Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 12:07 pm, by: David Vaughan
Hi people, I just got back from my exploration. Cotter is about 20Km from our meeting place and Tharwa is signposted as 34Km beyond there. Anyway, here is what I found out there, including some comments on the roads. I took the is300 to do something different from the 28th. The Eibach springs lower the car about 25mm and the little rubber chin flaps in front of the wheels at the nose of the car scraped the road quite a few times on the bigger undulations, but then I also have the dampers on a relatively soft setting and they do not adjust with a switch inside the car!
The traffic lights at the first Cotter bridge may separate us so I suggest we re-form at Cotter itself, to make sure there are no stragglers.
From the Cotter it is about 14Km of fairly curvy but not slow road (watch out for the diving left hander over the blind crest) to the turn-off to Tidbinbilla Tracking station. The station itself is about 4Km up some very nice road which makes it a pleasant 8Km diversion. I have no idea what the Moon Rock Cafe is like but I do not hold great hopes.
From that intersection it is another 6Km to the turnoff to Gibralter Falls. The Falls are a 14Km round trip on that road but the carpark is closed for some sort of renovations and I do not know when it will be open again. That road is also quite slow.
The turnoff back to Canberra is only another 6Km but I vote for continuing on at least to Tharwa because that is another 6Km of flowing road. If you head from there to Naas then you can drive for ages on roads unlikely to have other cars with the minor downside that there is nothing down there and you have to come back again after finding somewhere to do a U turn. I did about 11Km to the Honeysuckle Creek road. The further diversion on to Honeysuckle is a further 11Km of comparatively slow road(60+, bursts of 80-odd) whereas the preceding part is posted at 100 and nice to drive.
The Angle Crossing route back to town involves dirt road. I did not take it as the is300 is a bit of a tarmac dandy. Instead we can return to Point Hut Crossing as that bit of road is worth travelling in two directions. It is 7Km North of Tharwa to the intersection then 4 to the crossing itself, and from there about 27Km to the middle of town.
Tharwa has its General Store which will probably serve pies or the like. The only other eatery of any sort on the route (so far as I know) is the Moon Rock Cafe.
So, we are looking at about 80Km with possible diversions of 8, 14 and 22Km round trips each. What do people think, and where will we eat?
I was thinking also that people returning to Sydney might want to tag after the Jerrabombera/Queanbeyan cars at the end of the day and take either Monaro Hwy-Majura Lane or further afield through Queanbeyan to join the Federal hwy via the Sutton road.
My general notion is to take the Tidbinbilla diversion, forget Gibralter Falls, check out Tharwa but then perhaps either tootle out to the Naas Valley and back or else turn across to Queanbeyan and up the Sutton Road, with people dropping off when they are nearest their homes. There is also the Burra Road but that involves a lot of dirt as well.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 02:25 pm, by: Denise Ernst
Thanks for that David - its been quite a number of years since I've been along that road (it was well before the bushfires anyway!!!)
I rang the Moon Rock Cafe and their menu is along of the lines of gourment pies, quiche and lasagne. I've had a talk to a few people at work who have been there and said that it's not too bad, so it might be good for lunch - or at least a smoke/loo break.
I'd be interested in doing the Cotter to Tidbinbilla Tracking Station and then onto Tharwa and back - maybe find somewhere on the way back for coffee and good-byes (I don't know if the Rose Cottage Inn still does coffee or if there would be somewhere at Chisholm shops???)
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 04:20 pm, by: David Vaughan
It still looks pretty moonscape in many parts, especially the first part out to Cotter. After that you get the impression there are trees on the hills and not all of them are shells. Basically it is the pine forests that have vanished completely. In some areas the views are improved by the pines not being in the way.
Anyone know anything about Chisholm shops? Going near the Hyperdome might tend to break us up looking for somewhere to park although if we stop in the carpark off Anketell St opposite the College then there are cafes 50 metres away on the street. Rose Cottage might be nicer if it is open and can fit the throng.
Let's settle on the Moon Rock for an early lunch if there is no disagreement from others. I could ring them a few days beforehand to make sure they are ready for 25-30 extra guests. They probably do not get a lot of people normally.
David Vaughan TryHard Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) and is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 03:42 pm, by: Denise Ernst
And the details of the cruise (just to save people scrolling through posts:
Meeting time: 11am Meeting Point: Yellow circle
1. Neil Griffiths 2. Deb Griffiths 3. Denise & Rachel Ernst 4. Ollie Ernst 5. Anthony King 6. Kate Green 7. Stu 8. Duy & Vikki 9. Bruce Shepherd 10. David Vaughan 11. Peter Burrett 12. Greg Boschman (Advised by his EA. See 1 place below) 13. Tim Eacott (Greg's EA) 14. Mark Paddick 15. Sam Schreck 16. Jason Kingsmill (tentative) 17. Anthony Slezak (maybe) 18. Colin Kirkpatrick (in my new Active!) 19. John England 20. Phil Harbrow (tentative) 21. Steve Farmer 22. Jodie Noy ( Im coming with the VL....!!!) 23. Daina Smith
David Vaughan TryHard Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) and is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
It's in the beauty shop David getting a major makeover... I reckon thats lovely of you to think of Jodie's comfort Peter, no reply from Neil though lols. Can't wait to see how she come's out, you gonna be ready to roll for the East Coaster Jodie??
David Vaughan TryHard Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) and is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)