Ride Guide
Home Trail: Nowra Round Trip, NSW
By
Michael Smith : 01-Mar-2008
We'd been talking about doing a bike tour from home for some time, so when Sandra said she had a week off and wanted to play, we spent an evening poring over maps to come up with a ride. We always liked the idea of starting from home to save using the car so we suggested a ride from our place in Nowra, cycling a big loop through Nerriga, Braidwood, Deua NP then through the Araluen valley to the coast at Moruya, and back to Nowra via the hilly hinterland state forests. It didn't look too hard on paper, but a week later our aching muscles would tell of a different story.
With heavily laden mountain bikes Michael and I left home on a crisp cool October Saturday morning. Sandra was to meet us in Braidwood on the Sunday night after her 24-hour MTB race in Canberra. We were taking Main Road 92 to Nerriga en route to Braidwood. This road has recently been sealed almost to Tianjara Falls and is a gentle gradient, so the first 45km were not too difficult despite the 500m ascent and a headwind. We had a huge gourmet lunch at the spectacular Tianjara Falls, before continuing west on the now rough dirt road. The headwind increased as did the gradient but luckily it remained cool - this would be a most unpleasant ride on a hot day but the 25km to Endrick River still took us another three hours. There's a lovely deserted campsite by the Endrick River, and a swim revived aching bodies and we settled in for a pleasant, though very cold, night.
On Sunday morning we dragged our tired bodies from the tent and onto the road shortly after 9am. It was only 4km into Nerriga but most of it was uphill on a rough road. Nerriga is a very small town with a dwindling population and no accommodation options. It has a few historic buildings such as the school house and church. The next 54km between Nerriga and Braidwood were made difficult with an extremely strong headwind and many tiring undulations. Later in the trip we were to hate the word ‘undulations'. The road is gradually being sealed between Nerriga and Braidwood - but when we rode it about a third of it was still dirt.
We reached Braidwood with plenty of time to spare for our 4pm rendezvous. An extremely exhausted Sandra was dropped off with a story to tell. Her bike had broken down in the race and was unrideable. By sheer luck, she bumped into friends who had been riding in Canberra for the weekend. Carolyn happens to be the same (short) size as Sandra, and was happy to lend Sandra her bike for the week. Problem solved.
The Braidwood district was settled by Europeans in the late 1820s. The sizable town has many attractive historic buildings and an excellent museum and it's a good place to restock. After an early night and a great sleep at the Royal Mail Hotel, we ran our morning errands - pump tyres, fill water bottles, last-minute purchases and then the bakery for some extra energy. We faced an easy 41km ride along sealed road to get to the Berlang campsite in the Deua NP. Although visiting this national park entailed an extra 21km each way out of our route, Sandra was very keen to visit the Big Hole and Marble Arch, which Michael and I had visited on a previous bike tour. It was a glorious day riding through beautiful green rolling hills and pastureland, a perfect temperature, a sheer delight. Something had to happen to spoil the perfection, and that something went off like a gun shot. At the 30km mark KABOOM - Michael stopped dead - his rear rim had shattered and the bike was unrideable. Funnily, Michael and Sandra had spent over $200 each on new bike parts prior to the trip, and both their bikes broke down! We considered our options over lunch, and Michael with bike in tow hitched a ride back to Braidwood with a Telstra truck, while Sandra and I continued on to Berlang. The arrangement was to meet back in Braidwood the following afternoon, as we knew it would take at least that long for Michael to get to Canberra to get a new wheel. (There's no bike shop in Braidwood.)
Sandra and I spent the afternoon doing the 12km bushwalk from Berlang that takes you to the Big Hole - an extremely impressive 90m deep and 50m wide big hole, thought to have been formed by the collapse of sedimentary rock into a limestone cave. The walk continued to Marble Arch canyon, followed by a glorious dip in the Shoalhaven River. A lovely mild evening was broken by strengthening winds overnight.
Next morning we were packed and just about ready to depart at 8am when we heard a ‘ding ding ding' and Michael cycled in. We were incredulous - how on earth could he have got to Canberra and back with a new wheel so quickly? Michael's story: The Telstra worker had dropped him in Braidwood at the Royal Mail Hotel where he asked if he could leave his bike and gear at the hotel and when was there a bus to Canberra? As luck would have it Keith, the manager, had to run some errands in Queanbeyan and was leaving in half an hour and Michael could get a lift both ways with him. All ran smoothly and Michael was dropped at a bike shop, where he got a new wheel and was then driven back, with an extra special cultural experience thrown in.
Keith had to drop off a slab of beer at a sheep station not far out of Braidwood. The men were shearing and ready to knock off at 4pm and it would have been ugly if they didn't get their beer. Gary was shearing Baaaaabara. Baaaaabara was very uncooperative and, in his words, a ‘f...ing mole'. Ralph the owner explained the whole shearing process, using very colourful language. Ralph also gave Michael a weather forecast: "It's f...ing windy and going to be even f...ing windier tomorrow. I'll be lucky if my f...ing shed doesn't blow down"
Michael spent the night back at the hotel then left at 6am to cycle the 41km out to surprise us. It certainly was a lovely surprise and meant we could continue on with our trip as planned. From Berlang we headed back towards Braidwood for 20km to take a turnoff for Majors Creek. The shearers were right - it was f...ing windy and made it hard to keep the bikes on a straight course. It was mainly a cross wind (a warm north-westerly) and so was an absolute delight when we turned east towards Majors Creek and had a fantastic strong tailwind. We were literally blown to Majors Creek and the climb to the saddle was a breeze (pun intended) on a freshly graded dirt road. The 12km were covered quickly and as the day was becoming extremely hot, we stopped at the Majors Creek Hotel for a cooling lemon squash. Donna, the owner, told us about life in the small town of Majors Creek, a former gold mining town.
After our thirst was quenched we began the long, steep descent into the picturesque Araluen Valley via a dirt road which, though in great condition, was a bit "marbly", causing Sandra to have a minor fall at the start. We stopped several times to admire the glorious view down the valley and to let the wheel rims cool down. Once at the base of the hill we hit the tar and had an amazing run into Araluen, being pushed along by the wind. The valley is now a big fruit producing area. Being extremely hot now, we stopped in at the Araluen pub for another cool drink. Steve, the publican, regaled us with stories about the local identities, and we enjoyed the coolness in the pub and the fact that it was now smoke-free. After whiling away over an hour we hit the road again for the final 20km of dirt road to our lovely campsite on the Deua River. Although the road follows the river, the constant undulations were quite tough. A cool front had come through while we were in the pub, and although it was cooler, it also meant our old foe - the headwind - was back. We were all pleased to see our campsite, especially Michael, who had clocked up 110km for the day.
A leisurely breakfast on a glorious crisp cool morning saw us departing at 8.30am. The remaining 37km to Moruya continued to be undulating with good dirt road. In Moruya visits were made to the bakery and supermarket to restock, then we were away into the now strong headwind along the coastal route to Broulee for lunch. The bitumen was a nice change but the traffic wasn't. From Broulee we headed up Tomakin Rd to Mogo, then 2km up the highway to Runnyford Rd, a wonderful dirt road through magnificent forest, some farmland and beautiful coastal inlet scenery. We had 23km of cycling on this road to get to Nelligen. We rolled into Nelligen at 5.30pm, totally exhausted from all the unexpected hills. We camped in the pleasant Nelligen caravan park and luxuriated in long, hot showers. We had clocked up 88km for the day - two-thirds of it on dirt. The caravan park owners were so impressed by our mode of transport they only charged us for two.
A beautiful ride following the Clyde River took us to Shallow Crossing. From there the undulations began in earnest and our legs were still screaming from the day before, and some of us were suffering greatly from chafing. We had thought our mere 64km ride today would be a doddle, but it was an extremely challenging day, with 48km of it on forestry roads, lots of undulations and a huge ascent. As a consolation there was some magnificent forest, and the final 15km of bitumen down into Milton should have been a breeze as we were up at an altitude of 200m, but the continuing undulations and extreme headwind meant we were totally exhausted and very sore by the time we limped into Milton. So exhausted we opted for a motel for the night and dinner in a restaurant.
After a restorative night we set off at 7.30am to beat the heat for the 600m ascent onto the Little Forest Plateau 7km along the highway, then the climb, over 10km, through beautiful wet sclerophyll forest. Once up on the plateau we cycled through a glorious profusion of purple, yellow and white wildflowers with awe-inspiring views down to the coast. At one point we stopped to explore some deep cracks in the rocks, known locally as The Ravines. The depth and narrowness of the cracks obliged us to don our head torches for a trip into these amazing long and deep fault lines. It felt like we were descending into the bowels of the earth.
The remaining 12km to our campsite involved some punishing climbs, on some of which the bikes had to be pushed, but the breathtaking views over the familiar peaks of the Budawangs compensated for that. We got to our camp at Tianjara Creek early for once and enjoyed a refreshing and re-energising dip in the cold water below a small waterfall. We had only seen one car since leaving the highway in the morning, and had a lovely quiet evening all to ourselves.
The final day was eight rough km back to Main Road 92 and then the downhill run into Nowra. The latter should have been easy, but of course our friend the headwind was back, so our relief at hitting the bitumen was tempered by the sheer hard work of pedalling against a strong wind back into Nowra.
We were exhausted but nonetheless elated on having completed our tough tour. Nowra was the last bakery stop and Sandra had to buy some Neenish tarts for her train journey home to Sydney from nearby Bomaderry. Michael and I were home by 1.30pm to enjoy a justified lazy afternoon.
Our itinerary:
Day 1: Nowra to Endrick River - 72km
Road conditions: sealed 44km, unsealed 28km
Ascent: 750m
No provisions. Water from the river.
Day 2: Endrick River to Braidwood - 63km
Road conditions: sealed 40km, unsealed 23km
Range of accommodation options and supermarkets in Braidwood.
Day 3: Braidwood to Berlang camp ground - 42km
Road conditions: sealed 41km, unsealed 1km
No provisions. Water from the Shoalhaven River.
Day 4: Berlang to Deua River camp site via Majors Creek and Araluen - 68km
Road conditions: sealed 25km, unsealed 43km
No food shops but the Majors Creek Hotel and the Araluen Hotel have meals and accommodation.
Day 5: Deua River to Nelligen via Moruya, Broulee and Mogo - 88km
Road conditions: sealed 35km, unsealed 53km
Ascent: 400m+
There are provisions and accommodation at Moruya and Mogo and a campground and pub at Nelligen.
Day 6: Nelligen to Milton via Shallow Crossing and Brooman - 65km
Road conditions: sealed 15km, unsealed 50km
Ascent: 500m+
No provisions. Camping ground at Shallow Crossing
Day 7: Milton to Tianjara cascades - 35km
Road conditions: sealed 8km, unsealed 27km
Ascent: 850m
No provisions.
Day 8: Tianjara cascades to Nowra - 52km
Road conditions: sealed 44km, unsealed 8km
The ride could be extended on Day 8 to go back Nowra via the Yarramunmun Fire Trail and Yalwal. This was our original plan, but we were too exhausted!
Total ride: 485km - sealed 252km, unsealed 233km
Maps used:
Gregory's: Snowy Mountains and South Coast NSW Craigies Maps: Nowra and district; Batemans Bay; Ulladulla and district