicycle up at a
time! Now, every deep breath - and I use deep breaths a lot these
days - I'm reminded of my slip, and coughing is a definite no-no.
As my wise old dad always said when we were little - it'll go away
before I turn into a girl.......... In Omeo I checked into the
Hilltop Hotel, where I have a simple but clean room with FOUR bunk
beds, lots and enough to spread out. $30 per night, including a
cooked breakfast and all the cereal you can eat - I can put on some
weight for the next section of steep hills! With internet at the
Shire Office, a well stocked little grocery store, a museum next door,
a nice looking town, with lots of old buildings in good repair, I'll be
happyo in Omeo for the next couple of days!
Seeyalater Mates,
Rob 'n BOB
