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by Al

So what’s this TTC you ask? It’s an acronym that I made up! Why? Because I needed a name for this story and it sounded like a good idea at the time. It all started some time ago, well it feels like some time ago, when we were calculating what could be comfortably fitted on our bikes for four weeks camping. Being your untypical/typical tight arse types we were going to avoid the café – restaurant and hotel - motel scene and use the billy – pannikin and tent – sleeping bag. TTC however didn’t come about for sometime into the trip when on some of the longer runs I would dream a bit and try to compare travelling, touring and cruising, hence the acronym TTC.

We left East Brissy on a warmish sunny day for Straddie to join other club members stranded on a beach out in the midday sun having fun. We were running late as usual so we didn’t arrive until well into the afternoon. Everyone had been there for sometime and had had their first few swims and visit to the bar for those long cold beers and vinos that make you feel good.

First things first! Where to pitch the tent? Peter suggested we take a spot over near the fence versus Robyn suggesting we take a spot next to everyone else. Not sure of Peter's motive? Toss a coin and tent is erected like greased lightning. Slip the sleeping paraphernalia into the tent and change for a long deserved dip in the ocean. Swim over, its down to the pub for a quick slurp of the good stuff then back to camp to get ready for tea. We stayed on at Straddie for Sunday night with Michelle and Peter before heading south.

Back on the mainland we headed to Nerang and through the Numinbah Valley over Natural Arch into New South Wales and to Murwillumbah. We were amazed at how much greener the grass is on the other side. It obviously rains south of the border. We left Straddie a bit late so time was sort of getting on when we crossed the border. We grabbed our newly acquired camping book with lots of hints on where to stay and decided on Mebein National Park via Tyalgum. This required us to travel on some gravel to the site from Tyalgum which was in reasonable condition.

When we arrived at Mebein NP we were met by all these tents. A bit of a contrast to what we had imagined when we were travelling in. You would think that with thirty kilometres of gravel it would only be ventured to by the die hardest of the die hard. Nope, there were about forty odd year ten boys from a private school. As ex-teachers we decided to split and headed to Kyogle via Terragon and more gravel. We had identified another site just south of Casino in the Ellangowan State Forest for our camp. We arrived just before dark and were able to pitch the tent and have tea before it got too dark. The site itself is not far from the road so we were constantly bombarded throughout the night with trucks roaring past and a very broken sleep.

We awoke early to the hum of tyres on the bitumen from trucks and other lighter vehicles. Brekkie done and packed we headed down to Grafton then out along Waterfall Way. On the way we stopped to take some photos of signs and other interesting bits and pieces. We pulled into Ebor Falls for a bit of a squiz and some lunch. We were lucky as there had been quite a lot of rain and the falls were fairly humming. From Ebor we continued on to Walcha via Armidale and turning off at Uralla. On our way into Armidale we detoured down Wollombi Falls Rd to check out the views of northern Oxley Wild Rivers NP. The views here are fantastic and worth the gravel track in.

We stayed at the Walcha caravan park. It’s one of those caravan parks where you have piped music in the ablution block. The place is to die for. The grassed area for tents is probably the best you will ever find although it has a bit of a slope. It was here we met some characters on BMW’s who we had run into at Tyalgum. They were off to some BMW thingummy that BMW owners do! I noticed a lack of a tent and camping gear strapped to their bikes. The new BMW owners must be members of the hotel – motel and café – restaurant TTC crowd.

We left Walcha and headed down the Oxley Hwy. The Oxley is riddled with surprises. Not only does the road twist and wind, there are lots of national parks with lots of views and treats. We called into various parks to have a look at the gorges and falls. The views are fabulous and the camera got a bit of a caning. The road on the other hand winds down toward the coast through some fabulous country with regular outlooks and stops on the way. In particular you’re treated to many kilometres of nice twisty stuff. For example firstly as you descend you are warned that the road is twisty for the next 20 kilometres then immediately after that lovely warm up you come across another sign stating the road is twisty for the next 45 kilometres. By the bottom you’re sort of twisted out. Check it out on Google Maps.

Toward the end of the Oxley Hwy we stopped on the road side for lunch. It was here we ran into some travellers in a car who had pulled over to recover from the twisty bits. They had come from Austria and were delighted to meet their first ‘true Australian bikers’. In Austria they ride Jap bikes and hate Harleys the young bloke said. I enquired about why they don’t ride European thoroughbreds? English was a bit limited at this stage.

At Wauchope we took a detour to miss the main highway. This took us over some very interesting mountainous gravel back roads and through some equally interesting towns that I am sure have not seen too many travellers, especially on motor cycles. We headed down Coomboyne Rd through to Byabarra and of course Coomboyne. When we travelled through Coomboyne all the locals stopped and stared like you would never believe. A bit freaky! From Coomboyne we were tossing up whether to stay at a camp site in Birwal Bulgal NP or head for the coast as we needed to be in Sydney the next day. We decided to continue on to the coast via Wingham.

We stopped in Wingham for a breather after descending the range on some very slippery gravel that made it interesting negotiating the down hill corners. In Wingham we helped fix someone’s push bike, ate an apple and orange then headed for the coast.via Taree. We didn’t stay on the Pacific Hwy for long before deviating to our next campsite in Myall Lakes NP. We exited the Pacific Hwy onto The Lakes Way via Toncurry and Forster. The place was very busy and we were glad to find the gravel road which took us to our camp site. The campsite wasn’t too bad but unfortunately some grey nomads had forgotten to leave their generator and telly at home. Bastards! Regardless of the noise the 10km of gravel down Violet Hill Rd was worth the effort.

Then it was off to Sydney for a weekend of partying and getting ready for heading west.

~v7~

Continued in Part Two ...

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NSW Travel Notes