March 24th, 2011
Yass to Wee Jasper
Distance: 63km
Total distance: 575km
Woke up at about 7.30am but it was raining, so I sat in the tent for a good 30 mins deciding whether I should stay for another night at Yass or leave for Wee Jasper. There isn’t much to do in Yass if it’s going to rain for the whole day, so might as well I use the day to do some productive distance. Packed my tent and left at about 10am, in the rain. After about 7.5km of riding, I was glad I decided to leave because the rain stops and came the sunshine! But this didn’t last, for the rest of the day, it was alternating rain and sunshine. A confusing weather indeed, but not enough to stop me from getting to Wee Jasper!
So what is this fuss about Wee Jasper? From what I gathered, Wee Jasper is a small village and hava a few public reserve where camp sites are available. It is away from major townships and highways and a beautiful river cuts through the village. I have a thing for camping in the wilderness so this is probably the nearest I can get in this region without going too far away from civilisation.
The road into Wee Jasper from Yass was quite pleasant despite the weather. There were some hills but not much traffic on the road, I see one car in every 15 mins on average. Naturally, I put on my headphones and listen to my iPod. Well, its not recommended and illegal for cyclist to use headphone but there were so few cars the risk was minimal. On roads with greater traffic, its important to listen to oncoming cars so that I can move to the edge of the road to allow the cars to safely pass me, this applies more so for passing trucks.
Just when I was about to reach the campsite, I saw a double rainbow! The lower one was ultra bright, it was simply gorgeous! Some of you may be reminded of the double rainbow guy on youtube video but I can partly understand his reaction. Photos really don’t do justice. Anyway, that itself made my day, it was a very rare sight indeed.
When I reached the campsite, there was no one at the reception/office. It was raining heavily so I took shelter at the BBQ and playground area. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. I wasn’t feeling comfortable with the idea of staying in a campsite all by myself. I remembered reading that there were hot shower facilities at the campsite and I didn’t see any around. I waited for the rain to subside and continued riding further into the reserve, and there I saw 3 vehicles, yay! The shower and toilets were there too. This is where the real campsite is. I quickly set up my tent as soon as the rain stopped momentarily. The campsite is just next to the Goodradigbee River, and I set up my tent as far from the river as possible. With this kind of rain, there’s a good possibility that the river may rise. It was a shame that it was raining, this is quite a beautiful campsite and the river looks nice. I learnt that the river is popular for trout fishing.
After I set up my tent, I took a nice hot shower and rest in my tent for the rest of the evening since I can’t do anything outside with the ongoing rain. I was looking forward to have an early sleep but the loud and noisy cockatoos prevented that.
The rainbow! beautiful!
add oil! pick more apples!