June 10th Narrandera to Wagga-day 1 of 3 days

We took the back road from Narrandera to Wagga along the side of the river and enjoyed some very scenic views on the way. (Including a bridge with gates!)

We had time to stop at the tourist information, where we caught up with the Radfords and Aylwin, Sarah, Emily and Meredith.

Heading out early to the event meant we had plenty of time to register Erica for an enter on the day short hard course before the spots ran out.

It was a nice undulating native forest course with granite outcrops.  Mostly not too bad underfoot, and not too steep.  We enjoyed a lovely sunny day after early rain and the temp was about 17, so ideal for running.

There were mixed results for SA , with Andrew Kennedy winning his 21 AS  course, Angus 2nd on 20 elite, Bridget and Simon  and Paul H also all second.
There were a number of courses with controls very close together in a line, which tempted runners into missing controls if they were not careful.

Trevor's Course

Erica's course

After lovely hot showers we met up with some of the other SA crowd at one of the local clubs for dinner, which was great.

Adelaide to Narrandera-on the way to Wagga Wagga June 9th 2017

A long day on the road -covering a little over 800 km. plenty long enough for us. We had intended to share the driving, but in the end Trevor (who is always more comfortable at the wheel) did it all. We took regular breaks , had some good conversation and started listening to a book on CD too.

First stop was Lameroo, where we put the thermos to good use, having our first travel cuppa from the back of the car. Then we went and located a cache at the lake. Who knew that there was a lake at Lameroo?? After this little break we were on our way again.

We sucked up the km along the black top for another couple of hours, passing over the Vic border just past Pinnaroo, and stopping for lunch at the Ouyen bakery along with half the nation. Here we met up with Andrew Kennedy along with his young passengers Toby, Angus and Nick who were also partaking of the local produce and heading towards the orienteering at Wagga.

Chatting future plans, we crossed in to NSW at the old opening bridge between Piangil and Tooleybuc, and headed across the plains for Hay. Here we had the impression of small white flowers growing along the edge of the road. Open irrigation channels were also visible, and we realised that the white was water sucking cotton, which must have drifted over from the nearby crops and stuck on the roadside weeds. There are a number of roadside stops along this stretch, some with toilet facilities. None are exciting, but at least they give the opportunity it to break up the drive. We made use of one for another cuppa.

On the last leg of the trip we passed through Hay and on to Narrandera, where we had booked at an airbnb.  Our very friendly and chatty hosts made us welcome and we heard a bit about their time living in Brazil and the workings of the local hospital(Carole is an RN).

Our home for the night