South of the Border! 19-25 October 2016

Now that I have some extra time on my hands, I thought I would try a quick ride within Australia.  Have been reluctant before as motorists don't like cyclists here in Australia, but surely they are not that bad??

But the border is more than 100km from home thru mainly boring suburbs, so after a quick breakfast in the city with a good friend, I cycled over to the Roma St Station and caught a train to the end of the line - Varsity Lakes.  By then it was already noon and after a few false starts, I found a small bakery that was prepared to make me a salad sandwich and with a bottle of iced coffee, I had lunch sorted.

Riding through the Gold Coast area was how I expected it to be:  flash 4WDs with shining chrome bumper bars driving right up behind me...  stay cool!!! Eventually I was twiddling around on a bike path that should lead over the Tweed River away from all the glitz and glam...  and sure enough, once over the Tweed, I pedalled into Kingscliffe and with a lot of luck, found the wonderful bike path that runs along the foreshore all the way to Pottsville...  the regrowth along the sand dunes meant I could hear the sea, but couldn't see it...  neither could those living/visiting the flash sea side homes...

As I had started late, I was running out of daylight just before I got into Brunswick Heads, so decided to stay the night there at the Sails Motel...  after being treated to a wonderful sunset sky!

Next morning saw me pedalling ever southwards towards Lennox Head - but a zink into Byron Bay was necessary as was the coffee and apple crumble at the Twisted Sista...  wasn't too impressed with BB - sooooo many cars, soooo many cranky people so early in the morning...  where I could, I resorted to the footpaths and left the traffic jams to simmer in their own petrol fumes...  so much for alternative lifestyles...

After a minor dash along the A1 - where the shoulder was nice and wide and there were no problems, I cruised into Lennox Head...  I knew there was a climb ahead, up over a ridge to get to my friend's place and yes!  it did defeat me...  but whilst gathering my breath I was able to look down over the town and out to the sea, rolling in with a few surfers trying to dodge the sharks and catch a wave.

Looking down on Lennox Heads

And lunch with freshly baked Ikea fullkorn bread!!  yum!  so good to catch up with a good friend.

Later we took Kip down to the beach for a walk - and in the distance saw some blows from whales - and I even saw a large white flipper come out above the waves and disappear again!!  wow!!!

Kip making sure I don't get left behind :)

The next day we went for a drive up to Alstonville, which gave me a chance to check out the alt route I was thinking of taking...  hmmm.... a bit hilly, no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic... so I decided to stick on the main road, even tho it was a long and steady grind via Ballina...

I went for a short ride down to see Victoria Park - a remnant patch of rain forest and was treated to little Paddymelons hopping around, whipbirds calling and flicking leaves out of the way and a beautiful butterfly - could it have been a birdwing?


After a great vego lunch at Options, it was suggested that Maggie and me ride back to Ballina down the hill to compare the roads and it was downhill all the way!  plenty of shoulder most of the time and the traffic not too bad...  a tad scary as I was getting closer to the bottom with very strong gusty winds trying to blow me one way or the other...  but Jo was waiting at the bottom in the van so Maggie and me cruised back to Lennox in style.

beautiful jacaranda in Alstonville

Next leg of the journey was to Nimbin, so after an early brekky I was on my way, all loaded up again.  Found a nice little bike path along the shore which took me almost all the way into Ballina...  then, zinking around to get out to the huge roundabout and then up the grinding hill to Alstonville.  I think it was about 7km of up, but gritting teeth and cussing a bit, saw me get to the top without having to stop...  so to regain my strength, I went back to Options for coffee and cake and then on the hilly section to Goonellabah.  No one warned me that from there onwards it would be a wonderful downhill swoop right into Lismore - but that was fine and lots of fun!

Lunch at the Bank and then northwards to Nimbin...  I had this image of steep hills, but actually the road follows the valley past farmlands, black & white cows mainly.  As usual, the un-cared for land, with erosion along gullies with no natural protection, spoils what could have been really pretty country, but that seems to be the norm in Australia...

What did amuse me were the road art paintings alerting motorists, but especially this cyclist, to the various potholes along the road...  although no longer happening, a local artist - Roa Dart - had spent many hours of his own time,  painting patterns around hazardous sections along the road.  Thankfully most have been repaired but his art remains on the road...

There was a couple of steep narrow pinches just on the southern side of town, which I felt safer walking up, but after a rather beautiful ride I arrived mid afternoon in Nimbin and met up with my friend at the Grey Gums Lodge...  what a quaint place to stay!!  so well done out, with wonderful treasures throughout the rooms and common areas...  I would highly recommend this place to anyone passing thru or in the vicinity... Its well worth a slight detour out of your way to stay.

my bedroom at Grey Gums Lodge

Grey Gums verandah

sunset over Nimbin, from the Grey Gums Verandah

Nimbin also offers some pretty good healthy cuisine.  the pizza shop Armonica does the best pizza with several vego options!!!...  and the following day we had lunch out at the permaculture village Abundance, which we followed up with a stroll around their gardens...

sunshiny day - leaving Nimbin

Back on the road again on Monday - heading home, firstly to stay in Murwillumbah with wonderful friendly and informative hosts.  There was one steady climb that defeated me early on the piece, but the rest of the day was really a beautiful ride, through more forests and less farm lands, up and down, but generally a beautiful day.  Lunch at the Sphinx Rock cafe and then down into Murwillumbah, which seems to have been built on a few steep ridges!  I think one could quite comfortably settle in a place like Mur/bah!  a quiet country town!

so with the sun again shining down from a beautiful blue sky, I pedalled off towards Tomewin and the Queensland border.  I knew I was in for a big climb ahead and I also knew that I could have better lower gearing on Maggie, so the chant of 22-32-44 was running thru my head as I ground slowly to a halt on the flanks of Tomewin.  it was a case of pedal for a bit, stop and gasp a bit, walk or pedal a bit more, but eventually I got to the top...  the road is quite beautiful, thru forest and not a lot of traffic.  I scored a free banana at the fruit shop and bought another one and an apple and soon I was zooming down along the Currumbin highway.

I had been told about a short-cut but that it was really steep, but one can't resist a short cut...  but one should!!  it was mega steep, in places I could hardly walk up, pushing Maggie... and tooooo much traffic - especially white utes....  and the Old Coach way, was another nightmare, so won't be falling for that one again...

eventually a rather sweaty and pooped cyclist on her sturdy steed, rolled into the Varsity Lakes station, where a train was just resting and waiting for us to board..

It was really different cycling in Australia.  missing was the excitement for being in a totally different culture (like Japan) and seeing totally different natural scenery (lupins - lily of the valley - birch trees - wildflowers aplenty!!)  I think I need to travel to areas that I haven't already been in - like SE coast of Aust...

and I was dismayed at how dirty our roadsides are...  Keep Australia Beautiful seems to have failed... I saw more litter in the 5 days riding, then I have seen anywhere else...  volunteers clear it up once a year, but it seems that Australians just have no worries about chucking stuff out the window...  plastic drink bottles, coffee cups, plastic of all sorts and heaps of broken glass on the roads, amazed I didn't get a flat tyre...  maybe its just around the Gold Coast?  it was worse there!!  not happy Jan!!