Ride Report: Bethanga, Melbourne, Barry Way and Talbingo

[The Bigfella]

Excellent guys... looking forward to more.

I trust you guys are joining us on the 25th up at Fingal Head? Phil is riding his oilhead up from Adelaide, and I'm taking the F650 up on Friday 24th.

C'mon.... more....

[Airbear]

Excellent guys... looking forward to more.

I trust you guys are joining us on the 25th up at Fingal Head? Phil is riding his oilhead up from Adelaide, and I'm taking the F650 up on Friday 24th.

C'mon.... more....

It's werk mode for me for a while, Ian. I'll catch the post mortem online. It's a great time to be heading up that way, so a bit of envy here already.

[ME 109]

I was led to believe the Seldom Seen servo burnt down due to bush fires about 6 or 7 years ago. Good to see it's still there. And Dave.......probably the same guy that was there nearly thirty years ago when I first went through that area.
There used to be a nice old Ford mainline ute there, along with other old cars.
It sure is a wild and rugged area down that way. And incredibly beautiful.
Dja get any pics of Mckillops bridge?

Great ride report Charlie and Hans!

[Garnet]

"Somewhere between Seldom Seen and Suggan Buggan"

Now that's gotta be the start of a good yarn.

[She'llbe]

I've always enjoyed Charlies yarns with photos and Hans gives it another slant from a young upcoming yarnspinner. Keep up the good work fellas.

[Deleted User 287]

I don't suppose the 'roos let you pet them and scratch their heads?

[Airbear]

I don't suppose the 'roos let you pet them and scratch their heads?

Only the dead ones, Rob.

[Deleted User 287]

I don't suppose the 'roos let you pet them and scratch their heads?

Only the dead ones, Rob.

They do look like they could make a mean steak - the free-range ones, anyway. None of that corn-fed crap for me!

[Airbear]

They do look like they could make a mean steak - the free-range ones, anyway. None of that corn-fed crap for me!

O yes, 'roo meat is very fine eating - almost no fat but the meat is tender if done right.

[Airbear]

With at least 3 days of being hut-bound to look forward to, we addressed the practicalities. We had about a tonne of firewood under cover, lots of beer, the remains of the single malt, some less expensive scotch and some red wine, lots of tobacco (etc), coffee and other incidentals.

We had bought a shoulder of pork (boneless). Hans set about preparing it, with lots of garlic and herbs and spices. (Hans may want to give out some recipe secrets for this one). It was then caged and hung in the fireplace for 24 hours of smoking. A perfect slab of meat – sweet, tender, melt in the mouth inside and with crispy, crunchy bits on the outside. Bloody delicious, and it did a couple of meals.



We also had a bag of Dutch Cream potatoes – these have a creamy, buttery yellow flesh. They boil well with seasonings and roast well and mash well and … by golly they are good, hot or cold. With the pork we had some wrapped in foil and cooked in the ashes. Salted, peppered and dressed with too much butter they are really something to write home about.

And of course, there is the old standby for situations like this – bacon and eggs. Here, perfectly poached eggs on toast with lightly fried mushrooms and grilled bacon with just the right amount of crispness. Mmmmmmm.



In the meantime, Hans was soaking a batch of chick peas in preparation for making a stew. More about this later.

While the wind howled outside we kept the fire raging and pottered about, rearranging the furniture to our liking, setting up a useful kitchen and washup area. Both of us read ‘The Road’ (now a major motion picture) and felt smugly warm and fortunate. I even wrote an analogue letter to my sister. I hope the shock hasn’t killed her. We washed clothes and enjoyed whatever sunshine there was with walks and more exploring.



We were also planning what we would do when the mud dried sufficiently to permit escape.

More later …