well a bit later than i expected ....but arrived home well and tired and hopefully alby arrived home not too late
the saturday part of the trip was fantastic
mostly in the high 20s or low 30 degrees c ,,,,for us like summer weather as we travelled south out of brisvegas (brisbane )
the road presented well on a clear day with no hint of what was to happen later
the road to Mount Lindsay (on the border of new south wales and queensland) was, as remembered, brilliant .
the twistys started on the aproach to the mighty tor an awesome set of curves winding around what at one time would have been logging tracks out of the hills ( in fact i remember 30 or 40 years ago travelling this route and indeed it was a bumpy, dirty old track which many would choose to avoid ) ....and a great change in road from the mostly open and straight roads for the last 80 killometers (for alby make that 300 odd k, so far for the day )
taken from the reverse side ....
we didnt actually stop for pics this time through ....the ride was so brilliant we didnt want to interupt the journey so far .
then to kyogle along some really nice country roads ...open and with low traffic experienced so far ...a quick bite and off again, futher east through lismore then wardell ...by the richmond river just about at the coast
fuelled up, onto yamba another 80 odd ks down the road southwards
lunch time stop atop the hill over looking the seaside village of locals and holiday makers (great chips and fish )
the view of the beach was a fantatic change
running slightly late, off to traverse the mighty clarence river system towards grafton
first stop ulmarra a tiny village along the highway and beside the mighty wide river
we spied a fantastic beer garden overlooking this scene and put it in our possibilities of another visit some time in the future ....with another old style pub across the road ( after closure as a bar ) and now dedicated motel and accomodation place ...hmm
off to grafton ...running a little later than expected but cruising along just fine (a quick bottle shop trip to arm our selves for arrival up in guyra some time later and possibly after the shops shut time )
heading now futher west into the hills ... for me unknown territory of the "gwider highway" a section of 175 killometers that has to date excaped my knowledge and view
from open roads of the river and coast we climbed up some brilliant tracks of tar through dry bush wooded countryside forever climbing over the foot hills untill we reached "jackadgerry pass " at the base of the great dividing range propper.
i was surprised at the view of the "Mann River" some 80 odd ks off from grafton .now open to us at the base of the plateau a fantasic picnic area alongside the river and a camping ground the other side . the river full of holiday makers splashing and having fun
now off to chase alongside the Mann River, a sandy meandering wide creek through a verry much hidden valley till it hit the "gibralta ranges " ...an awesome hill climb ...with nice even curves and a steep incline ...we paused about 3/4 the way up the hill for a view of the valley we had just traversed
hmm a few spots of rain on what so far had been a verry warm ride ...should i say even hot for us bike gear adourned travellers.from open sunshine to now overcast and humid conditions .. we sallied forth up the last bit of hill climb deciding that if the weather changed we would stop and change as neccessary .
well thats it for pictures for today .....
what happened in just a few short killometers was astounding ...astonishing in fact ...
as we approached the top of the hillls we were greeted with howling gusts of enoumous winds throwing us off line as we tried to maintain a reasonable pace with still some 75 odd killometers before glenn innes ( the next stop )
the rain had slightly increased but not by any means you would call it soaking rain but what did happen was that visibility decreased to woesome levels at tmes, i could hardly see but a mere 30 odd meters in front through the now blustery fog , incredibly cold and ferocious winds battering us . at one point i had a good look in the rear view mirrors checking that ably was close at hand (as you do every few seconds ) ...i could see the white fairing out front ...the bike kinda dropping away in speed behind me (such was the intensity of the most recent open section of bush and the power of the wind blast ) ....but alby couldnt be seen .... i was openly laughing at the situation, serious though it was.
in just a few killometers we had been in temperature in the high 20 s and feeling the heat ...to now chill blanes starting to form on my hands ...visibility now almost non existant ...alby nowhere to be seen (hiding behind his fairing ) and gusts of wind that felt like at any time they would sweep us off the side of the road ....
a car, some ways back had been caching us pretty quickly, after it rejoined the road ...was now happily just content to keep safe distance and follow the bike taillamps through this awesome weather experience .
i knew enough to stay on road at safe speed and keep mooving forward ...for i fear if we stopped and took time to change we would certainly be double thinking the whole state of affairs ...bikes would have tumbled off sidestands in the houling bitter winds, cargo crashing, panieers been broken ...strewth ..especially with still 70 -80 or more killometers before any possible hope of finding any shelter ,civilisation and respite .
at long last glenn innes was acheived ...a "maccas" sign welcoming us to warmth and shelter from the abonabal change in our days venture ....just a few short 60 killometers off ..was a fire and friendship ...we were going to make that mark in guyra ..through rain, wind and freezing conditions . .... yay the mighty "k".....