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Escape!
Day 1
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I’ve been in the Solomon Islands since late August and, under normal circumstances, would have waited at least 3 months before heading home for some respite. However, my wife’s family had long planned a reunion for the first weekend in October. We had committed to go long before making the decision to move to the Solomons. An added bonus for me was that the reunion was to be held in northern NSW which meant I could retrieve the CB from under my son’s house and take it for a ride.
Any climatic benefit in escaping the tropics was mitigated by a sudden, ridiculous warming on the east coast of Australia. It was sinking hot when I turned the key and pressed the starter. Once. What a glorious sound. I rode across the city, packed my riding bag and pointed the headlight south.
This will give some idea of the weather. And, below, a chap I spied on the way
I planned to head for the freeway for the first bit of the trip until I remembered I could stay off it and take the old road to Beaudesert, Rathdowney and the Queensland-New South Wales border. It’s not particularly interesting riding through largely urban areas, but it was so good to be on the bike again that I didn’t much care.
I had no idea which way I’d go across the border—the Lions Road (about which I’ve written before, see [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3443]here, [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3808]here, [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3809]here, and [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4373]here)—or the Mt Lindsay Highway which gets honourable mentions in the same reports. Both are good roads. Much of Mt Lindsay is better quality road and great riding, but I have an affection for the Lions Road I can’t shake. It’s just so pretty with its bare hills and pretty stream crossings north of the border. Immediately you cross the border you’re into a lovely, cool patch of remnant forest. As I rode through it, I remembered that, exactly a year ago, Pterodactyl and I had been riding the Lions Road as part of the inaugural Lions TT.
Looking south east across the border
The Lions Road runs along beside the NSW-Queensland rail line and crosses underneath it on a couple of occasions
There’s a café near the end of the Lions Road at which I decided it was high time I stopped. Of course it had closed and was only opening for functions. I took a photo of the bike and pressed on to Wiangaree where I had a light lunch and a welcome coffee.
A model of concentration!
My preference would have been to turn west at Kyogle and ride the road to Nimbin, a road I’ve ridden with Pterodactyl a couple of times, before heading into largely uncharted territory and some back roads to the coast where we were staying. Sadly, I was short of time, so I refuelled in Kyogle and headed a bit further south before crossing to Lismore and along the main road to Byron Bay. Can’t complain, really, it was a very pretty road and better than I remembered.
I arrived in Suffolk Park, on the beach just south of Byron Bay, in time for a shower and the first of the family events.
Between Kyogle and Suffolk Park
Day 2
The bike had a rest on Day 2. So did I. The previous evening's festivities took rather more of a toll than I liked.
Day 3
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Co-incidentally, an old friend of my wife’s was in the area and we had a plan to meet up. As she was staying up the road in Mullumbimby (where I’d never been) I thought to travel alone and check out some more hinterland back roads. And very pretty they were too.
The road to Mullumbimby
We travelled the 10 minutes or so to Brunswick Heads where there’s a pretty river and places to sit. We sat, ate and shot the breeze until it was time for us to return to Suffolk Park.
We figured it had been about 4 years since we’d seen each other. Curiously, about 2 weeks before we had been due to head home we turned on the TV in Honiara to watch an Australian gardening program and the first item featured our friend and her roadside garden in Bondi Junction just around the corner from where Pterodactyl lives.
More curious was the story she told us about diving into one of the ocean pools carved into the rocks on the Sydney coastline from Bondi south. In she went. After a time her friends wondered what had become of her. Diving into the water had triggered an aneurism in her head and she had died on the way to the bottom of the pool. Her friends fished her out, gave her CPR and she’s still with us. Best story of this trip.
Day 4
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Time to pack up and head for home. I had to be on the plane to Honiara in the morning and I had a chore or two to do in Brisbane first.
It was going to be a scorcher and the rest of the family decided to head for Brunswick Heads again so they could enjoy the river.
I rode to Cape Byron, Australia’s eastern-most point and took a photo of the beach where we’d been staying.
The top of the Cape Byron Light (taken in another visit)
On the other side of the hill from this beach lies Byron Bay, one of Australia’s trendiest spots—a hide away for celebrities and a resting place for all kinds of other ‘trendy’ people. Every year it hosts probably the best blues and roots festival in the country. It has a lovely beach, with a wonderful view of the lighthouse atop Cape Byron. There are other scenic attractions aplenty. But for all that, the place doesn’t quite ever do it for me. I think there are too many try hards. Suffolk Park, around the corner, was much more appealing to me.
Another reason to dislike Byron is that the traffic is always hideous, as it was this day. And it was getting increasingly hot. So I was glad finally to make my way through the township and escape.
I made my way to Australia’s main highway—in parts a joke of a road only now being dragged into the mid 20th century.
It never ceases to amaze me that the main road between two of Australia’s major cities is still single lane in many parts. Well, that is until I reflect on the sheer size of the place, the vast expense of building major roads and the relatively tiny population.
Signs such as this give the road a certain curiosity value
I headed a way up the highway before turning off to Murwillumbah, scene of adventures described in earlier ride reports. I was able to follow a pretty road I’ve not ridden before which kept me off the highway.
Not long after I left the highway, I saw this curious beast.
They make the bikes big in this part of the world
I came into Murwillumbah from the south and wondered about stopping for coffee, but it was getting very hot, I’d not been riding very long and my route didn’t take me past any cafés that looked remotely appealing.
I had thought to head back over the border along a road I’ve ridden a few times before, and described in other ride reports. It takes one through Chillingham and along a pretty road up over the border range and through Springbrook on the Queensland side. There are some lovely corners in the Queensland section. As I came to the corer, I was confronted with an alternative which promised to take me into the pretty Currumbin Valley. As I like to travel new roads when I can, I decided to take it. Like other roads on this trip, it was delightful.
Somewhere after emerging from the Currumbin Valley, I stopped for lunch. By then it was very hot and I had an unremarkable and occasionally uncomfortable ride back up the motorway to Brisbane where I packed up the bike. And my suitcase. And returned my tropical island.
It was wonderful to have had such a pleasant escape for a weekend.
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