As a result of an early 6.00am start, in near freezing conditions, I cycled passed the Peko Gold Mine in the dark. All the cars that had passed me during the previous 30 or so minutes must have been the early morning shift at the mine.
My headlight was working again and I appeared to be making good pace. Although there were hills on the way to Mt Hope the construction engineers seemed to have designed the road for this ‘trikist’. That is, there were generally slow inclines that enabled me to keep a reasonable speed going up and achieve reasonable down-hill runs.
189 to Hillston for petrol. Not sure why this sign couldn't have been located 60kms earlier at Cobar and read 250 to next petrol?
Once daylight emerged this stretch of road appeared familiar and I recognised particular landscape features and anticipated others, and then there was the Sandy Creek bridge. I had attended it’s opening and witnessed the smoking ceremony that was part of the occasion. This stretch, the creek crossing and 100m or so on either approach, was the last stretch of the Kidman Way to be sealed, possibly a year or two after the rest of the highway was sealed in 1999. Just past the Sandy Creek bridge was this turnoff 36km to Nymagee. Unfortunately, boys with guns wanted to make their impressions on the sign too. 
The Gilgunnia rest stop was as I remembered it, commemorating a small gold mining settlement where gold mining went to 330 feet underground and involved around 1000 miners in its hey day.
Part of the attraction for me to this stretch of the Kidman Way is the magnificent landscape. Significant partly forested hills are vertical features that have been grazed. Some vistas show a clean cut line in the foliage under the trees on top of hills where the under story has been grazed by cattle/sheep and probably wild goats to a consistent height.
You can frequently see the wild introduced goats on the road ahead. They appear in good condition and in many combinations of colour. I understand that they are rounded up from time to time for live export to the Middle East.
I knew in advance that the Royal Hotel at Mt Hope had no spare accommodation – occupied by drilling crews working in the surrounding hills – and was prepared to camp the night adjacent to the Hotel and as it happened under a weeping willow.
Given the recent increases in the price of gold it comes as no surprise that these drilling crews have been sent in to help re-evaluate the mineral deposits in the area.
I forgot to include my trike in this picture of the Royal Hotel but if you look closely you will see my breakfast cooking utensils on the table to the left of the hotel entrance for an early breakfast before the hotel was opened by Mick the publican.
He and his partner run long hours with very limited assistance and who can blame them for not opening before 8.00am on a Saturday morning.
PS. I had a good meal at the Royal Hotel Mt Hope on Friday night.
