Ardlethan to Coolamon

I ended up having a pretty poor breakfast (Dare iced coffee and a chicken satay pie) from the small supermarket because that was the only thing open. I was just finishing breakfast when the cafe started to come to life. Oh well. It was quite cold and I left town with three layers on. It never warmed up from 4 degrees for the entire morning.

Unfortunately the first six kilometres are along the Newell Highway and the shoulder on the road is pretty poor so I just rode as fast as I could to get it over with. Being overtaken by three B-doubles nose to tail is not exactly pleasant. After I turned off the highway I stopped to warm up and put on another layer.

After that the road was quite good to Coolamon, mostly flat through a mix of grazing and croplands with quite a good surface. Coming into Coolamon there are a couple steeper pinches but since I had plenty of spare battery I just kicked the assistance up a notch. The Coolamon Motel is modern with well appointed spacious rooms and friendly staff. Got the washing done then headed out to see the town.

Of a weekend, Coolamon rocks with day trippers from Wagga, Temora, Griffith, Cootamundra etc. They come for the cafes, the craft and antique shops, the galleries and so on. There are even two or three museums. On Mondays, not so much. Nearly everything was closed but the "Synergy Wine and Cheese" cafe was open. Has a cheese platter of  local cheese, a couple of glasses of durif and a coffee.

The only option for dinner was Chinese at the local club but I decided to pass on that since I had a late (and large) lunch. The grand-looking New Coolamon Hotel which is next door to the motel has just been sold, the pokie licences moved to Newcastle and it is feared that it will never reopen.