THE BRISBANE RUN
Oxley Nirvana and Northern Rivers Fun
by DaveR
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The spectacular Barrington Tops |
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Thunderbolts Lookout |
| The Players:
Ash: 2002 GSXR1000 The Distance: Approx 2500km return |
As we approached Gloucester, we had to stop and snap the spectacular Barrington Tops off to our left. Ash was scratching himself like a madman, leading to speculation as to whether he had fleas or a reaction to the perfume. We concluded it was probably just a reaction to the cold since it cleared up when he warmed up.
About 7 km out of Gloucester, Lee felt it was time to unleash the hounds and took off in front. Unfortunately, he missed the turnoff to Thunderbolt's Way and continued on toward Scone. We didn't see him for another hour but we reminded him of his lack of sign reading skills for the next six days.
Thunderbolts is gradually being upgraded but is a ton of fun in its present condition. Most of the surface is good and there are a variety of corners, mostly 45s to 75s. Don't miss the lookout about 90 km from Walcha (like Lee did). The corners mostly run out near Nowendoc, but it's well surfaced and fast. Beware of the Blue gang when approaching Walcha.
After re-fuelling at Walcha, we headed up the Oxley Highway toward Wauchope and
motorcycle Nirvana. This well known road is about 173 km to the highway,
begins with long straights, and is well surfaced all the way. However, after
seeing a Highway Patrol who eyeballed us as we left we decided on caution,
at least until we reached the swervery. The initial section to Gingers Creek
consists of more open corners, mostly 45s and 55s. Lee had never ridden this
road before and was grinning like a kid at Christmas when we reached Gingers
Creek. This place is well known as a motorcycle friendly stop for fuel, food
or accommodation.
The road from Gingers Creek is well surfaced and tight for about 30 to 40 km
although some of the corners have now been chopped up by trucks. Emerging
from the tree lined road, we descended down to more open country but the
road remains interesting past Long Flat to Wauchope and the Pacific Highway.
An overnight stay at the Nambucca Hotel, Macksville, in a room next to the highway saw Ash's snoring compete with about one truck every ten seconds for the Most Noise Award. Trucks won. Just.
An early start and after about 25km we left the highway and took the Waterfall Way through Bellingen and up to Dorrigo. This was truly special countryside, with mist hanging in the valley. We began the climb on race track quality corners which lasted about 14 km, probably the best section of road on the trip.
Breakfast time was spent at Juan's Café in Dorrigo, "The Smallest Motorcycle Museum in the World". Here we were met by Juan, a 4 foot, heavily accented South American motorcycle enthusiast and a café with a fire, vintage bikes and walls plastered with bike pictures. He told us of the day he served 250 cups of coffee when 300 Ulyssians landed at his doorstep. We stayed a while.
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Scene from the smallest motorcycle museum in the world |
We headed Northwest to Tyringham and then Northeast through Billy's Creek and Nymboida to Grafton. These roads are now all sealed and were enjoyable, but required caution. One section though, where the corners were sign posted, provided a good surface and allowed the corners to be attacked with confidence. The rest of the road had sections with gravel on the surface. One such corner nearly brought an early end to my trip and could only be taken after sliding and correcting twice.
We took the boring but fast Summerland Highway to Casino and saw Highway Patrols in both directions. Be warned.
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Obligatory border shot |
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...an hour from home: Laban sign lessons at the Raymond Terrace pub |
This road intersects with another heading north to Beaudesert, and it was here that Glenn and I nearly wound up in the back of a hearse when we followed it into a blind 20 km/h corner which ended abruptly at a T intersection.
It was basically all traffic from Beaudesert to our destination. The next two days were a blur of beers on the marina, lesbian rock bands, a transvestite who forgot to shave and watching the MotoGP on the big screen.
Sunday morning, Al lent me the GSX1400 and he and Chooky took a Softtail on a breakfast run to Mt Glorious. This is a tight, well surfaced, heavily policed road but was loads of fun on the GSX. After parking the softy, Al mumbled something about "ploughing the fields with this fuckin' tractor".
We started the return trip early Sunday morning and followed the Numinbah Valley road to Murwillumbah. This road would have been one of the best, with flowing well surfaced corners and top class scenery, had it not been for 80km/h speed limits and a speed blitz.
The best breakfast ever at the Green Leaf Caféin Murwillumbah was followed by a return to Kyogle through Uki on a road which rates about an 8.5 on the Oxley fun scale. This road is over 70km long, is now sealed all the way and has a section of open twists and turns that seem to go on forever. Some are bumpy, but most are well surfaced.
From Kyogle, it was basically transport mode back to an overnighter at Port Macquarie.
A late start led to more joy on Oxley's twisties. When we came upon a straight section which dipped and rose for 1 or 2 km, I got the urge to 'buzz the tower'. Travelling behind Lee and Ash, I tucked behind the screen, snicked back to 5th, and nailed it. The thrust of acceleration was accompanied by the boom of the Yoshis which echoed off the road, and the bike was still pulling hard when I shut down at the top of the rise. I cruised and waited, but not for long. Lee rocketed past with the 750 pinned and screaming.
More good times were again had on the excellent Thunderbolt's way, punctuated by happy snaps at the lookout.
Finally, we found ourselves on the balcony of the pub at Raymond Terrace, watching the sun set over the river and feeling well pleased with a trip that resulted in no spills, no bookings and no rain.
Many Thanks to Carl, Belinda, Al and Cheryl for their gracious hospitality.
