I flew into Moruya, home of Countrywide
Motorcycle Tours Australia, (CMTA) on the Hazelton Air Metro 23 - not
a lot of fun but only 40 minutes from Sydney. I was met at the Greater
Moruya Metropolitan Aerodrome (heheh) by the owners of CMTA PLUS about
6 or 8 other riders! CMTA put me up in Dr. Steve Murray's "guest
house" on the first and last day. You can see the Great Dividing
Range just in the distance. The view from the front porch was spectacular.
The first two pics on row 2 are of Canberra,
taken from the Telstra Tower overlooking the city. Canberra is a
planned city, laid out with a design that makes it a very green city with
boulevards, monuments, government buildings, many parks and waterways (and
platypusses). The last picture on row 2 shows ANZAC Parade,
stretching from the Australian War Memorial down to Lake Burley Griffin.
Parliament House, where their national legislature sits, is on a hill in
the distance.
The last row shows some of the small towns
we visited. Some, like Coonamble and Bombala (pics 1 and 3
on row 3) have broad avenues and "roundabouts" (traffic circles), others
are like Gulgong (pic 2) which is almost unchanged from when it was laid
out, with narrow, winding streets.
The next table shows some of the pubs found
across Australia in small towns and even some big cities. You can
usually get a meal or drink plus a room. Rooms typically (it seems)
are just bedrooms - facilities are down the hall. Many had porches
or verandas on the 2d floor and each room would have a door out to the
veranda. We stayed in 3 pubs and in each, we were treated almost
like family by the publican and staff. We often went into the kitchen
during breakfast to get our "tucker" or breakfast - at the Ram & Stallion
in Boorowa, we even cooked our own breakfasts, helping ourselves to their
larder and cleaning up when done.
Lightning Ridge is a small
town in northern New South Wales, on the edge of the bush country of the
state's tableland just before the Outback or desert. I took some
photos of murals (there are many in the Ridge) that show the bleak conditions
of the black opal mines around the town. The first two pics on row
1 were pretty fantastic murals of the mining areas. The diggers are
innovative in making housing - some places were (IMHO) barely habitable.
At least the one in pic 3 in interesting - an old tram/streetcar was converted
into this bloke's home.
The first pic in row 2 shows Opal Street
- the main drag, such as it is, in the Ridgee. The squiggly lines
on the street indicate a pedestrian crossing is just ahead (I'm actually
standing in it when this photo was taken) I bought a small black
opal in one of the many shops on this street. Two more murals round
out this row. The last one is a kind of a joke. While riding,
Ash and Speersy often stopped to consult about which road to take.
I felt like I was in a situation like the one shown here, but instead of
diggers shaking down a "ratter" (claim jumper), I was the one waiting for
the pros to figure out where the Hell we were and where we would go.
Thanks for coming - you're visitor 
since 10 Dec 1999.
since 10 Dec 1999.