Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 008 - Woodburn to Byron Bay

Day:  008

Date: Thursday, 09 July 2020

Start:  Woodburn

Finish:  Byron Bay

Daily Kilometres:  72

Total Kilometres:  799

Weather:  Cool and dry early with a heavy shower around lunchtime then mild and mostly overcast with more rain later in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Muffins

  Lunch:  Ham, cheese & tomato roll/Chicken pesto roll

  Dinner:  Nachos/Nachos fries, Cheesecake/Apple turnover

Aches:  I'm still a bit saddle sore.

Highlight:  Our late afternoon walk around Cape Byron.  It started out very wet as we walked along the beach from our hostel, but the rain cleared and we were treated to spectacular views in all directions from various lookouts along the hilly trail that wound through leafy rainforest and also passed the lighthouse.  We also took some selfies at Australia's easternmost point.

Lowlight:  The first 20km of the morning from Woodburn along the Pacific Highway with narrow edges and lots of trucks wasn't much fun.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our motel room was very basic and very close to the highway, but despite the constant sense that an 18-wheeler was about to come through the wall, we both slept well.  Our gear dried somewhat, but was still damp when we donned it and set off at 7am.  The road was still wet, but happily the rain had stopped and it wasn't too cold.

The first 20km on the highway was quite busy and we were glad of the cloud cover because we were riding directly into the rising sun which would have made us difficult to see for vehicles approaching from behind.  It was a relief, after an hour, to turn off the highway to follow a much quieter river road and we celebrated by having a breakfast stop by the river and eating the muffins we had purchased in Woodburn as we left.

The river road was very quiet, with the huge Richmond River, flowing steadily seawards to our left and pastures and sugar cane plantations to our right.  There were some impressive houses along the way and many had set up little al fresco benches and fishing perches across the road right on the river's edge.  The journey was tinged with a little sadness knowing that two days earlier a 17yo girl had drowned after her car failed to take a bend on the road and plunged into the river.

We crossed the river on the Burns Point Ferry with local commuters in their cars (safe to assume they all had season passes, since we were the only ones who seemed to pay for the crossing …. $1 each!) and were soon cycling through the busy regional town of Ballina.  On the other side of town we found the 15km coastal bike path to Lennox Head which passed beautiful beaches and lookouts and wended its way through leafy foreshore forests.  Very pleasant.

We had a quick run from Lennox Head to Suffolk, despite some taxing undulations, and found the Lauren-recommended bakery to buy some rolls for an early lunch (and some vanilla slices for later).  Our timing was perfect, because it started to rain, becoming very heavy at one point, as we sheltered under the bakery's verandah and ate our lunch.  The place was busy with holiday-makers, so it was a bit sad for them that it was such a grey day, though clearly it hadn't stopped some from spending time in the surf.

From there it was a busy 6km into the fabled Byron Bay and we arrived at our booked hostel (accommodation very scarce in Byron during school vacation) about 12:45pm, hoping we could get an early check-in.  Alas, the office didn't open until 3pm, so we parked our bikes by the pool where we could see them and killed a few hours at a nearby table under shelter, surrounded by 20-something year old backpackers, eating, socialising, smoking and playing cards.  I fitted right in.

At 3pm, we checked into our room (shared facilities), changed and went for a walk along the Byron Bay beach and around Cape Byron and the lighthouse (see above).  Despite the gloomy weather, the views were great and we made a point of visiting the most easterly point in Australia.  Originally, when planning this trip, we had hoped to visit all of the cardinal compass point extremes of the Australian mainland.  Because we have to wait until the Queensland border opens (tomorrow), we have less time than originally hoped, so may not make it to all points, but at least we have hit the first.

On our way back from the walk, we passed through the Byron Bay shopping area, which was buzzing with holiday-makers, and had dinner at a Mexican chain restaurant before buying some dessert at a nearby bakery and returning to our hostel, which was also buzzing.  After last night's 18-wheelers failed to keep us awake, I doubt partying backpackers will be a problem tonight.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 007 - Woolgoolga to Woodburn

Day:  007

Date: Wednesday, 08 July 2020

Start:  Woolgoolga

Finish:  Woodburn

Daily Kilometres:  148

Total Kilometres:  727

Weather:  Cool and overcast all day.  Occasional drizzle in the morning and steady light rain in the afternoon

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Choc chip muffins

  Lunch:  Egg & salad sandwich/Chicken salad roll, Lime milkshake/Chocolate thickshake

  Dinner:  Hamburgers with the lot & chips, ice creams.

Aches:  Both are a bit saddle sore.  Today, it was my turn to have a cleat miscalculation and I now have some thigh gravel rash to remind me to be more careful.  Julie's quadriceps tendon became sore again in the afternoon.  We were very grateful to friend and sports medico/cyclist, Dr Jon, for calling Julie last night to discuss her tendinopathy and we were hopeful that a rest day yesterday and some suggested exercises would do the job.  It did for the first 100km, but became sore in the afternoon.  Julie denies it is a problem …..she "can still pull up with that leg, but just not push down!"

Highlight:  Following a little-used road along the north shore of the Clarence River south arm, that passed through green pastures (some with newborn lambs), sugar cane plantations, and small villages that had seen busier days.

Lowlight:  The long slog eastwards after lunch for 52km along the busy, and under construction, freeway from Maclean to Woodburn in continuous light rain.  Bedraggled would be the best word to describe our condition on arrival at our (very) budget motel.  But at least the much-needed shower was nice and hot.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We got up at 6am, laundered and hung our used sheets and towels (the neighbour will kindly retrieve them), and were riding at 7:20am.  At one point, we had hoped to meet with friends, Neil & Jeanine, who intended to travel south from Grafton where they were staying and meet us somewhere along the way.  However, our need to make good time today, along with the inclement weather, eventually made it impractical.

So that we can reach Queensland on the day their border opens (Friday), and have a half day off in Byron Bay en route, it made sense for us to have a long day today.  I had booked a scarce motel room in Woodburn, 140km away via the freeway, so we were keen to get some early kilometres under our belt.  We joined the freeway a little north of Woolgoolga, and soon were climbing away from the coast on a series of long gradual hills in gloomy but dry conditions.

After the climb, the temperature dropped and there was occasional drizzle, but there was also a light tailwind and we made good time.  Along the way, we were tooted by a passing Queensland-registered car which I learned later, via text message, was driven by the son of a running friend, Martin, back on the Central Coast.  Small world.

Disappointingly, we found that cyclists were prohibited from using the new freeway that bypassed Grafton which meant a few more kilometres were going to be added to our already-long day.  Soon after, we stopped at a highway rest stop for breakfast, entertained by some very persistent birds that were keen to get some of our muffins.

When we resumed, rather than follow the highway into Grafton, we took a shortcut bypass I remembered from a previous trip that took us along a very quiet rural road, passing farms, farmers out doing various jobs (who wished us "g'day"), and a few kangaroos for good measure.  Very pleasant.  That feeling ended when we rejoined the Old Pacific Highway at the little Clarence River town of Ulmarra and we didn't much enjoy cycling on the very narrow road edge being closely passed by trucks and caravans.

After another 30 minutes, we left the highway and crossed the south arm of the vast Clarence River at Brushgrove to follow the river eastwards. It was a beautiful ride (see above), though it began raining as we approached Maclean, our planned lunchstop.  We crossed back across the river on a long narrow bridge and found a bakery in the centre of the small town, which was clearly proud of its Scottish heritage, with various tartans wrapped around lamp-posts.  By now we were quite wet and cold, and though we had a protected outside table at the bakery, we were both cold as we ate and keen to get back on the bikes to generate some warmth.

The rain intensity increased as we rode out of town along the river a few kilometres before we crossed the river again and rejoined the freeway, which was still under construction.  Although our spirits remained good, it was a fairly miserable ride along the busy highway (see above) to Woodburn, which we reached at 4:15pm, having made good time for our 148km, despite the conditions.

We checked into our budget motel, managing to squeeze our bikes into our room as well, and savoured our hotel showers and dry warm clothes.  Later, we bought huge hamburgers for dinner from the adjacent store.  All our wet gear is spread out in the room and we are hoping the small fan heater does the job of drying everything overnight.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 006 - Woolgoolga

Day:  006

Date: Tuesday, 07 July 2020

Start:  Woolgoolga

Finish:  Woolgoolga

Daily Kilometres:  0

Total Kilometres:  579

Weather:  Cool early then mild and sunny

Accommodation:  Vacation home (kindly offered to us by Julie's friends, Kerrie and Dennis)

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Quiche & milkshake/thickshake

  Lunch:  Scrambled eggs & bacon on toast

  Dinner:  Leftover lasagne, enchiladas & vegetables, apple crumble & ice cream

Aches:  Both of us complained about aching quads on our walk around town

Highlight:  A very pleasant walk through town and up around the Woolgoolga Headland on a mild, sunny and brilliantly clear morning.  We were looking out for whales, but only managed to see kangaroos.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We took our time getting going in the morning and did a load of laundry before walking a few kilometres into the pleasant little town of Woolgoolga (known as Woopi to locals) where we bought a couple of quiches from a bakery and consumed them on a street bench in the sun watching the world go by.

We then walked up round the Woolgoolga Headland admiring the spectacular views north and south along the coast.  On the way back, we dropped in unannounced on Bo, the widow of a long ago work colleague, who I thought lived in Woolgoolga and whose address I had found in the White Pages. She was a little startled to find us on her verandah writing a note after we had tried the doorbell with no response.  After 33 years, it was not surprising that she didn't recognise me!  However, after self-identification, we were soon enjoying an animated catch-up and having a look around her beautiful coastfront home. (I had left a voicemail last night, but Bo hadn't noticed it.)

From Bo's, we walked back through town, bought a recommended milkshake/thickshake from a local cafe, a couple of new battery (not rechargeable …. too much trouble when we leave civilisation) taillights from a bike shop, and some groceries before returning to the home where we are staying to have a lazy afternoon and catch up on correspondence and some chores.

It has been an enjoyable day off, but we are ready to get back on the road tomorrow.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 005 - Macksville to Woolgoolga

Day:  005

Date: Monday, 06 July 2020

Start:  Macksville

Finish:  Woolgoolga

Daily Kilometres:  105

Total Kilometres:  579

Weather:  Cold early, then sunny and mild

Accommodation:  Vacation home (kindly offered to us by Julie's friends, Kerrie and Dennis)

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Apple danish/Chocolate cupcake

  Lunch:  Egg & lettuce roll/Chicken salad roll

  Dinner:  Lasagne, apple crumble & ice cream

Aches:  Both generally fatigued and Julie has a worrying muscle strain above her left knee (not the knee she fell on yesterday).

Highlight:  The 15km from Hungry Head to Raleigh meandered along quiet bike paths and back roads, through the picturesque riverfront village of Urunga and alongside lazy aqua rivers fringed with mangroves and green pastureland.

Lowlight:  None really

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had the good and bad of following the recommended NSW Coast Cycleway today.  The easier and faster route to our destination, Woolgoolga, would have been along the Sydney-Brisbane freeway.  The freeway is straighter, has gentler grades, a smoother surface, and a wide breakdown lane in which you can safely ride.  Very tempting.  In the end, we did all of the recommended route, apart from the last 24km north from Coffs Harbour where the recommended route closely paralleled the freeway anyway.

From our motel in Macksville we went straight onto a bike path alongside the quiet and dark Nambucca River and then followed a mix of bike paths and roads into the pretty resort of Nambucca Heads.  It was a beautiful ride, despite some solid hills in town and when we detoured to a spectacular lookout.

After a breakfast sitting in the warmth of the morning sun outside a bakery in the village's main street, we rejoined the old Pacific Highway, renamed the Ginagay Way, and paralled the freeway northwards. Although our road was quieter, it definitely had more hills, and our legs and lungs got a good workout.

We were happy to turn off that road towards Hungry Head, though there were still some hills, and soon found our way onto a quiet bike path that wended its way north to Urunga.  We took a break there to admire the beautiful waterfront which featured an inviting swimming area with crystal clear water (we could see large fish) and a long timber walkway across the estuary out to the ocean beach with breakers visible in the distance.  Over the years, I have often stopped at the pretty little rest stop on the highway at Urunga when travelling between Brisbane and Sydney, and never realised what I was missing just a kilometre or two away.

After Urunga, we crossed the Kalang River, and then rode along the very quiet Yellow Rock Road which followed an arm of the river.  It was a virtually traffic-free route that passed some ideally-situated isolated caravans, campervans and shacks that looked perfect for people wanting to live "off the grid".  Then it was back on the hilly and enervating Ginagay Way paralleling the freeway.

We finally reached our next recommended detour via Sawtell and Toormina to Coffs Harbour, but it turned out to be less interesting, busier than our earlier detours (but still hilly)  Eventually we reached the Coffs Harbour jetty, and after a brief break, rode through suburbia to a small shopping centre where we bought and ate some lunch.

After lunch, and few hundred metres riding further along the road, we visited a bike shop to buy a couple of things, including two tubes of Aussie Butt Cream (his and hers) to help with saddle soreness.  Shortly afterwards, we joined the freeway for the last leg north to Woolgoolga, which passed fairly quickly, despite some more hills.  By this time, Julie was dealing with a thigh strain that was making the hills even harder work.

At Woolgoolga, we picked up some snacks and supplies for dinner on our way to the holiday home where we had been invited to stay, and arrived there soon after 3:30pm, both feeling quite tired and looking forward to having tomorrow off.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 004 - Port Macquarie to Macksville

Day:  004

Date: Sunday, 05 July 2020

Start:  Port Macquarie

Finish:  Macksville

Daily Kilometres:  115

Total Kilometres:  474

Weather:  Very cold early with a fresh westerly breeze and sun all day

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Vanilla slice

  Lunch:  Egg & bacon sandwich, caramel slice

  Dinner:  Chilli Con Carne, Apple & sticky toffee pies

Aches:  I was conscious of my troublesome hip today and Julie has some knee grazes (see below).  Both of us were feeling quite tired this afternoon.  My lack of starting fitness and Julie's lack of biking probably explains it.

Highlight:  Eating a scrumptious vanilla slice purchased from the Crescent Head bakery (thanks for the recommendation, Lauren) while sitting in the sun on the spectacular Crescent Head foreshore watching all of the holiday-makers enjoying themselves.

Lowlight:  Twice today, poor Julie didn't manage to disengage her right foot cleat when stopping and fell heavily on her right knee and now bears some scars.  Of course, she says it's fine.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We pedalled out of Port Macquarie soon after 7am on a very cold (feels like 1°C) and sunny morning and caught the Settlement Point car ferry across the Hastings River to begin our journey north.

The mostly unsealed road initially passed through the dark and cold Limeburners Creek National Park, steam rising from the marshy forest floor.  There was negligible traffic as we followed the Maria River valley and we were able to ride in the middle of the road, choosing the line with the least potholes and corrugations, though most of the time the road wasn't too bad.  Further north, the road emerged firstly into some plantations (jojoba? …. wild guess) and then later into green grazing pastures interspersed with wetlands.  It was all low-lying and most houses were either on stilts or on built up earth mounds, presumably to deal with floods.

We reached the small beach town of Crescent Head at 10am and bought some vanilla slices for breakfast and adjourned to a park on the beach foreshore (see above).  The place was buzzing with school vacationers, many in the surf, though most with wetsuits.  It was warm in the sun, but probably cold in the water.  Hard to believe it is the middle of winter.

From Crescent Head we had more quiet backroads, though now sealed, and after the forested Hat Head National Park, turned inland to follow the Belmore River through more very flat green grazing country.  Although flat, the wind was generally across us, and occasionally against us, and we were both getting quite tired.  We stopped for lunch at noon in the small river village of Gladstone where we shared a very tasty, but very over-priced, toasted sandwich on the river foreshore, before continuing on.

After another hour, our route began gradually climbing until it met the Sydney-Brisbane freeway around 2:15pm.  Here we had to decide between a relatively easy 21km along the freeway direct to our destination, Macksville, or taking the suggested route (NSW Coast Cycle Route) of 32km, and probably a few good hills, via Grassy Head.  Our legs won the vote and we took the direct route, arriving in Macksville around 3:15pm.

We stopped at a supermarket on the way into town and picked up some frozen microwavable food for dinner, then pedalled the remaining 2km to our budget motel on the outskirts of town.

Both of us have some tired and sore muscles, so won't mind a shorter day tomorrow with a day off on Tuesday.  We are getting fitter, but a recovery day won't go astray.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 003 - Taree to Port Macquarie

Day:  003

Date: Saturday, 04 July 2020

Start:  Taree

Finish:  Port Macquarie

Daily Kilometres:  102

Total Kilometres:  359

Weather:  Cool and breezy early with some light rain, then milder and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Apple slice/Egg & bacon roll and thickshakes

  Lunch:  Chicken Schnitzel sandwich/Chicken salad roll

  Dinner:  Lasagne and chicken bake, shared, and custard danish

Aches:  A few niggles and saddle soreness for both

Highlight:  The unsealed road section from Crowdy Head to about 7km south of Laurieton was our favourite. Much of it was through Crowdy Bay National Park, a vast heathland behind Crowdy Bay, and other parts were through undulating green forests interspersed with remote rural properties.  Scarce traffic was the icing on the cake.

Lowlight:  We paid for the "highlight", above on the last 7km into Laurieton.  The road mixed jarring rocks and stones with even more jarring corrugations.  Butts and bikes got a work-out.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Last night, I spent some time working out our remaining days to the Queensland border.  We are a little ahead of schedule, but can't cross the border until it opens to New South Wales residents on Friday, so we'll slow down a little and have a day off at Woolgoolga.

That meant that today's ride was going to be about 100km, less than the last few days.  In an effort to slow Julie down, I suggested she go for an early morning run into Taree to see the Manning River at sunrise.  She got some excellent pictures, but it didn't slow her down on the bike.

We left our motel soon after 8am, and made good time northeast along the freeway across the verdant Manning River valley with the aid of a nice tailwind.  I even saw a fox running through the fields parallel to the road, harried by some angry plovers.  It rained a little, but not enough to get very wet. We left the freeway at Coopernook, and turned east towards the coast along a quieter rural road.  Excitement on this stage was provided by a woman in her pajamas working hard on a stairmaster on the verandah of her isolated property, probably not expecting a couple of nosey cyclists to cruise slowly past.

At the unexpectedly large residential development of Harrington Waters on the Manning River, we found a small mall, interestingly centred around a small church, and had breakfast at a bakery/cafe.  Initially, we sat at a table outside, but the wintry breeze soon had us relocating to the interior.

From there we rode through the smaller original village of Harrington and then on to Crowdy Head where the vast sandy beach of Crowdy Bay stretched northwards dotted with 4WD vehicles.  Then it was north to Laurieton on an unsealed, and much quieter road (see above), still aided by a nice tailwind.  Laurieton was busy, and after a bit of searching, we found a cafe where we sat at a sheltered table outside in the sun enjoying our sandwiches.

The last 32km to our destination, Port Macquarie, was along a busy coastal road with a narrow edge that passed through a number of beach resorts and incorporated some short sharp hills that kept us honest.  When we reached Port Macquarie, we "enjoyed" some even bigger hills as we followed the scenic Pacific Drive into town.  Our granny gears got a workout.

At our motel, where we arrived about 3:30pm, we were asked to leave our bikes in a locked conference room.  Our preference is to keep our bikes in our rooms, but this was a reasonable solution.  After showers, we walked a few hundred metres downtown, rugged up against the cold wind, and bought some lasagne and chicken bake for dinner at a supermarket deli which we later microwaved in our room (along with some dessert).  Another good day.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 002 - Tea Gardens to Taree

Day:  002

Date: Friday, 03 July 2020

Start:  Tea Gardens

Finish:  Taree

Daily Kilometres:  124

Total Kilometres:  257

Weather:  Cool and sunny early, then mild and mostly sunny with a southerly breeze

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Chocolate muffins

  Lunch:  Half an egg, lettuce & mayo roll and half a small vege quiche each (we got their last fresh roll).

  Dinner:  Pizza and garlic bread

Aches:  I had a few niggles and some unmentionable chafing, while Julie had some saddle soreness and a painful little toe.

Highlight:  Riding the Old Gibber Trail and Mining Trail through Myall Lakes National Park linking two sections of coast that would otherwise require a long detour inland.  It was a park management trail, closed to vehicles, that crossed a scrubby floodplain then climbed over a low timbered mountain range.  We saw two other recreational cyclists early on, but then had it all to ourselves as we cruised along in warm sunshine.  It was rough and rocky in places, but elsewhere hard packed mud with a few large puddles to dodge.

Lowlight:  About 10-15km either side of Forster-Tuncurry there was a narrow or non-existent edge to the road and a lot of fast moving traffic.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left our Tea Gardens motel a little before 7am and cycled through the waking town and crossed the Myall River to Hawks Nest where we found a bakery to buy some breakfast muffins that we packed for a later breakfast.  Then we headed north on Mungo Brush Road along the narrow spit of land that separates the Myall River from the ocean.  In contrast to yesterday, we had the road to ourselves, seeing perhaps half a dozen cars in an hour and a half.  It was fantastic.  There were high sand dunes starkly lit by the rising sun occasionally visible to the right, and we passed through long stretches of temperate forest alternating with pockets of dense sub-tropical forest featuring palms and vines. Later, we could glimpse Bombah Broadwater through the forest to the left and eventually stopped for breakfast in a beautiful little picnic ground bordering the lake.

Shortly after we started riding again, we turned off the road onto the Old Gibber Trail (see above) and really enjoyed our first stretch of trail off the roads.  After an hour and a half, we joined another sealed road and then wended our way along an undulating and windy road through forests, alongside lakes, and then through groves of palms before we reached the coast again at the magnificent Boomerang Beach where we took a break at a lookout.

From there we passed through the sub-tropical Booti Booti National Park and past some more beautiful beaches, before the long straight stretch into the holiday town of Forster.  It was busy with traffic (Friday afternoon at the start of school vacation, so to be expected), but we were aided by a southerly breeze and made good time.

In Forster, we stopped for a late lunch, found a bakery with a few items left and then adjourned to a lovely little park overlooking the water.  We were exposed to the cool southerly breeze and Julie soon had her jacket back on.  After crossing the the long bridge over the Coolongolook River, we passed through the smaller town of Tuncurry and then rode north along The Lakes Way, again enjoying plenty of traffic and later some enervating climbs.  I was struggling a bit on the hills, not helped by finding Julie glued to my tail every time I looked in my rear view mirror, when I was sure I was working hard enough to have left her behind.  Despite the hills, we made good time, helped by the southerly breeze and reached the main Sydney-Brisbane Highway earlier than expected.  From there, we had an easy run to our motel just off the highway in Taree where we arrived about 3:45pm.

It was another good day, with both of us going better than expected, enhanced by some great scenery, and well-behaved bikes.