South West Rocks to Wauchope
Wednesday 13 August 2014
Click on the image for a detailed map
Wednesday dawned clear, sunny and cold. Pterodactyl exhibited a decided reluctance to get out of bed. I wondered whether he had slightly over-reached himself in his assault on my memory cells.
This was to be our final day together and we intended ride the Oxley Highway, said to have more corners than the Dragon and almost certainly one of the best riding roads in Australia. I'd ridden it once before, but only downwards (from west to east) and the idea of having a go at it the 'right' way was very appealing. We planned to leave from Wauchope in the east and head about 100 kms up the road before turning back to spend the night in Wauchope. The reason? After about 100kms the Oxley straightens out and turns into another straight Australian alpine road. Neither of us really wanted to spend another night in the cold of the New England Plateau and Wauchope offered an altogether better point to start our respective journeys home.
The day's map is here.
Breakfast in a local café allowed the sun to do its work and restored us a bit.
Well travelled bikes.
Pterodactyl under way
We then rode around Trial Bay to inspect Arakoon and the old Trial Bay Gaol.
We then headed off to ride through Crescent Head before turning south to Wauchope. This picture was taken beside the Macleay River, one of a number of beautiful rivers in northern NSW.
At Crescent Head we stopped to ingest water and watch the surfers.
I finally managed to capture this common occurrence
He spent about 5 minutes walking around the bikes looking at them.
Mental preparation for the road ahead
We spent a bit of time on the Pacific Highway to get to a place called Pembroke, where we turned off to Wauchope. Never again. It would be a good ride but the surface is awful and we were very pleased to get off the road. The clouds were closing in; by the time we got to the petrol station in Wauchope rain was looking imminent. We weren't enthusiastic, but the locals were over the moon at the prospect of rain and we realised we might have to take one for the team. And we did.
Wet weathers on, we headed for the hills. Almost as soon as we hit the outskirts of Wauchope the rain stopped and we had a clear run across Long Flat and into the foothills of the Great Dividing Range.
It's a fabulous road: well marked, good surface, endless corners and glorious Australian Bush. There's not much time to ponder the achievements of our ancestors here; your concentration has to be intense. But it's worth it.
After about 83 kms we arrived at the Ginger's Creek Café, the only stop on the way to Walcha. My plan had been to go to the end point of the ride then head back to Ginger's Creek, but Pterodactyl was in the lead and decided to stop. There were a couple of other bikes there, one of which was a Honda CB500X owned by a man who lived locally and boasted quietly about the wonderful circuits he gets to ride regularly. He was pulling on layer after layer of gear for the final climb onto the plateau.
By the time we'd had a coffee and a bite to eat, the rain had arrived and was falling steadily so we decided to skip the final 20 kms and head back down the hill. It rained much of the way, but it wasn't such a bad ride. We had the road largely to ourselves and went along at our own pace.
When we pulled into the Wauchope Motel, I realised the top nut on my steering was loose again, so I decided to head to a motorcycle shop I'd seen on the way to see whether there was a mechanic who could tell me what to do about it. I arrived as the shop was closing and the bloke who appeared to be the owner was wheeling the last of the bikes inside. He told me what I needed to do, then almost insisted on fixing it for me. Fifteen minutes later he'd taken the bars out of the risers and applied a proper wrench to the nut. Fixed. I thanked him profusely, gave him $20 (all he would take) and went on my way. Yet again I'm grateful for the great brotherhood of motorcyclists.
We had an OK dinner and another bottle of red in the bistro at the Wauchope Hotel and a relatively early night.
