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suspects were messaged. “Going to
Yerranderie on such and such a date.
Meet at DJ’s café in Oberon at
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there but it looks interesting on
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After a faultless ride through the Blue
Mountains, cruising through Lowther
and Hampton basking in the scenery
while gliding along the ridge line I
come into Oberon. Oberon is striking
in two distinct ways. Firstly, there
are no golden arches in the town,
but there is a giant rainbow trout in
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weather, snow in the winter, giant
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Although I didn’t see any donuts, I’m
glad they don’t have anyone wrapped
in plastic at the lake. Unless they do
and I didn’t notice.
Walking to the café, I spot Greg’s
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the main street. It’s good to have a car
as backup sometimes and you would
be surprised the places where Rod gets
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morning, coffee and a hamburger does
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long before we’re all fed, our tanks
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leafed poplar trees create a guard of
honour as we ride out of town toward
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rolls through grasslands and into pine
forests. I keep an eye out for signs of
pine mushrooms to cook for dinner,
though this autumn may have been too
dry for them to sprout out yet. Hmm
maybe next time.
Turning off at Mt Werong, we ride
past the penitentiary which reminds
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soon changes from tar to gravel and
we stop to regroup at a roadside bay
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of dirt road to go, couldn’t take more
than 45minutes to get there... but
we thought wrong. The sign clearly
states the remoteness of the area and
you really do need to be prepared with
provisions when heading out. There
are four creek crossings that were easy.
After a decent rain they would make
it hard for a two wheeled drive to get
through, though. There are a couple
of other camping spots along this
road that will need to be explored
on a later trip. The road is in pretty
good condition and varies from
wide straight stretches to narrow
windy bits with no barriers to stop
you falling off the edge. This does
make it awkward for those that like
to photograph things they see out
the corner of their eye. The views
through the trees are fantastic.
It’s also why it’s so important to
regroup every so often to ensure that
no one in the group has fallen behind,
or fallen off for that matter. There
are a couple of spots where the road is
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lose vision in the dust and have to pull
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the bikes coast into the ghost town,
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has changed colour from white to tan
and I’m still surprised he got it there.
Time has stood still here and the
main street still has the original general
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little further along is the Ranger’s hut
where your camping fees are paid.
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job of maintaining this place. Relics
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the buildings and easy walks are sign
posted to explore the abandoned
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always amazes me that not only did
people make a living, brought heavy
machinery and built a town in these
remote places but someone rambled
through the bush looking for gold here
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There are two camping grounds. A
free camping ground just out of town
with very basic facilities and one in
the private town. The private town
has reasonable sized camping ground
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kitchenette have also been provided.&DPSLQJIHHVDUHSHUSHUVRQ
and you can also opt to stay in one
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pricing. You would really need to
spend three days in this town to get
the most out of it. It’s a good full
days’ journey just to get here and the
same to get out. There are a number
of tracks to explore on foot through
the abandoned mines, buildings
and to lookouts. There were also
a few tracks off the main road that
beckoned me to a return trip.
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is a fantastic track to tackle on a
bike. Road conditions can vary. On
the return leg, Greg and I spoke to
a couple of riders at the Hampton
Hotel and were told the road had been
recently graded. After a big rain, the
road deteriorates so the trip needs a
bit of planning. Road conditions can
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If some of your friends are not into
bikes, get them to tag along in their
cars as “support” (as in, beer carriers!
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watched you ride in and seen how
much fun you had, they’ll want to get
bikes themselves.
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young Adam of our days driving on
dirt roads with sedans and road bikes,
knowing he probably won’t believe us, I
wonder if listening to stories from old
miners and bullock drivers would get
the same reaction from us, in turn. Tall
stories or confessions from mad men? DJust another thing
Yerranderie is owned and run by NPWS
these days, but the credit for saving it
and setting it up originally goes to the
wonderful and determined Valerie
Lhuede. I have not kept up with news of
her, and I assume she passed the town
to the NWPS when she was no longer
capable of running it, but she deserves
to be remembered. I’m disappointed
that she doesn’t get a mention on the
fact sheet for Yerranderie. And a
warning: many mosquitoes live in
Yerranderie. Many, many...READERS’ TRAVEL