THURSDAY 19 MARCH     QUEANBEYAN

Hot day – 29 degrees, with clear blue sky.

John phoned Trakmaster. He has to call another day to speak to the person he wanted, about the fridge shifting forward in its space. We have noticed that on a few occasions, after we’ve towed, that the fridge protrudes out by several cms, and has to be pushed back. There does not seem to be anything to stop this happening. However, he was advised how to shift the window handle at the foot of our bed, from one side of the window to the other, to make lifting the mattress up and down easier. He did this – it did not take long.

We went for a drive south, with the bikes on the back, to Namadgi National Park. I had not heard of this Park before we got to Canberra. It is within the ACT. Took the same route out to Tharwa as we’d travelled the other day. Got fuel at Conder on the way through – 73 cpl.

We stopped at the Visitor Centre, just south of Tharwa. It had some interesting displays. The National Park came into existence in 1984, so it is not that “old”. As well as the expected natural country, it also contains areas that were used for grazing, in particular the alpine meadow sections.

From the Visitor Centre proceeded south on the Naas Road, initially through farmland – the Orroral Valley. The Naas Road became the Boboyan Road. Saw two big foxes in that section.

Then it was into the Park proper. We ate our picnic lunch at Glendale Crossing – a pleasant spot beside the Gudgenby River, with toilets and tables, but many hungry ants.

South of there, took the Old Boboyan Road, which was unsealed. Parked in a cleared area by the roadside and rode the bikes up the Naas Valley track – a management track. This was a shallow valley, mostly alpine meadow, with wooded slopes at the sides where snow gums were dominant. Very beautiful. Could see why this part of the  Monaro region attracted some settlers.

Found some interesting old homestead ruins – chimney, bits of timber, and what appears to be a stone covered grave. There were gnarled old orchard trees and wild roses. This would have been a very isolated place to live and subject to severe weather conditions. We could see where there were frost hollows in the valley.

The management trail made a great riding track – we did 5 kms along it, then returned the way we came. A 10km ride in all. Cycling on this little track kind of reminded me of a scene out of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid! It was quite exhilarating.

Saw no other people in the Park. The road through it becomes gravel, and eventually goes on in NSW to join other tracks to Adaminaby, but it is 4WD in NSW.

It was dark by the time we got back to the van. Tea was simple – warmed up leftover chow mein and salad.  Drove 158kms today.