The Cormanus Chronicles: FNQ

Great report, Cormanus. If you wanted to start a moto-tour biz down there, you have your brochure written.

I was struck by your observations on remote locales and the people that live there. Here, one such location is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which like FNQ, also is referred to as an abbreviation - U.P.

With a few edits for indigenous species, this is a pretty dead-on description of the UP:

“...and, like many remote places, people there feel very separate and under-appreciated. It’s probably fair enough: it’s a long way, the climate is different and they face entertainments—cyclones, crocodiles and irukandji (or box) jellyfish and the like—denied to those of us who live further south. And, of course, we just don’t understand them.“
 
Love riding in the U. P., it's like being in a different country
 
The UP is a cool place. I've spent some time in the Western side, need to see more of it.

After reading Cormanus' reports (and the youtube vids) I'm so tempted to visit. Icing on the cake, the night sky is totally different.
 
Thread starter
Remember K-Tel? All those wonderful ads? That great slogan, “But wait, there’s more”. Steak knives, all sorts of other crap you had no use for would be chucked in with the original piece of crap, all for one low price that you could even pay in easy instalments. Or was that just an Australian thing?

The Cormanus Chronicles are a bit like K-tel. Just when you think the end is nigh and you can get up to pour a drink or make a cup of tea, the cry goes up, “But, wait, there’s more!”

Day 6: Port Douglas to Ayr (582 kms)


[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tkXBOyISHS9wGw_7Sajq0dJqhxySj-ro&usp=sharing]Link to the full map

We turned for home, enjoying a morning ride south along the coast road to the third great motorcycle road of the trip: the Kennedy Highway from Cairns to Kuranda.
[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/-16.8389268,145.6879397/-16.8186404,145.6462105/@-16.8204508,145.6589067,13.62z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en] This link will take you to a map view of it.

[url=https://postimg.cc/K19DJt6c]
South on the coast road

I had a milestone coming up, and I was imagining pulling over to get the shots, but as it turned out, I was on the Kuranda Road with corners everywhere and nothing resembling a shoulder to come to rest on. I managed a poor shot with lanyard cam.
[url=https://postimg.cc/Mf87v5Q5]

[url=https://postimg.cc/v1cLjcyr]

[url=https://postimg.cc/dL62V8tR]
Views over the plain north of Cairns

Then it was along the beautiful Atherton Tablelands to Atherton for breakfast, Malanda again for fuel and down off the range to Innisfail. That was the 4th great road; a really good ride down the range.

For some reason I took few photos of what turned out to be a long afternoon on the main highway. There was an okay view of Hinchinbrook Island as we passed through Cardwell.
[url=https://postimg.cc/87nLhNvj]

By the time we reached Ayr, it was spitting rain and we just managed to pitch our tents before it set in. It was light, mercifully, and stopped during the night.
Day 7: Ayr to Nebo (534 kms)

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tkXBOyISHS9wGw_7Sajq0dJqhxySj-ro&usp=sharing]Link to the full map

The rain not only stopped during the night, but a drying breeze developed. It’s always a relief to be able to pack a dry tent rather than either waiting for it to dry or packing it wet.

There were a couple of roads we hoped to ride on the way south which meant more time on the main road than we would normally be prepared to endure. It’s not like the US Interstate by any conceivable stretch of the imagination, but there is traffic and there are trucks and there’s buffeting and the riding is simply not as pleasant. Our evening strategizing had led to a compromise: we’d ride the first of the planned roads before turning inland for a faster run through central and southern Queensland and into New South Wales.

There followed an interesting enough 250 kms along the coast road. We stopped for breakfast in a surprisingly posh café in Bowen—a more interesting town that I remember from my one and only previous visit.
[url=https://postimg.cc/VSpBcms3]
Steel road and rail bridge over the Burdekin River just south of Ayr

I took no more photos until after we left the Bruce Highway at Mt Ossa and had a great rode along a series of pretty, quiet and enjoyable back roads to the plain below Eungella which was on my list of roads to ride on the way home. It runs up the hill in this picture and is, as promised, very scenic.
[url=https://postimg.cc/SJkL4ZqN]

However, many of the curves are very tight and there are substantial grids on the road which make careful navigation important. It was worth the ride to the top of the hill for the view and a brief run along the range, but the road was not nearly as good as those we rode near Cairns.
[url=https://postimg.cc/yWFh2MMb]
Coming backdown the Eungella road

In the next picture, you can see a sign warning of a tight right-hand corner. As I came down into it, I could see the road for a considerable distance down the hill and realised it would be safe to overtake this line of traffic. The bloke in the grey utility was very unhappy about it and sat angrily on our tails until we stopped for petrol. Why I don’t know. He had plenty of opportunities to pass.
[url=https://postimg.cc/bSHQbn0h]

Our plan was to head to a mining town called Nebo for the night. At Eungella we realised we could hit another of the recommended stretches of road on the way. From the bottom of the hill we headed south towards Sarina before taking the Sarina-Marlborough Rd through a short but glorious series of bends. They were well worth the slight detour. The rest of the trip to Nebo was also pretty. In places the bush encroached close to the edge of the road and made me nervous as kangaroo time was fast approaching.

In Nebo we found a slightly run-down but agreeable enough caravan park to pitch our tents. It promised to be cold overnight, much to the disgust of the owner. He told me he got cold when the temperature fell below 40ºC!
Day 8: Nebo to Taroom (613 kms)

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tkXBOyISHS9wGw_7Sajq0dJqhxySj-ro&usp=sharing]Link to the full map

Another agreeably dry night meant that packing up was easy and we were soon on the road south. Although it was sunny and cool, there was a south-easterly breeze that was stiff enough to make riding at the speed limit a bit uncomfortable. It made me wonder again whether the investment in a fly screen would be worth it.

Breakfast and fuel after an hour and a half’s ride perked us up a bit and we set sail for Baralba, 243 kms down the road and boasting two petrol stations where we could refuel for the final leg. There was no other opportunity until Banana, a further 50 kms on and likely out of range.

It was warm when we pulled into Baralba. I was glad to get off the bike and take my jacket off for a moment. Of course neither service station was open.

We pulled up opposite one of them and reasonably close to the local hotel. We wandered into the bar to see whether there was anywhere closer for fuel than Banana.

‘No’, was the answer amidst much hilarity. They suggested a slab (two dozen stubbies or cans of beer) might, if we were very lucky, entice the owner of one of the local stations to help us.

I’d had a tough morning punching into the wind and would cheerfully have pitched my tent and spent the rest of the afternoon undertaking an extensive study of the bar, its inhabitants and offerings. Pterodactyl, on the other hand, was a man on a mission. Before I knew it, I was on the phone to the owner of the service station who agreed to come up the street and give us some fuel.

He was a very decent bloke. We got a little over $40 worth between us and he flat out refused to keep the change from $50. He said he was happy to come out for stranded passers-by like us, but deeply irritated when locals tried it on.

Shortly before we got to Banana we were stopped by the police to let a large oversize truck carrying mining equipment go past. Shortly afterwards it happened again.
[url=https://postimg.cc/D4FG2z9Y]

[url=https://postimg.cc/7GS78zW2]

We planned to stop for a cup of tea in Banana, but when we arrived yet another convoy of monster trucks approached and we had to stop again. [url=https://postimg.cc/tsghZYYK]

Both these trucks pulled into the service station along with the escorts and, while we waited, we realised we’d be cutting it fine reaching Taroom before skippy’s evening exercise regime got under way.

It was a seriously good fun ride and we overnighted comfortably in the Taroom Hotel.

Day 9: Taroom to Guyra (647 kms)

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tkXBOyISHS9wGw_7Sajq0dJqhxySj-ro&usp=sharing]Link to the full map

My memory of riding from northern NSW to Taroom in 2016 was that it was not all that interesting. Flat with less than fascinating scenery. As it turned out, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. The ride from Goondiwindi to Inverell to Guyra via Graman and Cherry Tree Hill was enjoyable, particularly the final leg to Guyra. We were very close to ‘roo time when we arrived.

My last experience of the Guyra Hotel was on a ride with Pterodactyl in 2014. We arrived late in the day and I was frozen. The room was OK, the bar warm and the beer cold, and the menu uninspiring. I remember we asked the barman for a bottle of red wine. All conversation in the bar ceased. All eyes turned towards us as we made our selection from three proffered bottles and took a long time to resume.

This time, although the licensee had to send us down the road for a feed, it was a much friendlier place to which I’d happily return.

For some reason I took very few photos during the day.
[url=https://postimg.cc/YjfnQLC0]
Pausing for hydration at Moonie

[url=https://postimg.cc/JtWYy5mS]
The bikes unpacked and under cover in the yard at the Guyra Hotel. Given this is said to be one of the coldest places on the New England Plateau and frosts are the norm, we were glad of the cover.
Day 10: Guyra to Brisbane (414 kms)

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tkXBOyISHS9wGw_7Sajq0dJqhxySj-ro&usp=sharing]Link to the full map

Pterodactyl was planning on riding most of the way home and then pausing for the night in order to avoid the worst of the evening traffic in Sydney. For me it was an easy ride home, although vague threats of rain hovered. I was going to be a day or two earlier than planned. GrahamT had said he might come and meet me for a night and the ride home, but faced with possible rain and the cold of New England he found other things to do.

So I rugged up and set off for home. Big, warm gloves means no photos, not that there is a lot to photograph. At some point I stopped and put on full wets as rain threatened, but it came to nothing. I had breakfast at Our Place at Tenterfield, a seriously agreeable café and wine bar. I also had a long conversation with the rider of an ST1300 who did not think the CB was a restored 1970s model. Like my new friend from Eidsvold, he seemed more than a little envious of the ride I was finishing.

At Tenterfield I left the main road and made my way up the Mount Lindsay Road to Legume. There are sections of dirt, but they’re relatively short and in good condition. I intended to turn right at Legume and head home via Woodenbong which [url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/world/australia/woodenbong-big-bong.html]made international news earlier this year when a local resident wanted to add to Australia’s bizarre collection of ‘big things’ by bestowing—yes, you guessed it—a big wooden bong on the place. Locals were less than impressed.

Anyway, as so often happens when I’m riding alone, I changed my mind at Legume and rode home over the Head. There’s a great climb on the southern side and a steep descent with spectacular views on the other.
[url=https://postimg.cc/LgT1hpR4]
The view north from the Head Road

There’s nothing much worth reporting after that. I was home by mid afternoon. Pterodactyl, of course, decided to keep going home (as I would have) and got caught in post-accident traffic to the point that I was beginning to worry slightly about his silence.

It was yet another excellent ride with the ancient bird. Thanks, mate. I’m keen to do again and take some time to poke around more of FNQ.

For the statistically minded, the CB covered 5,601 kms and used 294 litres of fuel at an average consumption of 5.12 litres/100 kms. I just know someone will check those numbers and they won’t compute. Please don’t tell me. I know. It’s near enough and has to do with how I record the data.

The K-tel chap won’t be back. Don’t wait. There’s no more.
 
K-Tel is not just an Aussie thing. The difference between your chronicle and those commercials is that, when you say “wait! There’s more”, we rejoice rather than change the channel.
 
But wait, there's more". :rofl:

I think Sea's response nailed it.
 
Nice finale, Cormanus! When you talk about cold, what's cold to you living your ordinary non-riding life and what's cold to you when you have to get on a motorcycle and ride a few hours?
 
Very entertaining, Cormanus! Love the place names... Banana, Legume, and of course Woodenbong.
Thanks for another entertaining read!

Ben
 
I just got back from Cooktown last month.Went to visit my daughter in Ayr and decided to keep heading north.Pity I didn't know you were heading up that way as we could have made it a threesome. I took the Dmax and travelled the coast road from the Daintree to Cooktown. That road is not too bad now and after our experience off road on the rally with InhouseBob it would have been a breeze.
 
Way to go (and come back), Cormanus! I love these Aussie travelogues. I always look forward to see where we're going next!
 
Thread starter
Stichill, cold is such a subjective thing. When I lived in Tasmania, Australia's southern most state, I had a much greater tolerance for it that I seem to now. These days, if it's less than about 10ºC I think it's cold, although in truth it's easy enough to dress for it and it's fine. On the bike? Less than about 15ºC is cold, but with the right gear, mostly manageable. The bit of me that suffers most is my hands. If I had to endure riding in the cold all the time rather than only occasionally, I'd probably go for heated grips and hand guards to keep the wind off.

On this last trip, Guyra on the morning the final day was cold—sub 10ºC if I recall—but with thermal underwear, a fleece and the thermal lining in my jacket I was fine. The cold didn't last long enough for it to affect my hands.

Tezza, dang it. I should have thought to let you know. I'm interested that you think the Cape Tribulation-Cooktown road might be passable by CB? Are you serious? I'd be happy to have a crack at it sometime. I'd like to go back up that way again and have a little more time to poke around. But only in winter.
 
I have discovered electric glove liners and jacket liners. Longer rides around 60F or less and I plug in. Around freezing I have this odd sensation of burning parts of my body as I crank up the heat while other bits are getting frost bitten. Icy Hot.

Electric heat has two major advantages; you can, to some degree, adjust how much heat you need and 2; you get so bulked up you feel like the Michelin Man. Makes it easier to move around.

Low 80's seems to be the ideal temp without having to worry about hypothermia or getting dehydrated.
 
Thread starter
Interesting, Rboe. I simply could not justify heated gear here. It's way too warm for most of the year for it to be in the least bit useful. That said, I wouldn't have minded it yesterday when it was about 12ºC (low 50s F) when I set out, but it warmed up quickly enough. I find riding pretty comfortable from 16 or 17ºC, although that does involve having the right layers.

As I've typed this, I'm wondering about investigating electric glove liners for those few days when I have to ride in sub 15ºC temperatures. My hands seem to be a point of critical vulnerability and the liners sound more effective than heated grips.
 
One would think that electrics would not be needed in Phoenix either, but winters can be dang cold in the morning (below freezing, so the 15 mile ride to sunday morning coffee has me well frozen about 1/3 of the way). Then there have been the uber cold mornings out of Death Valley (well, Furnace Creek was OK, but Death Valley Junction was COLD!), leaving Datil New Mexico after the Guzzi rally is usually below 40. At least.

And once things start to warm up they do so with gusto so one does want to leave early and suffer the cold to minimize the baking in the oven part that comes way too soon.z

I had heated grips on the Griso and they do not work nearly as well as heated gloves. They don't heat the bits that are being cooled by the air blast so........ a waste.
 
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