A glorious morning, if a little chilly, a group of 8 riders and one pillion, Lesley, headed off through the Nasho, very steadily I might add, OHP, Appin Rd and Broughton Pass to Menangle via Morton Park Rd. This road never fails to disappoint me, it just gets rougher. A wide range of bike types, Tunnels leading on a GS, TT on his newish Honda, BM Bullfrog, Brad on the little Yammy 2 stroke (cough, cough), The Smits doubled up on the Triumph, a Ducati Multi Spasm rider, Titanic (no just a Goldwing) and Chainsaw on the KTM. The Menangle Post Office was our destination. It’s always good for a nice hot coffee and cake but it’s history is worth talking about. A cornerstone of the Menangle District, home of the earliest wheat and sheep farming in Australia, since its opening in 1904 it’s served variously as a general store, stock and station agent, post office, craft shop and café, sometimes overlapping between uses.
Menangle is an Aboriginal word that actually means ‘Place of many swamps’ and it was applicable to the area up until the Waterboard built the four dams in the region, and the Upper Canal that links them all the way from that catchment to the Prospect Reservoir. That is 44 klms of open canals, 19 klms of tunnels and 1 klm of aqueducts moving the water by gravity alone. Over that entire distance it only drops 50 metres in height, a fantastic achievement over, under, and through difficult terrain. Not bad for 1880, but I suppose you’re about to remind me of the Romans, “but what have they ever done for us?” you ask.
After mornos we headed up over Razorback, into Picton, and home via Maldon, Wilton, etc with various adventurers on the way pulling off to head home. It was great to be out on the road again, and I even gave the heated handgrips a try. Too hot, or maybe I’m just not used to them!
Tunnels
