Oxley Hwy -- Baz's little ride

I decided I would get away from Sydney last monday 13 Dec 10, just before the school holidays and the tripling of accommodation rates. So I left about 9am monday morning and headed north on the Old Pacific Hwy to Kariong, then freeway to Maitland, then at Raymond Terrace decided I would go the Bucketts Way to Gloucester and Thunderbolts Way to Walcha (recent rain has destroyed this road .. its a real bone shaker)
Stayed at Bendemeer Pub (now theres a place to stay, they can cook a scotch fillet to perfection) $54 for a big room with ensuite ... the pokies were kind to me there too, paid for my room/beer & food ..
Crossed the Oxley (yum what a great road), went into Port Macquarie but found ity too hot, too humid, and I may as well have been in Sydney so I stayed at Wauchope and the next recrossed the Oxley back to Walcha and came down the New England Hwy to stay overnight at Muswellbrook.
Next day Singleton and obviosly I had to take the Putty Road home.
No rain the whole way until I get back into Windsor when it soaked me to the bone.

Some pics;

Bucketts Way near Gloucester


The start of Thunderbolts Way
and its risky due to the dreadful condition of the road


Bendemeer Pub beer garden






Oxley Wild Rivers


these two pics take at the same spot facing up & down the hwy (I think that adds up to 65kms of winding road)




some other guy having as much fun as I was having


Walcha


Traveller's Rest Pub at Long Flat


these pics of the road don't do it justice, its just too tight to stop and take a pic of the magnificent 35km/hr bends on this road


all along the top of the mountain range are these fern trees along the side of the road .. and the temperature was delightful


I stopped at the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum at Tamworth as well

Good pics, where's the key to my bike!

Baz, Excellent ride mate, thanks for the report.

Gus, Is that what Bendemeer looked like last time you were there?

Very clever.

Baz,

Nice pics.

I assume that this warning signs refers to loose critters running about.

No its the road authority' way of saying "we can't be fagged fixing the road so if you moron's on bikes crash it's your fault" It's also an invitation to oncoming vehicles to cut the center line at will because those bloody Bike riders have been warned!

2wheelsagain wrote:No its the road authority' way of saying "we can't be fagged fixing the road so if you moron's on bikes crash it's your fault" It's also an invitation to oncoming vehicles to cut the center line at will because those bloody Bike riders have been warned!

It appears to be a Rotary Club sign, put there because too many Valentino Rossi wannabes have come to grief because of the reasons listed above.

The road Authority signs, on the other hand, mean you are just about to come to a fun section.

So the road authority not only cant maintain roads they even have to get sponsorship to put up a bloody sign?
Just in that pic I can see corrugations, the centreline is warn out and grass right up to the edge.
Its an inviting looking bend though.

that part of the raod wasn't too bad. Further on though, there are new holes (due to rain), deformations all in the wrong place (due to heat), and just about all along the way the road has been patched a gazillion times in some places.
Its a road that only connects Gloucester & Walcha and these two communities probably can't afford to fix the roads.
On the other hand the Oxley Hwy between Walcha & Wauchope is in excellent condition and there are ongoing roadworks, only in one place did I find pebbles where I'm glad I saw the pebbles first and these were due to recent roadworks.

I should also mention when I rocked up to the Bendemeer pub and asked for a room, first thing they said to me was "you on a bike, wanna lock it up"
Also the motel at Timbertown (the only motel at Timbertown) said the same thing to me, and their beds are fantastic.

We have different signs to warn us of critters and dang it I passed one for kangaroos next 100km (should took a pic)... usually they only say "kangaroos next 20km" or for koalas they just have a outline of a koala waddling.

I like the reduce speed sign in the middle of the corner! nice touch!

Hi Baz.

Nice pics, but I hope those prices aren't for one beer.

Ha Ha ... no that would be for a carton of 24 stubbies (375ml each) .. but if I were to buy the same carton in Sydney it would cost around $35

Or go to the Gabba for footy .$6.2o plastic cup ( =stubby ) 24 cups = 1 carton= $148.80

post removed due to lack of response and interest..

Great Pics Baz. What rubber have you got on the rear?

Kaupy1962 wrote:Great Pics Baz. What rubber have you got on the rear?

I'm fairly sure they were PR2

Strange. Thread pattern looks different to mine

Kaupy1962 wrote:Strange. Thread pattern looks different to mine

That's no PR2. Could be the original Pilot Road or looks like the Pirelli I had on my old RF900R but I can't remember what it was.

if there not PR2 then they were the OEM bridgstone BT021 which were good but didn't last too long

Nice pics.

We do not have signs in Italy to watch kangaroos, but watch out for cows.

V Lamps