Well this was our longest time away on the scooter with almost 1900 kilometres travelled over four days with one day in the middle spending time with Cathy's brother Terry, making it 5 days in total.
We saw places that we had been past but never took the time to stop at, and other places we simply haven't seen or heard of before.
All in all, the trip was excellent and it was especially good to catch up with Terry and his family. The scooter performed really well and never missed a beat, however we're starting to realise that if we want to continue large riding trips such as this one, we may have to consider buying a larger more comfortable bike with larger storage cases and a softer more comfortable ride. Live and learn I guess, but for now, our trusty Trumpy does the job well enough.
All the highlighted words in orange, are links you may like to look at.
Days 1 and 2: Map (903 kilometres travelled)
Each day, we spread the distance over approximately 9 hours to enjoy the scenery, take regular stops and of course take pictures.
We started off up Pennant Hills road and on to the old Pacific Highway to Brooklyn where we fuelled up and hopped on to the freeway until the Toukley turn off where we rejoined the Pacific Highway up the coast to Bonny Hills, south of Port Macquarie, where we spent the night.
Our first refuel point was a diversion off the Pacific Highway to a place called Karuah. This little town was sooooo quiet and obviously effected by the bypass, but so well worth taking a look.It sat on the Karuah River off Port Stevens and oh look, a bridge !
And a closer look.
After travelling the Pacific Highway a way longer, we finally turned off onto the Lakes Way. A nice break from the main road and a chance to take in some great scenery.
Yes my dear, your head does still look big in that helmet.
A photo stop on the bank of Smith's Lake.
Time for lunch. We found a fisherman's club on the lake that looked the goods.
The tables out back had a lovely outlook.
The bridge crossing from Foster to Tuncurry
Looking outward up the inlet.
We arrived at the caravan Park at Bonny Hills at about 4:30 pm where we changed and went for our walk on the beach.
Our cabin - number 14
Rainbow beach, directly behind the holiday park.
As you can see, it was pristine and not crowded.
The life guard, look out, cubby house thingy.
After a shower, we booked the courtesy bus to the tavern up the road for tea and some well deserved drinks, before having a great nights sleep.
The next morning, we made an early start and made tracks to Kempsey for breakfast at Subway
A short photo stop at Macksville on the Nambucca River.
A look across the river to the south.
The Macksville bridge.
Macksville, between Kempsey and Coffs ....... of course ! As we made our way to Coffs Harbour, I noticed an oyster farm selling fresh oysters and I made a mental note to stop there for lunch on the way back home.
We couldn't go past this icon without a photo stop.
We borrowed someone else's kids for this close up shot.
Aaah sugar cane, we finally felt we we're nearing the border.
The poor old big prawn has seen better days. Actually there was some sort of development going on there.
Sharpes beach near Lennox Head
Poor Cath, so patient while I took photos.
The northern end of Sharpes beach.
Those are kite surfing doods in the distance. The weather was perfect for them.
Lennox Head, just south of Byron.
Yes Cath took this one, and look Im in it !
We followed the road up to see the Cape Byron lighthouse only to see there was a charge just to drive in.We didn't have very much time so we decided against it.
Here's a pic of the bloody thing anyway and by the way the traffic getting out of Byron was ridiculous.
Finally we made it to Tweed Heads after a couple of long days.
This is where Cathy left me and went interstate ......... for a moment.
The harbour at Tweed Heads.... or is that Coolangatta ??? I dunno, it was bloody confusing, especially after this weekend with daylight saving starting. We stayed with Terry in an apartment just behind that large apartment block across the water.
A walk around town to show us the local sights.
Terry, hamming it up.
On our first evening at Tweed Heads, we met up with Renee, Terry's partner, for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant and gelato at a local store.
Day 3 : Sightseeing with Terry.
This morning, Cathy and I went for an hour and half walk exercise then returned for a shower and a day out to see the local sights with Terry.
This morning, Cathy and I went for an hour and half walk exercise then returned for a shower and a day out to see the local sights with Terry.
More fantastic coastal scenery.
And of course we mustn't forget the Fingal Head lighthouse.
Oh how romantic.I think this was the first time Id worn shorts since last season. (I didn't have time to shave my legs)
That's Cook Island in the background, named after the famous captain.
The waves crashing into the backwash made for some great photos.
The beaches up there are very clean and unpopulated.
After the visit to Fingal Head, it was off to lunch at a town called Tumbulgum on the banks of the Tweed river. On our way there, we drove past a sugar cane burn off.
This spot was awesome, directly across the road from the river and very quiet apart from the occasional passing car.
The food was top notch. That's my Ceaser Salad in the front - one of the best I've had.
You could hire this old fashioned boat for romantic trips down the river but I decided I was being romantic enough - you can't overdo these things you know.
Another view of the river showing house boats that you can also hire for those water themed holidays. Just before we had lunch, there was a school of mullet being chased by a school of dolphins ..... In the river !!!
It was a spectacular sight and would you believe I didn't get a photo ???
We woke early this morning at about 5:30 am and decided to get moving sooner rather than later as the forecast was for a very warm day and we wanted to get some kilometres under our belt before breakfast.Terry suggested we take the Tweed Valley Way (part of the Old Pacific Highway) to start our trip south and we're glad we took his advice because it was a great road for bikes and in top condition.
A close up shot.
More sugar cane and you can see the rail lines for the sugar trains in the foreground.
One of many banana plantations along the Tweed Valley.
A typical scene along this road. Note the good quality of the tarmac.
Woo hooo, not far to home now. Actually I preferred not to take too much notice of the distances to go. Rather resorted to check we're just going the right way.
Here's what a sugar refining plant looks like in full swing. This one is in Condong. just north of Murwillumbah.
We turned off the highway to take a look at Evan's Head, not much to look at actually, but clean and peaceful just the same.
We came back out onto the highway and stopped at this riverside town of Woodburn for a drink and wee break.
There are so many attractive riverside towns up north. I suppose that's why they call it the Northern Rivers region.
We chose where we stopped according to the sights and atmosphere. That way we feel we didn't miss anything.
This old servo was just outside Woodburn. Thought it made an interesting picture.
I don't think i'd buy fuel here though.
So it was off down the highway once again to Coffs Harbour. This time we rode right into the marina for a lunch stop.
The view of the fishing boats from our lunch spot.
A view back to Cathy waiting for her lunch. I refrained as I was looking forward to a dozen fresh oysters from Nambucca.
A closer look at the Coffs Harbour fishing fleet.
We don't know what this island was called but it made for a nice pic.
A closer look at the Coffs Harbour Jetty.
Eventually we made it back to Nambucca where we found the place I spied on our way north for a late lunch of fresh Nambucca oysters.
What I didn't know was that they only sell them unopened and you're supposed to take them away to eat. After I gave the man my saddest puppy eye look and told him how I've been looking forward to eating his oysters for the last 3 days, he submitted and opened a dozen of them for me.
And he only charged me $5.00 !!!!!
He even posed for a picture. He was just finishing some grading then he was off home.
The view out back.
Day 4 came to an end at about 4:30 and we were tired, smelly and hungry. After a short walk and shower, the courtesy bus to the Northhaven Bowlo came and picked us up for dinner and some well deserved drinks and a game or two of Keno. After that it was an early night sleep for our final leg home the next day.
Our last day of our trip started just after 7am. We had already fuelled up the day before so we legged it to Taree to get some early kilometres up before breakfast at the service centre just outside Taree. Over breakfast we discussed taking the Bucketts Way west through Gloucester, Stroud and Clarence Town to Maitland instead of the way we came up. That way we got to see more, differant scenery.
Lots of great country side this way and the road is good once you get away from the Taree area. It got quite hot today and I rode with my visor up but the insects hitting my face at 100km/hr plus, wasn't very pleasant so I chose when to lift my visor very carefully as a bug hitting your visor or glasses at high speed makes a bloody mess.
The town of Gloucester nestled in the valley.
On the way down into Gloucester, we were constantly flashed by other vehicles coming the other way, warning us of a speed trap. Well in the photo below, the police officer was across the road from where were stopped, just out of view to the right of our bike. Cheeky bastard aren't I ? Come to think of it I should have asked him to take a photo but I didn't want to wake him up.
We wound our way through to Stroud for a drink and rest. One of our other destinations on a previous trip.
A fuel stop just before Maitland. A tiny town called Woodville where we were diverted 15 kilometres due to bridge works.
This gives you some idea where Woodville is.
So we eventually made it out to Maitland where we joined the freeway all the way back to Brooklyn where we got off back on to the Old Pacific Highway. It was good to slow down to 80km/hr and relax a little. Sitting on 110 on a hot day for well over an hour being battered by strong wind isn't much fun I can tell you. This was our last stop (Pie in the Sky - Cowan) of the trip where we had a drink and a 20 minute break before making the last stretch home.Funnily enough there were only a handful of people there - bikers of course.On a typical weekend you'd have a job trying to count the bikes.
We followed the Old Pacific Highway a little longer till the Berowra Waters exit and across the ferry to the west side.
And here is the final shot of the trip. The afternoon sun on Berowra Waters says it all. Romantic isn't it ? To be absolutely truthful, we were tired, sore and stunk like living hell. In a couple of words "Severe Swamp Arse"
Cathy and I had a great time on this ride and we saw alot of things and experienced things you just can't do in a car. If you take a closer look at the map links, you'll notice that the trip up north differed to the trip back home so we could get the most out of the trip and see as much as possible.
Would we do it again ? Bloody Oath we would !!!
Finally a big thanks to Terry for having us for a couple of nights and it was great to catch up with you Renee and Jordy once again.
