High Country Raid, Day Two, Corowa to Tallangatta

 

Sandy Creek Bridge

Opium Poppy

Lunch at Wodonga

Steve stops for a photo op, Wodonga

Rutherglen

Rail trail near Rutherglen

Chiltern panorama

Chiltern

Chris

Chris

Chiltern

 

 

 

On Monday all us riders were up early. It was a slow start for the town of Corowa as it was a New South Wales public holiday. We were up at six a.m. and met Michael at a cafe at about seven a.m. We did this every day -  for the rest of the tour, Michael would linger a bit longer in the cafe and then catch us up on the road.

 Our route took us over a bridge into Victoria, then along a rail trail to rather Rutherglen, and on through quiet bitumen and gravel roads to Chiltern. Then it was on to Wodonga via back roads with several roads running parallel to the Hume Freeway. At one point we crossed and the freeway via a very rough track. We passed within a kilometre or so of the Sheathers Road go-kart track where several OzHPV challenges had been held in the early 2000s. We then went past the new railway station via back roads to the center of Wodonga for lunch at the old railway station, which has been converted to shops and cafes. Chris is a gourmet vegetarian and was delighted to buy a pumpkin pie for lunch which he ritually photographed. The map I had photocopied for navigation through Wodonga was from 2002 and was so old that it still showed the old railway station as current.

After lunch we were on familiar territory for me, and headed out on the Wodonga to Tallangatta rail trail. The highlight of this stretch is the Sandy Creek Bridge, one of the best repurposed railway bridges in Victoria. Chris found some wild opium poppies growing next to the trail and pointed them out to us. Soon we were in Tallangatta. There was a short wait for the hotel to open but after that we settled in for the night into the old style hotel accommodation. Dinner that night was at the pub and it was fairly quiet with only about 10 or so in the pub. Soon after dinner we headed off for bed.