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All funds raised during my ride across Australia went to either the Australian or New Zealand Heart Foundation depending on the donor’s wish.
It was a thrill to be named Best Individual Fund-raiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.
Special thanks to EVERYONE who supported my ride.
It was a thrill to be named Best Individual Fund-raiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.
Special thanks to EVERYONE who supported my ride.
Day 29 - April 28th, 2011
Cobar (NSW) to Nyngan (NSW)
139 kms.
Cobar (NSW) to Nyngan (NSW)
139 kms.
DAILY PREVIEW:-
I start week 5 with the good feeling that it is going to be a little more populated from now on and it will be great to reach small towns each evening. The days of the "roadhouse only" stops are now behind us!
Today continuing along the Barrier Highway - 32 - it looks like a downhill run!!
Nyngan is a town with a population of about 2000 people. The place name could have been derived from an aboriginal word for "mussel" or "crayfish" - sounds odd - we are miles from the sea!!
Nyngan is situated on the Bogan River on the junction of the Mitchell Highway and Barrier Highway. It is on the Main Western railway line of New South Wales but is no longer served by passenger trains. The line remains open to freight traffic.
In April 1990, unusually heavy rains caused major flooding in the town, despite a massive effort by local people to build levee walls using sandbags. With the town almost completely flooded, all the residents had to be evacuated by helicopter from the railway station, the highest point of the town, which was not flooded. Army helicopters, TV news helicopters and private helicopters all cooperated in the airlift. The total damage amounted to $50 million.
The airlift is commemorated by an Army helicopter placed outside of the Nyngan Railway Station.
Ironically, the flood damage to railway tracks provided the justification to withdraw passenger railway services to Nyngan and the railway station is now a museum.
I start week 5 with the good feeling that it is going to be a little more populated from now on and it will be great to reach small towns each evening. The days of the "roadhouse only" stops are now behind us!
Today continuing along the Barrier Highway - 32 - it looks like a downhill run!!
Nyngan is a town with a population of about 2000 people. The place name could have been derived from an aboriginal word for "mussel" or "crayfish" - sounds odd - we are miles from the sea!!
Nyngan is situated on the Bogan River on the junction of the Mitchell Highway and Barrier Highway. It is on the Main Western railway line of New South Wales but is no longer served by passenger trains. The line remains open to freight traffic.
In April 1990, unusually heavy rains caused major flooding in the town, despite a massive effort by local people to build levee walls using sandbags. With the town almost completely flooded, all the residents had to be evacuated by helicopter from the railway station, the highest point of the town, which was not flooded. Army helicopters, TV news helicopters and private helicopters all cooperated in the airlift. The total damage amounted to $50 million.
The airlift is commemorated by an Army helicopter placed outside of the Nyngan Railway Station.
Ironically, the flood damage to railway tracks provided the justification to withdraw passenger railway services to Nyngan and the railway station is now a museum.
Cobar to Nyngan
Distance travelled - 139.03
Highest Speed - 49.80
Average Speed - 23.20
Today started early - well yesterday never really ended as mice "issues" made it impossible for me to sleep!!
The little buggers somehow got into our van again, and their ferreting around searching for food just drove me crazy and I couldn't stand the thought of going to sleep with mice in the van!!!!! A couple of brave mice have already run across the bed - yuk!!!!
As soon as it was daylight - we were up, and a complete empty out of the van took place to "flush out" the mice!!! What a joy to see we weren't the only ones!!!!!! There were britz, kea's, apollo's and caravaners doing the same thing - AND - for those in tents and swags - well I can't imagine!!!!!!!! Sleeping bags were being shaken out - it was quite a sight!!!!!
The lady from the Cobar Age came to the caravan park bright and early to do a report on my journey for their next paper. She was a very efficient lady and in no time the interview was done, photo's were taken and we were on our way to Nyngen.
It was a head wind to start with, but fortunately it dropped away, which made it easier to bike along the undulating road for the first half of the trip - and then the wonderful long downhill runs for the second half of the ride into Nyngen - gotta love downhills!!.
Arriving at Nyngen we crossed the Bogan River - to enter "Bogan Shire". Nyngan was larger than I expected with a good lot of shops, and great community facilities!!
I always seem to miss the local "race meeting" by a week or 2 - here was no excpetion - I bet they would be great fun to attend!!
I've made the Bogan Shire Council todays "Daily Supporter" as they made a $200 donation to the Heart Foundation. Great stuff guys, I appreciated that! You can read more about this on tomorrow's page.
Distance travelled - 139.03
Highest Speed - 49.80
Average Speed - 23.20
Today started early - well yesterday never really ended as mice "issues" made it impossible for me to sleep!!
The little buggers somehow got into our van again, and their ferreting around searching for food just drove me crazy and I couldn't stand the thought of going to sleep with mice in the van!!!!! A couple of brave mice have already run across the bed - yuk!!!!
As soon as it was daylight - we were up, and a complete empty out of the van took place to "flush out" the mice!!! What a joy to see we weren't the only ones!!!!!! There were britz, kea's, apollo's and caravaners doing the same thing - AND - for those in tents and swags - well I can't imagine!!!!!!!! Sleeping bags were being shaken out - it was quite a sight!!!!!
The lady from the Cobar Age came to the caravan park bright and early to do a report on my journey for their next paper. She was a very efficient lady and in no time the interview was done, photo's were taken and we were on our way to Nyngen.
It was a head wind to start with, but fortunately it dropped away, which made it easier to bike along the undulating road for the first half of the trip - and then the wonderful long downhill runs for the second half of the ride into Nyngen - gotta love downhills!!.
Arriving at Nyngen we crossed the Bogan River - to enter "Bogan Shire". Nyngan was larger than I expected with a good lot of shops, and great community facilities!!
I always seem to miss the local "race meeting" by a week or 2 - here was no excpetion - I bet they would be great fun to attend!!
I've made the Bogan Shire Council todays "Daily Supporter" as they made a $200 donation to the Heart Foundation. Great stuff guys, I appreciated that! You can read more about this on tomorrow's page.
 Great museum at Nyngan - in the old railway station. |
 My bike at the Shire Office gate. |
 Outside the Bogan Shire office and War Memorial |
 Iriquois helicopter used when Nyngan had to be evacuated in the 1990 flood. |
Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.
Mark Twain - Taming the Bicycle
Mark Twain - Taming the Bicycle