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[Randy B]

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Thursday 14 August 2014

Having decided there was no way I was going to ride north along the back road to Pembroke again, I decided to head straight out to the Pacific Highway (Australia’s often disgraceful main highway). I expected to follow Pterodactyl, with whom I’d been riding for the past three days, but he suddenly turned right and vanished.

If you’ve missed them, the other stories of the ride are [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3700]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=3758] here.

The map of my day’s ride is [url=http://goo.gl/maps/WQL8j]here.

The first part of the ride took me up the Pacific Highway to Coff’s Harbour. The last bit of the road was quite good—an improvement I think from when I was last there—with dual carriageway allowing me to make good time. I was undecided about whether to ride the 700 kms home; we had been later starting than I’d planned, but it was do-able. No matter what, I wanted to ride from Coff’s Harbour to Grafton via Nana Glen, up a road a mate of Pterodactyl’s had recommended to him.

I duly turned off on to the Coramba Road. It was pleasant indeed. A good surface and any number of corners to keep a motorcyclist happy. Just before Coramba I turned right on to East Bank Road which, while well sealed, was narrower and without a centre line. Still, the visibility was good and there was next to no traffic, so I had a lovely ride along it to Nana Glen.

East Bank Road




The Idle In Café in Nana Glen was motorcycle friendly.


It must have been about 1.30pm by the time I got to Grafton and had to make a decision about another night on the road or the big run home. I opted for another night and so turned left onto the Gwydir Highway which would take me back up the range to Glen Innes and then Tenterfield. And the cold. Still, I’d wanted to squeeze the Gwydir into the trip somewhere; Pterodactyl and I had made other choices and so had missed it. Near Grafton it was relatively flat and quick and I made good time.

Looking west towards the Great Dividing Range


The Lollback Rest Area and Mann River Bridge




The Gwydir runs along the river for a bit before offering 10 kms of really good twisties


Of the four roads up or down the range that we’d ridden this was the prettiest. The Oxley is a better riding road, but there was a special quality to the bush on the Gwydir. It was very lovely. There are some walks and some National Park it would be well worth exploring some time.

Like Jackson Browne, I’m looking east




I refuelled both the bike and me in Glen Innes, a town against which I’ve always had an irrational prejudice. It was bloody cold, but perfectly pleasant that afternoon. I thought I might find some serious winter riding gloves there, but didn’t. I then set out along the New England Highway for Tenterfield, about which I wrote in an early part of this report. This photo of the New England Highway shows not only how dry it was, but the sort of terrain one rides through on the plateau. Of course, road conditions vary a bit.


I was a bit unnerved by this letter box. I’m not completely sure it didn’t take a shot at me.


And, for the Ferret, this is the spectacular Bluff Rock south of Tenterfield.


I stopped for the night at the Henry Parkes Motor Inn. It was a mistake. Not because it was bad or uncomfortable; it was just more expensive than the usual accommodation I look for.

As usual, sleep was not a huge problem.

OK, that is just BRILLIANT!!


EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!