Wauchope to Tenterfield
Thursday 14 August 2014
Click on the image for a detailed map
Pterodactyl was in striking distance of Sydney and I spent bits of the night when I was awake wondering whether I would make the 700 km trip home as I wasn't altogether sure I wanted to head up onto the New England Plateau again. Pterodactyl counselled me to take a bit longer to get home. I was not persuaded and decided to leave it open. No matter what, I intended to ride a back road from Coff's Harbour to Grafton where I'd have to make the decision about what to do.
We checked out and rode down the road to get breakfast on a chilly and gloomy morning. After eggs and coffee we said farewell.
He's a great riding companion is Pterodactyl. We have plenty of laughs. The next get together will be for the Lions TT in early October; almost immediately after that we plan to make the trek to Phillip Island for the Australian leg of the MotoGP. It's good to have things to look forward to.
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 uninspiring 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.
The first part of the ride took me up the main road 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 still undecided about whether to ride 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.
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, getting to sleep was not a huge problem.
