Since we were in Canberra and we needed another set of brake pads as I only had enough for 1.5 bikes we headed out to Fyshwick the super store capital of Australia. I know you may be thinking it but we went to Pushy’s bike warehouse – not those other warehouses Fyshwick is renowned for (at least that’s what a family blog will represent). Pushy’s is a massive bike store and we ended up walking out with brake pads and a whole lot of other bits and bobs.

Just down the road we called in at the Fyshwick Chemist Warehouse to get some stuff and would you believe across the road was the Canberra Centre (DFO like warehouse). So a quick wiz around the Canberra Centre and Sharon managed to bag a really nice top for half of half of the marked price. A quick coffee and a nibble to eat at the bakery and we headed for Cooma down the highway.

I missed a right exit and had to do a bit of round the block work to recover, took for ever. Some time before we reached Cooma we came across the Canberra Gliding club and watched a tow plane take a couple of gliders up and release them. There were already 4 in the air and it was something a bit different to see.

Cooma has the snowy Mountains Discovery Centre and we headed in for a look. I popped in for a look inside and then after a bit of mucking around getting the truck parked so the bikes did not stick out too far Sharon came back and said everyone was leaving because they were about to close. Missed that one. We soon found out that everything in Cooma shuts at 2PM on a Saturday afternoon so we fueled up at the shell and headed out of a very shut town.

We made it as far as Berridale 30KM short of Jindabyne for lunch at 3:30PM, late even by our standards when traveling for lunch. Jindabyne is right on the lake at one end and some great views on the way in. The caravan park had a new booking system and they struggled a bit to get us booked in but site 7 it eventualy was and we headed down onto a nice grassed area directly on the lake edge but up on a bank. For some unknown reason we setup on site 5 and had to change our site which was no problem as everybody is on powered sites, we are unpowered here and have a much better view than they do.

I set to work on the bikes that were so caked with mud and grime you could not tell what colour they were in places. Two bikes washed, cleaned, oiled and adjusted. Three sets of new brake pads installed and my job was finally done. After tea I went for a quick ride around the lake edge to bed in my new pads. Riding in plastic crocks on clip in pedals is interesting, no power at all as the sole flexes and the contact point keeps slipping. The feeble flashing head light did not do much either to show the way. There was some lighting but very difficult to navigate. Large bugs kept hitting me in the face as well.

Yum yum – lamb steaks and a nice salad outside

Tomorrow we will start to explore the Jindabyne trails just over the dam wall a short ride from here. The guy at Tathra gave it great wraps so we will see what happens. Supposed to be 26 in Cooma tomorrow so pretty warm here as well. We are also hoping to cycle to the highest legal point you can take a bicycle in Australia, stay tuned for that one.