Author Topic: Bid Ted's Lap for Wooli 2017 (Read 11398 times)

Cerebral Knievel · « **Reply #50 on:** October 14, 2017, 08:52:10 AM »

The Bruce Hwy is woeful.Normally roadworks are on going for it's entire length.Not that it makes much improvement if any.
Did you stop into the Rum Bar while in Airlie Beach Rob ?

BigTed · « **Reply #51 on:** October 15, 2017, 06:55:19 AM »

Day 21 – Yeppoon to Bundaberg (359 km)

3 weeks!... sometimes it doesn’t seem that long, but then again sometimes it seems longer.

It rained overnight. A lot. I woke at about 5am, and listened to rain for what seems hours... trapped in my prison. Next time – limit fluids before I go to bed… I was busting!

Over the last few hours (and I suspect the next few days) I’ve been focusing on the weather and the threat of storms and subsequent flooding in SE Queensland… pretty much on my route. Some good advice from fellow OzSToc members, forecasting sites, etc. has left me with a suck-it-and-see approach. It doesn’t seem to matter which way I go, there may (or may not) be trouble. The rain itself doesn’t worry me, and the winds don’t seem to be too strong, but it’s flooded roads that I need to watch for. I’ll never be trying to ride through those roads, but it’s the 200km u-turn I want to avoid.

So after studying the radar, I decided to head to Bundaberg as originally planned. I expect to get rain, but it’ll be intermittent and won’t interrupt the ride. As I was about to leave Yeppoon I noticed couple with a Yamaha Tenere 1200 in the caravan park. I got chatting with them and it turned out they were from the Sunshine Coast (ie. locals). They also gave me some good advice especially that Gympie floods if there’s any amount of rain, and also some nice roads to the south. They recommended Bundaberg then head south-west.

Anyway, off I went via Emu Park – a small sea-side town just out from Yeppoon. The ride was nice:

One of the attractions in Emu Park is the “Singing Ship”. It’s a monument commemorates his exploration of the bay in 1770. Interestingly, the monument has several organ pipes built into the structure that use the sea breeze to create “music”. There wasn’t much wind when I was there, but enough to generate a low-pitch (almost haunting) tone.

Onwards to Bundaberg… I decided to go via Gladstone… it was about the same distance, but more of a back-country road, so it took a little longer. I had plenty of time so what the heck. I must admit some of it was a little too “back country”. The GPS (& phone) had some trouble in 1 or 2 places along the way, but I made it in the end.

On arrival at Bundaberg I found a campsite along the river. I’d ridden with a headache for pretty much the whole trip (lying in bed for too long methinks), and the thought of dealing with rain both tonight and in the morning had me wanting a cabin. This site wasn’t the best – primarily servicing an itinerant workforce for sugar cane farming, but they had a cheap-ish donga. Good enough for me. After swapping a broken TV then failing to fix a broken air conditioner (I paid for it, I wanted it!) they moved me to another unit and after a short walk around the river I settled in for the night.

The Bundaberg Rum distillery:

BigTed · « **Reply #52 on:** October 15, 2017, 07:11:24 PM »

Day 22 – Bundaberg to Esk (407 km)

Another tour around Bundy, mainly to see the Bundy distillery. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 10am – way too late for me to be hanging around given the weather. Oh well – mail order it is.

As mentioned before, I spoke to a fellow m/c rider in Yeppoon (who was from the Sunny Coast) – he gave me some advice as to roads to ride. I’m glad I followed it. It was a great ride through Childers, Biggenden, Ban Ban Springs, Goomeri, and then on to Esk via the western side of Somerset Dam.

Loads of twisties, some gentle some not so much, nice large trees lining the roads, and not too much traffic.

It rained for pretty much the whole trip, mostly just light drizzle but with the occasional heavy dump. Wearing the gear meant I didn’t mind – if you have the right stuff you don’t get wet. However, some of the roads would have been a little better without the rain.

Again, the old grand-pa came out towing the trailer. The roads weren’t exactly well maintained so they had a fair bit of standing water – just the thing for aquaplaning if you’re not careful. So, easy does it.

Highlights were the exit out of Childers...

and the entry into Ban Ban Springs...

then, the ride along the dam topped it off very nicely. The road here though was terrible – lots rough spots, lumps, bumps, etc. – but well worth it...

I arrived at the Esk caravan park while it was still drizzling. Pain-in-the-butt! I used my chit for the cabin last night, and I bought a tent specifically for this purpose so – camping I went.

While I got quite “warm” erecting the tent while still wearing all my gear (minus helmet), the tent went up no probs – all dry inside. This was the main purpose of this purchase – the Vango Sierra 300+ tent goes up with internal mesh and fly together (mesh hangs from the fly). So you can put it up in the rain and the inside never gets exposed. Anyway, threw bedding in there, grabbed stuff for a shower, had that – then fook me – it bucketed down!

After some careful dashes I managed to extricate my electronics from the trailer/bike and make it to the kitchen area where I’ve been for the last 2 hours. It’s a quagmire out there – it’s been raining here for 2 days straight they tell me. I have a feeling I might curl up here for the night instead – there’s even a fire… as long as I can find some dry firewood.

Scarlett Thunderbolt · « **Reply #53 on:** October 15, 2017, 07:41:41 PM »

Quote from: BigTed on October 15, 2017, 07:11:24 PM

... a great ride through Childers, Biggenden, Ban Ban Springs, Goomeri, and then on to...

Hey Big Ted... we're one day behind you... staying tonight at a pleasant/comfy/roomy Airbnb at Calliope... been chasing you since you rode past out back fence... no, not really - although our place does back onto the highway, just south of Mackay... our next stays are Hodgson Vale (just sth of Toowoomba), Kyogle and then a couple of days in Dorrigo and Coffs... Wooli - Friday, mid-afternoon... cheers, John & Kate.

Gadget · « **Reply #54 on:** October 15, 2017, 09:40:41 PM »

John,

The Bakehouse in Kyogle is a good place to eat.

There's also a great hamburger at the Information Centre.

My home town.

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BigTed · « **Reply #55 on:** October 16, 2017, 08:53:47 PM »

Day 23 – Esk to Tweed Heads (401 km)

Well, what a day!

The rain had stopped for a few hours after dawn so I was able to pack up easily, and then put my soggy m/c gear back on. The helmet has developed a smell not unlike a fermenting durian. It was especially unpleasant putting it on when also cold and damp from the rain yesterday. I can't wait to replace it when I get home.

First off – Esk Bakery. This place has been a sponsor of OzSToc for some time and is often a place for an RTE (ride to eat) for those in the club in southern QLD. So, I had to pay them a visit for breaky. Nice coffee, nice bacon/egg roll, nice scones. I have to say - Esk is a real gem. It's a lovely little town.

The ride from Esk to Toowoomba was amazing – a brilliant twisty through the hills of the Deongwar State Forest up and down to Toowoomba. There was also low cloud/fog so at some places visibility was down to less than 50m. Needless to say, I took it slowly.

In Toowoomba, I made the obligatory stop to see Streak in Hip Pocket Workwear – and for the obligatory selfie. I’ll be seeing him in Wooli next week.

I then headed through The Falls and The Head of the Koreelah National Park towards the QLD/NSW border. The roads were very minor – sometimes barely wider enough for a car – lots of twisties, steep drop-offs, and absolutely spectacular views. I thought I might have got myself into trouble but it was worth it – again nice and slow and just soaked it up.

Up to that point there was only a little bit of drizzle – enough to wet the roads to increase the care factor. I had originally planned on camping at Ghinni Ghi to the south, but a warning sign of a bridge closed on the NSW side had me change my plans and head due east. Because of the weather, I wasn’t sure if I’d camp at Ghinni Ghi, but the bridge forced my hand and I headed to Byron Bay as my alternative… until the GPS started sending me to on to all sorts of back roads (I was already at my limit with the bike and trailer).

The weather also turned foul again – lots of wind and rain – and with the steep drop-offs and sloping shoulders I couldn’t tighten my sphincter any more so I decided to play for safety and just headed to the Gold Coast with the aim to turn south as I got closer. This plan was sound at first, but I ended up in GC peak hour. This didn’t last too long but I’d given up on Byron by this stage and just found a simple motel in Tweed Heads (much cheaper than a cabin at Byron). This has given me an opportunity to stay out of the wind and rain for the night, dry out all of the gear, and rest easy – it was a great day, but a struggle in the end.

If the weather is OK tomorrow, I’ll probably just stay in the tent in Byron. If not – we’ll see.

BigTed · « **Reply #56 on:** October 17, 2017, 07:22:06 PM »

Day 24 – Tweed Heads to Byron Bay (188 km)

Next stop was Byron Bay. There wasn’t much point riding only 66 km, so I thought I’d make the ride out to Kyogle – where I probably would have ridden through had my route not been aborted yesterday.

So, I headed out through the Tweed Valley… an amazing run up through the hills again to Kyogle, albeit raining/drizzly the whole way.

Tweed River:

Just as well there's plenty of space on my side:

Lucky I was late to leave Tweed Heads this morning... this tree fell about an hour before I passed through:

Kyogle itself:

Now don’t get me wrong – it was a fantastic ride. However, the local shire/government should be ashamed of themselves. They were perhaps the worst roads I’ve ever ridden. Never before have I experienced so many broken sections, pot-holes, and repairs of re-repairs. I’m surprised more people don’t die on this road than already do. It’s especially alarming when they encourage tourists to take the tourist drive. By their very nature they (like me) will be unfamiliar with the roads and not know what to expect. </rant>

I stopped for lunch (pie & coffee) at the Kyogle bakery, wandered a bit, the jumped back on the bike to head for Byron Bay. Again, it rained the whole way. I hit Byron at school pickup time so it was quite busy. I sheltered in a hotel carport while I checked out the local caravan parks. I wanted to stay in Byron close the main drag so I could have a wander and grab a bite without having to worry about the bike (& riding gear). A campsite was similarly priced as others in the area (but I avoided the cabin last night == $160/night).

Anyway, I liked it – lots of surfers, mung-beans, and rich – quite a mix. It kinda made me think of Margaret River (WA) on steroids.

Gadget · « **Reply #57 on:** October 17, 2017, 07:32:27 PM »

The roads around Kyogle have always suffered.

They've improved a lot since I was a mid there in the 70's.

Part of the problem is it's not a marginal electorate so gets very little state or federal money.

The other problem is the soil is volcanic clay and knives a lot between wet and dry. In fact you rode over a repair to a landslide on the tweed road.

I hope Dave's Bakehouse poor was good.

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Skip · « **Reply #58 on:** October 17, 2017, 07:42:00 PM »

A shame you have struck such crappy weather in SE Qld.

alans1100 · « **Reply #59 on:** October 17, 2017, 10:22:33 PM »

I'm not used to all the green stuff; compared to SA and WA at least.

BigTed · « **Reply #60 on:** October 19, 2017, 07:34:02 AM »

Day 25 – Byron Bay to Wooli (282 km)

Packed and ready, I headed out of the caravan park on to the main drag looking for a café for breaky. Bacon & eggs on toast, coffee, done. Then wandered around a little have a bit more of a look. The shops had already started to open, but since surfing and boutique clothing isn’t my thang I moved on, starting with a quick ride up to the local light-house. Parking was a bitch at this time, especially with the trailer and the rain had started – quite heavy now. I didn’t feel like parking at the bottom and either walking with all of the gear on (sauna mode at max) or getting wet – so I kept going.

Camera malfunction - so a borrowed one from Dougie (I'll give it back later):

I intended to follow the coastline as much as possible to Wooli, with a detour to Grafton to stock up for dinner. So, as usual, I made a wrong turn and ended up on the friggin’ motorway again. I got off ASAP and just decided to meander through the countryside again. I figured I’d missed a few thousand potholes yesterday and that I should go back and find them – I did.

I realised I was starting to head through the same areas I’d passed through yesterday so decided to point the bike to Yamba. This is a nice not-so-little fishing village on the mouth of the Clarence River. I stopped for lunch, and then just as I was heading out someone riding another ST flashed the lights at me – it was Dougie. I knew he was heading through here today (but I didn’t think we’d cross paths. Anyway, we both stopped, had a good chat, and took the photos.

He was staying in Yamba for the evening, so I headed off. It was starting to get a little late in the arvo so I made tracks for Grafton.

Grafton is quite a big town, and known for their jacaranda trees:

Off to Wooli. I should have the cabin (dorm style) for most of the day so it’ll be a good opportunity to dry out the gear, get washing done, etc. I’ll also check out the plans for the next part of the trip (incl. Tassie with Diesel for some of it) , order replacement mirrors for the bike, and see if I can put some videos together (although connectivity here at Wooli isn’t great).

PC & Navgirl were already at the park. Having experienced similar weather to me they also decided to arrive early. They offered a nice meal and beer which I gladly accepted, and we chatted for quite a while before I gave in and headed to bed. I think my body-clock might be adjusting.

Total distance from Perth in 25 days = 10,404.5 km. With only a few exceptions, I loved every minute of it… and I’m only half-way!

From my SPOT3 (link here):