Monday 17th December 2012
It was time to head back south to Sydney where I am spending Xmas
with my friends, and I decided to break the journey in Coffs Harbour, about
half way between Brisbane and Sydney, to
do another ride from the Lonely Planet Cycling Australia Guide.
The bus was fairly full, with many backpackers getting on
and off at both Surfers Paradise and also Byron Bay. It’s a pleasant enough
journey nonetheless, with plenty of stops on the way and lots of good scenery.
I had to dismantle the bike before it was allowed on the
bus, and on arrival at Coffs Harbour around 11pm it took the best part of an hour to reassemble it, in the dark.
Fortunately I had a room already booked at a hotel close by as it was after
midnight by the time I got there.
Tuesday 18th December
I set off from Coffs around 9am, heading inland. The route
passed through banana plantations then after about 15kms began a long steep
climb through rainforest, reaching an altitude of over 800m. On the way up I overtook these two cycle
tourists, fully laden with trailers full of camping gear. We stopped and
chatted for a while, it is very rare to meet other cycle tourists on Australian
roads and it was great to swap information on where we’d been and where we were
going:
At the summit I took a 3km detour off the route to Lowanna,
where I got some much-needed fluid replacement, and also gulped down a
surprisingly good burger:
A bit further on the tarmac ran out and the dirt section was
pretty rough in places; I had to take it fairly slow to avoid skidding on the
gravel:
This massive eucalypt, the Jack Feeny Memorial Tallowood,
was an impressive sight:
The road continued through pockets of rainforest and there
were some great views, however as the afternoon progressed it was becoming
increasingly misty:
By the time I reached Dorrigo visibility was very poor. I
stopped off 2kms outside the town to try and see Dangar Falls, although it was
obvious that I wouldn’t be able to see very much. However as I approached the
lookout I was turned back by police who told me the whole area had been closed
off as a German tourist had jumped from the top of the falls earlier in the day
and was missing, presumed drowned.
I headed on into Dorrigo, arriving just before the rain
started, and found comfortable accommodation at a motel. I could see that
photos would have to wait until the morning as the visibility was so poor, so I
went for a very nice meal at the historic Dorrigo Hotel, and spent the rest of
the evening reading and watching TV.
Total distance today 78 very hilly kms.
Wednesday 19th December
The rain and fog had cleared, so I left the motel and
retraced the last 2kms of yesterday’s route back to Dangar Falls to see what I
missed yesterday:
They’re not exactly huge – but still quite pretty.
Apparently quite a lot of people jump from the top but it looked like a pretty
stupid thing to do, from what I could make out. Obviously it had ended in
tragedy for the German tourist, who was apparently just 19 years old.
Coming back into Dorrigo I took a few photos of this
attractive little town, including the famous WW1 “Digger” memorial outside the
Dorrigo Hotel:
A few kms outside town is the Dorrigo Rainforest centre
where I stopped for an hour or so to enjoy the skywalk, which gives excellent
views over the rainforest canopy, and
also did part of the longer bushwalk circuit known as the Wonga Walk:
Shortly after this, the route began a steep 10km long
descent, losing all the hard-gained altitude I had sweated to achieve
yesterday. There were a couple of waterfalls, the Sherrard and Newell Falls, by
the road on the way down, where I stopped for a bit to let the wheelrims cool
down from all the heavy braking:
The route then deviated onto a rough dirt section which
continued for about 20km. It was a hard grind along this section, with a lot of
climbing and steep descents but there were some good views to be had:
Eventually the route joined the Old Pacific Highway which
led back to Coffs Harbour. On reaching the town I took a ride out to the harbour and went for a
walk along the foreshore:
I then enjoyed a very nice meal at the Yacht Club
overlooking the harbour, before riding back to the town centre to get the bus
onward to Sydney.
Distance today 78kms, giving a total of 156kms for this demanding, but very rewarding 2 day
trip.
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