Corowa to Burrumbuttock to Yerong Creek

Corowa to Burrumbuttock = 57km
Free camping behind the town hall
Burrumbuttock to Yerong Creek = 65km
Camping at the sports field - $10 unpowered
Cummulative totals = 409km and 20,410km

Well it seems there is NO mobile internet reception at all in country NSW .... obviously they are paying out too much in their dividends and not enough in infrastructure ... or are they waiting for the government to do the infrastructure for them and then plead 'for the sake of a national business give us the new infrastructure free' and then get 'fat' off the government infrastructure? Telstra leave alot to be desired!
So where do I start?  Let's try the day from Corowa to Burrumbuttock (funny name aye!)

As you can see Kouta is doing his morning stretches!
It was a very cloudy day and not really that warm unless you kept moving.  We left Corowa and took the road up to the Riverina highway, we were on this hwy for 1km and then turned off onto Hopefield road ... now this according to all the maps is a minor road so we were expecting a single lane instead we got a road that was wider than the highway!  Both sides of the road had been widened to allow for the countless trucks that they may be expecting at some point ... when? ... who knows.  It was just us on the road with the odd local farmer moving some stock every now and then.  We were on this road until the turnoff to Balldale ... as soon as we got on this road it was more the road typical of NSW - in complete disrepair and hasn't been used by anyone (even the locals) until now by us!!!

It was in a bad way but ridable and it was enjoyable to ride simply because there were absolutely no cars what so ever!
Once thru Balldale we continued on to Brocklesby ... now when I first mapped this out via the maps of Camp 5 this road was fully sealed but unfortunately on every other map there was a section of around 7km that was unsealed, we tackled this just after a cuppa.
The views around us a quite nice ... alot of hills which means we must be encountering some soon!  We can see from the side of the road the region around Mt Beauty (although we can't see it exactly we know these hills are part of that region)

The unsealed part wasn't too bad, a bit rough in places but okay.  Once at Brocklesby we (well Neil) had a chat to one of the locals who was saying how the small towns of the region are dying (which I think you will find is happening to most small towns all over Australia).  In the local part they had this fantastic table that I wish I could take and send home ...

It is only another 13km from Brocklesby to Burrumbuttock and the bulk of it is up hill.  This is probably our first major climb and like most places in Australia it is up and down to go up.  It was bit of shock to the legs but they survived.  Once at the top it is a 2km down to Burrumbuttock.  The place to stay at is behind the town hall where they have water and toilets.  Lovely and quiet.

At Burrumbuttock there is no internet reception so we weren't sure  on the weather as it rained during the night.  Once at Burrumbuttock it was a little chilly and I felt like some hot chips so the local store has nothing but lollies and takeaways that we got the minimum chips for $3

In the morning the rain had cleared and on the news it said that there might be scattered showers but generally clear so we set off .
Yesterday we had no wind but today to Yerong Creek we were expecting stronger winds that will probably be on our shoulder or in front of us .... fortunately we are on back roads for the majority of todays ride except for the last 14km ... we are on the Olympic highway.
So the day started out with a gentle climb up and down to Walla Walla which is 13km away from there we take the Walbundrie road for 9km and come out on the Walbundrie - Culcairn road.  But not long after we started on this Walbundrie road we come across a road that wasn't on the map and was pointing to Walbundrie so we were in a dilemna as to whether or not to take it ... we decided that we won't and stay on the road we were on ... just as well as Neil found bit of a road kill (literally right next to a dead kangaroo!)  It was an unopened box of 10 Moccona Cappacino packets so we had them for morning cuppa

We continued on our way and by now the wind was swinging around to an easterly and since we are going in a north easterly direction it became a sort of cross headwind and it was like this all the way to Henty where we picked up dinner and from there is was a miserable 14km ride along the awful Olympic highway with a raging headwind for the bulk of it.
Unfortunately there is no other back road around so we had no other choice but to come onto this highway.  It is busy and a shoulder that is not worth mentioning.  Yerong creek couldn't come fast enough.
Camping is allowed at the sports ground which is about 700m east of the main highway.  It has powered sites but unpowered is $10, not bad as it has a real unique shower ...

it is in a tin building (so it is a little warm in there) and there are 2 showers side by side ... not sure if it is a his and hers type thing but you can lock it from the inside and have the whole thing to yourself.  There is no one else here camping with us.  The hot shower was much appreciated since I didn't get one last night.  While I recover from my hard days ride in the shower, Kouta recovers from his ordeal .... his way ...

After Neil has had his shower we dig into some mark down semidried tomatoes (not as good as yours Leanne and Russell!) and fetta on crackers with our cuppa.

Tonights dinner is poached eggs on bread!