A thousand km weekend ride - plus a little bit more

[wordsmith]

A thousand km weekend ride – plus a little bit more… 

Part 1 – day one, heading south…

Breaking with my normal habit I decided to ride south last weekend, and so it came to pass that I headed for the mid-north New South Wales coastal town of Coffs Harbour, where I’d had a few pleasant stays in the past. 

Coffs – as it is commonly known – is regarded by many as having the best climate in Australia – too far up the coast to suffer Antarctic blasts of cold air in winter, too far down to feel the humidity and heat impacts of tropical cyclones in summer.   It's a very sought-after place to retire to, with ocean fishing and golf being top drawcards for active retirees.   For the younger set, the beaches in and around offer excellent surfing, which extends right up the coast to Queensland’s famed Surfers Paradise.

It’s also a popular family holiday destination, being only a little over 500km N of Sydney, and there are probably more holiday options there than I have ever seen anywhere else of comparable size, ranging from tent sites in caravan (trailer) parks to luxury beachfront resorts.  

The town itself is squeezed onto a very narrow coastal stretch of land as the Great Dividing Range runs very close to the Pacific Ocean here, and everywhere around is extremely hilly, but it makes for pleasant sight-seeing and some spectacular views.  

Largely because of the hilly country and benign climate the entire Sapphire Coast region centred on Coffs Harbour is a prolific source of bananas, but is also the southernmost point on the eastern seaboard (30°18’08”S) for their commercial production, being some 2000km south of the major production areas in Tropical Far North Queensland.   (In the northern hemisphere think New Orleans in terms of Coffs’ latitude).

The straightest and quickest way there from my home in SE Queensland is straight down the Pacific Hwy, but the distance of only 396km there was less than I wanted after a rain-enforced quite long absence from the bike, so I took the roads less travelled, buffeted somewhat by strong southerlies.

First I headed south-west to Warwick along the Cunningham Hwy, then due south on the New England Hwy through Stanthorpe and across the NSW border to Tenterfield, the home-town of late songwriter/ warbler Peter Allen – some may recall his ‘Tenterfield Saddler’ ballad.   After a coffee and refuelling stop and few minutes stretch off the bike at Tenterfield, I turned east along the curvy and twisty and undulating Bruxner Hwy, 130km to Casino.   I don’t recall having ridden this road before, or at least certainly not all of it, so it was a pleasant experience with some new sights.  

At Casino, I headed due south again along the 101km southern half of the nicely-named and very pleasant Summerland Way to Grafton.   From there, I took the 74km Orara Way, which closely follows the Orara River, although the road surface was found to be poorer and the scenery less attractive than the Summerland Way.   But it kept me off the boring Pacific Hwy, and I reached my destination at Coffs Harbour after 610km of very enjoyable and only mildly challenging riding over a pleasant and varied zig-zag course. 

I often try to remember the more unusual names of creeks that I cross, and two came into view along this road - Porridge Pot Creek (which reminded me somewhat of Pot o' Soup Creek in Tasmania), and Ugly Creek.   My all-time favourite remains Turn Back Jimmy Creek, in the NSW Riverland - gotta be a story there!   

Some tweaks to the bike’s suspension a week earlier had made a great improvement to comfort, taking some of the harshness out of it.   I had also put the front seat onto the higher position but I reversed that as it left me a bit too much ‘tippy-toe’ at rest.

At Coffs Harbour I checked-into a pleasant and inexpensive motel that I’d used before, the Royal Palms Motor Inn.   After a hot shower and change of clothes I walked the few hundred metres beach-wards to the excellent Bowls Club, where I enjoyed a meal in pleasant surroundings.   I slept very well that night, the bike right outside my room and almost within touching distance – which ensures a good night’s sleep –  with only a few minor aches to my pencil-thin upper and lower arms and knobbly elbows.

Part 2 – day two, heading north

Even though I could get all I needed – and more –  into the top-box for just one overnighter, I had fitted the OE hard panniers to the bike for the first time just to try them out and see how tricky it might be getting on and off without kicking the rhs pannier lid to bits.   My stiff knees and creaky hips made it a bit of a chore, but I soon got the hang of it after pirouetting around a bit on my left foot – not a pretty sight!  

Pleasingly, I felt pretty good after that good night’s sleep, so decided that rather than ride home straight up the boring although mainly well-surfaced and easy highway, I’d again go cross-country, at least in part, to add some extra distance.

But first, heading north on the Pacific Hwy for the first 26km I rode to the interesting township of Woolgoolga.   This was settled long ago by Indian migrants, many working in the banana plantations around the town.   Woolgoolga is noted for its fine Sikh temple, a stunningly beautiful gold and white building, and a focal point of the local Sikh community.  

Entering Grafton again I joined the Summerland Way at its southern end, riding this time its entire 199km length, heading north along this delightful rural road with lovely lush rolling countryside all around, and very little traffic.  After a fair amount of recent rain the countryside was rich with new grass, and it was a very pleasant outlook indeed.   The previous day’s very strong and gusty headwind – typical for this time o’ year – had buffeted me all the way south, but had now shifted its direction and intensified, it seemed, and was still shoving me and the bike around.

The northern and southern halves of the Summerland Way, N and S of Casino respectively, are quite different as far as the terrain is concerned.   The northern section comprises open rolling gentle hillsides and meadows, very attractive, with well-maintained small villages and hamlets relieving the view.   It's all beef and dairy country I'd think.   The southern half is markedly different, winding through seemingly endless State forests, where tall stately gum trees grow right up the roadside's edge.   And it was here that I heard the piercing bell-like calls of lyrebirds, very nice indeed.

At its northern end, just over the Queensland border, the Summerland Way joins with the Mt Lindesay Hwy, part of which can only be fairly described as a third-world goat-track – although that’s probably insulting to the third world and to goats   It is indescribably bad – very narrow, tightly winding, adversely cambered at many spots, undulating in every sense, badly broken-up, bumpy, and badly maintained, if at all.   Even on my earlier BMWs with their superb long-travel suspension it was hard work – even more so on the Tracer.   I’m pretty sure that I left some tooth-fillings along the track, but it soon passed, and I then had only about 100km or so to home.

The return leg north from Coffs Harbour was an easy 436km, giving me a total of 1046km for the two days.  

If pressed to put into as few words as possible an appraisal of my Tracer, I might say that it’s “a bloody good little machine with a sparkling engine that’s very much sport-oriented, excellent value for money, but let down overall by cheap suspension and a crap seat”.   All fixable of course, depending on how much money you want to throw at it.   Or even fewer words in the Aussie vernacular “ripper!”.

I must say that I was pleased with the weekend’s outing, the kind dry, balmy weather, wind aside, the bike’s faultless performance throughout, and my safe return.  

Pix below:

1 - the ride north - orange line marks the ~200km Summerland Way, purple line is the shorter Orara Way

2 - Mt Lindesay - actually a millenia-old eroded volcano plug is right on the Queensland - NSW border

3 - the Great Dividing Range of hills and peaks is an constant background right along the east coast

4 - typical Queenslander house, perched on stilts to maintain coolth during summer heat

5 - old railway bridge is broken, dilapidated, and about to collapse, much like me!

6 - Sikh temple at Woolgoolga

7 - the zig-zag ride south 

8 - break time beside the Richmond River

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by wordsmith