Day 1: Brisbane to Wauchope
3 August 2020
Master Map
Compared to other countries, Australia has had it easy during the COVID-19 virus; our infection and death rates have been relatively low and strict restrictions have, in most states, been brief. That's not to say that it mightn't all get worse. For a brief moment we thought things were easing then one state (Victoria) suffered (and continues to at the time of writing) another major outbreak. Restrictions have again tightened.
One of the ways we've managed is controlling movements between states. My state, Queensland, has been one of the strictest, shutting its border early. So far, touch wood, so good, although we continue to prevent access to folk from other states. As I write it seems likely the border will remain closed to New South Wales and Victoria until the end of the year.
During July there was a happy moment when the infection rate fell to an insignificant level. The Queensland Government re-opened the border. Pterodactyl and I decided a ride would be agreeable and that we might even be able modestly to augment the tourist incomes of some small towns while we did so. We set a date and place to meet and agreed we'd make a final decision the day before departing.
Victoria erupted and Queensland again closed the border to Victorians or people who'd been there. That was okay because we weren't going anywhere near the place. Then there was an outbreak in Sydney and Queensland prevented people from greater Sydney from entering the state. Still OK, although there were concerns about the NSW situation and an expectation that the border might again be closed. I wasn't keen on that because, if I got caught away from home, I'd have to pay for mandatory quarantine for at least two weeks.
On the afternoon of Sunday 2 August, there was no evidence of COVID-19 in any area we proposed visiting, so we agreed to meet as planned in Wauchope, Central New South Wales during the afternoon of the following day. The broad plan would see us riding three days together before heading home on the Friday.
I had slightly more than 600 kilometres to ride, so I left home just after 0600 on a crisp morning. It was cool enough to warrant thermals for which I was very grateful. I'd hoped to stop for breakfast at the Sphinx Rock Café just over the NSW border, but it's closed permanently. Maybe a casualty of COVID-19. So I kept going, thinking to stop a little further on at Nimbin. Should you follow the link, you'll see that Nimbin is well known for its 'cannabis counterculture'. I decided stopping might give a whole new meaning to 'hash brown'. Even were I keen, it was a little early in the day, so I pressed on to Casino where I'd need to refuel.
It was chilly, but it's a lovely ride from Murwillumbah, through Nimbin to Casino. It's less appealing, but not heavily trafficked from Casino to Grafton. I kept going over the new road bridge in Grafton and followed the quiet Orara Way to Coramba where I detoured for a few quick kilometres up and down the splendid Ulong road. I felt I deserved it as a small consolation for a relatively flat, straight day's riding.
Joining the highway at Coffs Harbour, I found another pretty detour south of Macksville, but it was only about 30 kms long and I was soon back on the highway. Can't complain though. It was a lovely day and I made good time. It was very unlike the last time I'd headed along that route to meet Pterodactyl when it had rained intermittently and I'd been punching into 30-40 km headwinds.
I arrived in good time. We took pre-dinner drinks in the Wauchope pub and then wandered around the road to the country club for dinner.
Over dinner we did some planning, agreeing that organising to ride up the Gwydir highway from Grafton to Glenn Innes was a must. That firm agreement was shaken about an hour later when I looked at the weather forecast for the rest of the week and saw that Friday (the day we were to ride to our respective homes) promised rain from north of Brisbane to south of Sydney. It took only a few minutes to decide we'd cut a day off the trip as the prospect of a full day's riding through what threatened to be solid rain did not appeal to either of us.
