84.54km / 4:39:22 / 903m / 21.0°C

One does not simply ride over the mountains through Wee Jasper to Tumut … so plan B, or Z, take two days and go around, staying with family – I had hoped to ride from Canberra to Jugiong today, then Jugiong to Tumut tomorrow, but there’s no accommodation I can find at Jugiong and there is family at Bowning

Breakfast was a pastry from the bakery, then off up alongside the Barton Highway, a detour through Hall and an explosion of kangaroos from alongside the road. Rejoin the highway for a while, then detour off down a side road to bypass Murrumbatemen and take me all the way to Yass, Dog Trap Road has such an evocative road and had me suddenly feeling miles away from the city. I was also popping in and out of phone connectivity, which was annoying as I was trying to get in touch with a potential #warmshowers guest who had emailed asking to stay at our house tonight! Finally did get in touch and he’d had another offer, so no extra sorting out required

An early lunch in Yass, had to chase up my coffee as the order got way-laid, a gift for my hosts for the night, then out of town up to the north and curve around to take my back to Bowning without having to touch the Hume … I wonder how long I can avoid it tomorrow? Bowning was very quiet, the pub closed and with no indication of its opening hours, the old railway station claimed to be “Private Residence”, but abandoned and with broken windows. I sat around in the shade for a while then rode the short way out of town to my niece’s place and had a very enjoyable snooze under the trees while waiting for them to get home from their afternoon out

Broken clouds, 10°C, Feels like 10°C, Humidity 91%, Wind 1m/s from ENE - by Klimat