When you are not allowed to ride, take a Road Trip Day 1 of 6.

Day 1 Sutherland NSW to Cowra NSW

So, post op, I am not allowed to ride a motorcycle for 5 months due vibrations.
The unanswered questions is: is that 5 x 4 weeks or 5 calendar months?
5 Calendar months makes in an additional 2 weeks wait. So you can guess which option I am taking.

Due to the unforeseen operation, my son and I were to have ridden in the USA so instead we took the new Subaru Impreza for its first trip. 6 Days travelling through Western and South Western New South Wales, over the border into Victoria to find and drive 'The Great Ocean Road'. Through Melbourne onto Phillip Island then the east and a left turn to travel north back to Sydney.
The plan was to see at least one local landmark and one food sampling which we knew would mean buying goodies. More details in the coming stories.

Relative early start as we headed for Windsor and Richmond to journey out along the Bells line of Road. Though it was a Saturday, the traffic was relatively light and we had the opportunity to get 'the feel' for the Impreza.

You will find things to do in the Windsor / Richmond area at the Hawkesbury Tourism site.
Click here for details. Information on the Bells Line of Road can be found by clicking here.

Along the Bells Line of Road we saw Apple orchards with shops and cafes. The only major intersection is at Bell, where we stayed on the road to Lithgow. The left turn would have returned us too soon to the Great Western Highway. Details on Lithgow can be found here.

Instead of turning right at the Great Western Highway for the quickest route to Bathurst, we turned left as if returning to Sydney, then just before leaving town, we turned right and travelled through Tarana and O'Connoll. Both towns are popular stops for people doing motorcycle rides or drives to Bathurst or just stopping and enjoying a break after the pleasant backroads.

At O'Connoll we turned right and headed for Bathurst as our planned stop was Mt Panorama with the famous tourist road which becomes a racetrack in October each year. More details can be found here.

WARNING: When not being used as a racetrack, the road is a public roadway and has a speed limit of 60 kph with traffic travelling in BOTH directions. The speed limit is policed.

The start / finish is to the right of the building.

On race day we would have been travelling in the wrong direction.

Stopping at top of the mountain to walk to the lookout.

Looking towards the City of Bathurst.

The road back down the mountain.

At the entrance onto the road, there was a Motor Museum which was well worth the visit.
It contains three halls. Two of which have cars and the third motorcycles.
The Museum's website can be found here.

Just a few shots here to give you a rough idea of what to see if you did visit the above weblink.

The first of three halls. Cars.

The second hall. Motorcycles of all types plus sidecars.

The third hall. Cars.

So you know what they look like when not hiding.

After exploring the Museum we returned to the road and the first night's stop at Cowra.

It was suggested we stop in at Carcoar with was great advice as we discovered some little treasures.
The Bed and Breakfast, 'Stoke House' was once a hotel was recently the accommodation for the stars in the mini series, 'Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door'. I had to do an inspection and the 4 rooms have been fully refurbished with all having private facilities. There are 2 rooms on the ground floor and 2 upstairs with communal lounge areas on both floors but the balcony at the front looked like a great place to mellow out and watch this little part of the world go by. To add the the now Peter Allen content of our journey, there was view across the road to the Saddlery which was used in the Mini Series. There is a picture below.

At back of the Stoke House is a tea house, Teapots Cafe where I had to try their Devonshire Tea. No disappointment here. Details of Stoke House and Teapots Cafe can be found here.