Day 3. Thursday, 2 March 2023. Jingellic to Lake Hume Weir

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Nb2: Click on photos to enlarge.

Special Announcement

Special -K (below) has been booted off the ride for cereal misbehavior.

She has been replaced by Kaybie (below).

So now we have Faybie and Kaybie with us and hope this doesn't lead to any confusion.

Another fine day's riding along the Murray River on the aptly named Murray River Rd.  The weather was cool enough for arm warmers and the occasional jacket but these were soon discarded.  We travelled 93 km to Lake Hume with just over 900m of climbing.  

Antonio and Ganners were ready nice and early. 

 Then we were all waiting around

 for Chalkie to arrive. 

 Part of his good behaviour bond was that he spend the night in the local jail.... and he was well locked away,much to everyone's relief.

Eventually he shuffled up and we were all good to go, once again.

The first scenic stop revealed the hills and valleys

we saw all day along the ride ... 

while the low-lying cloud reminded us that it was still rather chilly.

Off once again but we never got far before Farmer Brown and his cows brought us to a screaming halt,

as they completely blocked the road.

This held us up for a good half-hour as they mooed and pooed their way across the road,

a friendly reminder of which we found at the end of the day

stuck all along our down tube.

Once we were moving again it was full bore to morning tea at Thologolong (say that 12 times without stopping) ..... and our first disappointment of the day.  Not a coffee shop or bakery or general store to be seen (Organisation???).  We were reduced to setting up a crude help yourself affair

 at the monument to the (allegedly) famous Murray Greys.  No-one from the west had ever heard of them.

This old pair seemed to be enjoying themselves under their rather swanky headgear:

No sooner had we taken off again after morning tea than we came across a herd of the allegedly famous Murray Greys munching away contentedly,

looking every bit like they were enjoying their idyllic lifestyle with wonderful views along the Murray River and to the mountains beyond.

Such juicy-looking steaks on the hoof naturally made us think of lunch and how fortuitous that soon after we arrived at the designated lunch stop.

WRONG

Major stuff-up of the day.  Pub not open and not looking like it would be in the foreseeable future.  Just as we were looking around for alternative sources of food - and this little fellow 

looked like he might fit the bill, Chalkie called us all together for a meeting and explained

that the hotel owner was watching us from her house and she had sent him a text telling us to 'p***' off immediately from her pub or she would get the police onto us.  The mention of the constabulary had Chalkie shaking in his riding shoes so it was straight back onto the road looking for another lunch spot.  We found nothing but eventually came to the Bell Bridge

taking us over the Murray River and back into NSW.

A dramatic change of atmosphere was immediately apparent and the taint of corruption hung heavy in the air, but try as we might, we could find no places to buy food.  Eventually, exhausted, we collapsed

on the riverbank.  Cockie passed out completely, suffering from stomach cramps and extreme hunger deprivation.

We made it finally to Lake Hume Caravan Park and settled in to our cosy little cabins

overlooking the lake.

Once organised Grand Pooh Bah Chalkie called us together and in his usual aggressive style was into us straight away 

with a long list of supposed transgressions us ignorant riders from the west had committed.  Did he mention or apologise for his stuff-up at morning tea?  No sirree.  Did he comment on his abject failure to provide a lunch venue?  Not even a mention.  Kaybie had had enough and asked SASMan for a stiff drink.  When he asked what she wanted, she said

"Surprise me, baby".

Antonio (who no spikka mucha di Inglese) tried to explain to Kaybie that it was highly unusual in Italia to fall asleep with a drink in both hands!  But who could really blame her after an hour of listening to the Grasnd Pooh Bah rabbitting on.

Eventually we made our way to the lovely Woolshed Hotel

for dinner.  Ms Twinkletoes was very keen to order dinner after a long day's riding, and managed to spill half her drink all over the table.

And so ended day 3 and we all look forward to a shorter ride tomorrow to Corowa.

Helpful Driver/Selfish Rider Award
Name	Kms ridden day	Total kms ridden	Name	Kms ridden day	Total kms ridden
Antonio	93	161	Ms Tradie	58	89
Chalkie	93	161	Ms Twinkletoes	58	126
Cockie	93	130	PubServ	93	161
Faybie	35	103	SASMan	58	89
Ganners	93	161	Twinkletoes	93	130
Kaybie	35	72

The above are the kms ridden in our search for the award winners in the Helpful Driver and Selfish Rider categories.