Decisions, Decisions

27-09-25

The time has finally come for us to leave Broadwater, Gold Coast and start to make our way south. One week today (P:- Correction at time of posting 5 DAYS ) and we are on the Spirit of Tas heading for home. But we have a week. So what will we do, where will we go.

We make it a whole 80 kilometres before we stop in Murwillumbah, out come the bikes and we hit the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. Now let me back up just a bit. Yes, I have a new e-bike and yes I could get ahead of Philip and do it without stress on my knees. I liked the feeling, but apparently Philip didn’t like being left behind. You all know that he is a keen bargainer, so he’s busily searching Facebook Marketplace for a used e-bike. Luckily for him, unluckily for me, (I liked outriding him,) he found one the right size and price, that had hardly been used. Now we have four bikes on board. Two that will get very little use and two new snazzy e-bikes. (P:-What can I say? But one thing for sure is I do like to buy a bargain – and I did – and the Author still sails past with a cheeky grin).

Now back to the rail trail. This rail trail is fairly new. The first part that we are riding is the first 30 k of what will be a 130 k trail from Murwillumbah to Casino. This is a world heritage region thanks to its rainforests. The trail has 26 bridges, 6 restored and 10 bypassed as well as two tunnels and great views of Mt Warning. It is extremely picturesque and a great ride. We rode the first 15k down to the Burringbah Range Tunnel and return. This tunnel is the longest on the ride at 534 metres. We stopped at Stokers Siding Cafe for a light lunch, a small quiche and drink each. They were very tasty, before continuing back to Murwillumbah where we stowed the bikes back into the truck and headed down to Mooball which is at the southern end of this part of the track. The facilities along the track are great with bike hire, repair and sales shop at the start and finish, cafes, galleries, sign boards and rest areas along the way. It made for a great morning of sun, exercise and great views.

We continued driving south crossing the Richmond and Clarence Rivers and turning onto the Big River Way that followed the Clarence river through some lovely countryside and cute towns, eventually stopping for the night at Ulmarra. After parking at the Showgrounds we walked the short distance into town and along the riverfront and back just to loosen some muscles before dinner.

During the evening more decisions have to be made. Where to now? Philip thinks we will head back to the coast then south and back up over waterfall way. We will see in the morning if that happens.

We are off just before 8am this morning I’m thinking we heading to the coast but that doesn’t happen. Once we arrive in Grafton Philip turns west not east and we plug Glen Innes into the GPS, this heads us up over the beautiful Gibraltar Range on the Gwydir Highway, with good views down the valleys, palms and manferns lining the roadside and a total change of trees and growth as we crest the top of the range and head down the western side. This is a great road and being a Sunday traffic is pretty quiet.

From Glen Innes we head south to Armidale which will be our stop for tonight. Oh no that didn’t happen, we reached Guyra where we stopped for lunch, got the maps out and discovered we had time on our hands so we decided to head further West and North towards Lightning Ridge (won’t make it there tonight). So from Guyra we turn northwest and back onto the Gwydir Highway. We are now heading into grain country, sheep country and more agriculture. Around 4pm we find a great little campground on the Gwydir River, no one else around, views of the river from one window, views of grain paddocks from the other and lovely mauve flowers carpeting the ground. A lovely spot for the night. (P:- The author was too busy typing this to notice the beautiful sunset we had! Judith has never been to Lightning Ridge so in an instant we decided – let’s do it! It’s only 6 or 700 klm in the wrong direction for us to make up and we have all week – well 5 days). What a beautiful scenic “Road Trip” day it has been- a beautiful country drive.