Western Sculpture Tour – 6 days, 7 nights

Welcome to Sydney!

Sydney is the not only the oldest but is the largest city in Australia and is one of the world's most vibrant and famous cities. It's famed for the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.Check into your accommodation in the heart of the city and we will meet you at the Welcome Dinner. This will give you an opportunity to get to know your fellow riders on the tour. We will also go over the tour details including a review of the itinerary and safe group riding practices.

Day 1 – Sydney to South Bowenfels – 140 km (87 miles)

Today is our first ride day. We will meet you in the lobby of the hotel and load your luggage in the support vehicle. You will then board the shuttle to the bike hire office. Once everyone has completed their paperwork it's time to hit the road.Our first stop is at a wildlife park on the outskirts of Sydney where you will have a chance to meet some of Australia's native animals, including koalas, kangaroos, dingos, and the kookaburra.We will then start riding up into the UNESCO World-Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park, stopping at Echo Point in Katoomba. Here you will ride the world's steepest passenger railway and get to take in the breath-taking sights of the Three Sisters rock formation, the spectacular sandstone cliffs that rise out from the Jamison Valley, and Mount Solitary, the only mountain that sits within the valley.

Day 2 – South Bowenfels to Cowra – 183 km (114 miles)

The motor sport fans among you will enjoy the first leg of our ride, we make our way into Bathurst and ride a lap of the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit, known as the spiritual home of Australian motor sport. The track is a public road so we need to stick to the speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour (37 miles per hour) but it still awesome to ride the 6.2 kilometre (3.8 miles) track. If there is not much traffic there we may be able to get a group photo lined up across the finish line!We spend the morning riding through the central west region of New South Wales, visiting Australia’s largest Japanese Garden and the historical and thought-provoking site of a former Prisoner of War Camp Site.

Day 3 – Cowra to Condobolin – 193 km (120 miles)

Today is sculpture day! After a short ride through some of the central New South Wales farmlands we stop for morning tea at a cute little coffee house that showcases locally sourced food. The next 100 kilometre stretch of road is a public art trail and we will spend some time stopping at many of the amazing sculptures created by some of Australia’s leading artists. At the end of the trail we will find Australia’s answer to Route 66’s Cadillac Ranch.

Day 4 – Condobolin to Parkes – 220 km (137 miles)

We continue riding through the western plains of New South Wales and visit an old open cut gold mine that only ceased production and closed in 2002. Here we will get to see some of the original gold working dating back to the 1890’s. The next highlight being a visit to "The Dish", the Parkes Observatory, which was one of several radio telescopes used to receive the live television images of man landing on the moon in 1969. It is nick-named "The Dish" which is also the name of an Australian movie released in 2000 telling the story of the telescopes role in broadcasting the first moon landing.

Day 5 – Parkes to Denman – 347 km (216 miles)

We spend today exploring the history of early Australian settlement, starting with a visit to a museum dedicated to the life and times of Australia's favourite poet, Banjo Paterson.Our lunch stop today is in a renovated cottage on the Red Hill Mining Precinct where gold was first found in 1870. The discovery of gold here began what has often been described as ‘the last of the poor man’s gold rushes’.The next stop today is at a beautiful sandstone building built in about 1870 which is still a prominent landmark in the town and features some interesting displays of memorabilia and historical artefacts.

Day 6 – Denman to Sydney – 274 km (170 miles)

Our final run back to Sydney takes us down one of our favourite motorcycling roads, the Putty Road, which features not only long scenic straights but also every type of corner, from switchbacks to sweeping bends and everything in between.Once in Sydney we will drop the bikes off and we will shuttle you back to the hotel in Sydney. The last activity of the tour is the Farewell Dinner where we can re-live our trip and exchange details with the new friends that we have just shared the road with for the last 6 days.