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It was a Sunday morning and both me an Kim were very happy to have a lazy one. I spent some time organising my blog and pictures etc over breakfast and then at about lunch time we went for a drive around the town of Forster.
Kim took me to see all of the views, beaches and river etc. It was a really miserable morning/afternoon and was raining but even then I could see that it is a really lovely place. We saw some Whales off in the distance. I was not too sure whether to stay another night in Forster because the weather was so bad and I only had the Pacific Highway ahead of me i.e. no lovely quiet roads. I decided that as I still have such a long way to go up to Brisbane that I would try to get off today.
Kim very kindly gave me a lift in the rain to the service station up the road where I thought I might be able to hitch a lift north. At least that way I could check people out before getting into their car. After about 30min I met a guy called Paul that was driving all the way up to Brisbane and he said he would take me. It turned out brilliantly. He is a lovely guy and we had loads in common to chat about on the way. The weather got worse as the day went on. There were thunderstorms and torrential rain! I was very glad to be doing the long distances where there are only busy roads (motorways) in a car. It would not have been safe by bike.
We stopped in Grafton about 8ish and had a lovely Chinese meal and nattered till late.
Lovely chilled day - glad not to be biking today.
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25th Oct - Grafton to Murwillumbah
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1 month since I left the UK - and what a month!
Me and Paul got up early to get back on the road again. I decided not to go all the way to Brisbane with him and instead stay in Murwillumbah so that I could go and climb Mt Warming. It is the point which sees the sunrise first in Aus and surrounded by natural rain forests. Byron Beach is not too far away.
We had breakfast in a small town on the way and then Paul dropped me off in Murwillumbah at lunch time. I went to the tourist info place to find out about accommodation/trains/distances etc and then went to the library to do some emailing and couch surfing to try and get accommodation for the next few days. I am really glad that I did as it just rained non stop for 3 hours. There was no point in even thinking of climbing Mt Warning today as it was just in cloud.
I ended up getting supplies in town and having an explore and wander round the lovely small town of Murwillumbah and then biking out to the campsite at the base of Mt Warming. It was not a long bike ride (14km) and it was really beautiful through the forested hills - but the road was flat. Stopped off at lovely fruit and veg place and the guy gave me some free fresh mangos and an orange.
It was raining hard and the rivers were really full.
Took this photo of the rain hitting the sign for the "Rain Forest Cafe) - I love irony.
The guy at the campsite said I could put my tent under the protection in the kitchen area as I was like a drowned rat when I arrived. At least I would have a dry tent to put away in the morning.
Met Alison who was also camping. She is traveling round NSW selling her map of the area. She had created the map by walking all of the trails and driving all of the roads in the area with a GPS tracker. It is the only map with all of this information at this scale. Great. She decided to join me up Mt Warming for sunrise as she had never done it.
Cooked soup and pasta for diner on my stove. My budget is going well. Banana sandwiches rock! Bought a big bag of porridge oats for 50p and pasta for £1. Most of the time though food is double compared to the UK.
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26th Oct - Mt Warming for Sunrise
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Alarm went off at 3 and I got everything all ready. We got into the car at 3.30 and drove the 4km up the road to the start of the walk. The walk up was fine in the dark with head torches. I was a well marked route with man made steps and chains etc in the difficult parts. There is one stretch which is pretty step up the rocks to the stop. It was good to stretch my legs on the last section as Alison told me to go ahead.
The views really were magical! I love having a decent camera and being able to record all of this trip. There was low cloud over the valley. The views were amazing. We watched the sunrise for about 1 hour. There were 3 other people up there: a couple that had walked up as well and a guy that camped up the top (we woke him up when we arrived as we did not realise that he was there).
We got back about 9.30 and I then went to sleep in my tent until 12 and got up to pack away my things. Chatted with lovely people from UK over my porridge breakfast at the campsite. Left the campsite at 2 and biked into town for some supplies. On way I had to stop at this beautiful little cafe by the creek for a coffee and some cheese cake. It was a lovely treat :-)
In Murwillumbah I got some string etc to temporary fix my pannier rack on my bike. Also got some cheap food and of course the obligatory banana sandwich.
As I was leaving town (already running late) I stopped to take a picture of the Jackaranda Trees with the lovely purple flowers and met Guy who is walking from Brisbane to Melbourne for the next few months. He was really lovely. Hat and stick and everything.....
We had a really good natter for about 1 hour. It is a shame I was heading out of town as it would have been good to spend more time with him. I might end up meeting him on ride from Melbourne to Sydney in a month. Good to meet another nutter.
Left town about 5ish thinking that would give me about 2,5 hours of biking and I would get to the place 10km beyond Natural bridge where the guy at last night's campsite said I could free camp. Tough ride up to the boarder to Queensland. Uphill for about 1.5hours non stop. Slow going but beautiful. My legs did not go or anything but I was glad to get to the top.
When I got to Natural Bridge it was getting really dark and I looked for a place to put my tent - but there was no where obvious and also signs for no camping! I thought about it and saw the public toilets there. Outside the loos was a large decking area for people to sit and eat etc. I thought the best idea would be to wait for the people to leave so that no one knew that I was here. I though people would leave by 8 at the latest as there is nothing to see in the dark! How wrong could I be....
I decided to hide in the disabled loo for a few minutes and wait for people to go. There started to get more and more people outside and I got very tired and sleepy (it had been a long day). I feel asleep (knowing that I had to get up very early to bike to met Kim). It has to be one of the strangest places I have stayed.....
It turned out that it was a big tourist thing down here to go and see the glow worms in the caves. I was woken up by the rangers at 9ish. They had seen me in here. They had no sense of humor. They said that they would drop me off down the road somewhere that I could put up my tent. Unfortunately they would not wait for 10 mins for me to go and see the glow worms and so I missed it. Oh well :-(
I rough camped by a river under a shelter as it was easier to put up my tent there. It was 11 ish by the time I got sorted. I did not have the best nights sleep.
FB: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96284&id=1408960696&l=45a885426e
Kim took me to see all of the views, beaches and river etc. It was a really miserable morning/afternoon and was raining but even then I could see that it is a really lovely place. We saw some Whales off in the distance. I was not too sure whether to stay another night in Forster because the weather was so bad and I only had the Pacific Highway ahead of me i.e. no lovely quiet roads. I decided that as I still have such a long way to go up to Brisbane that I would try to get off today.Kim very kindly gave me a lift in the rain to the service station up the road where I thought I might be able to hitch a lift north. At least that way I could check people out before getting into their car. After about 30min I met a guy called Paul that was driving all the way up to Brisbane and he said he would take me. It turned out brilliantly. He is a lovely guy and we had loads in common to chat about on the way. The weather got worse as the day went on. There were thunderstorms and torrential rain! I was very glad to be doing the long distances where there are only busy roads (motorways) in a car. It would not have been safe by bike.
We stopped in Grafton about 8ish and had a lovely Chinese meal and nattered till late.
Lovely chilled day - glad not to be biking today.
FB: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96276&id=1408960696&l=eec3e3895b
25th Oct - Grafton to Murwillumbah
View Australia Tracks in a larger map
1 month since I left the UK - and what a month!
Me and Paul got up early to get back on the road again. I decided not to go all the way to Brisbane with him and instead stay in Murwillumbah so that I could go and climb Mt Warming. It is the point which sees the sunrise first in Aus and surrounded by natural rain forests. Byron Beach is not too far away.
We had breakfast in a small town on the way and then Paul dropped me off in Murwillumbah at lunch time. I went to the tourist info place to find out about accommodation/trains/distances etc and then went to the library to do some emailing and couch surfing to try and get accommodation for the next few days. I am really glad that I did as it just rained non stop for 3 hours. There was no point in even thinking of climbing Mt Warning today as it was just in cloud.I ended up getting supplies in town and having an explore and wander round the lovely small town of Murwillumbah and then biking out to the campsite at the base of Mt Warming. It was not a long bike ride (14km) and it was really beautiful through the forested hills - but the road was flat. Stopped off at lovely fruit and veg place and the guy gave me some free fresh mangos and an orange.
It was raining hard and the rivers were really full.
Took this photo of the rain hitting the sign for the "Rain Forest Cafe) - I love irony.
The guy at the campsite said I could put my tent under the protection in the kitchen area as I was like a drowned rat when I arrived. At least I would have a dry tent to put away in the morning.
Met Alison who was also camping. She is traveling round NSW selling her map of the area. She had created the map by walking all of the trails and driving all of the roads in the area with a GPS tracker. It is the only map with all of this information at this scale. Great. She decided to join me up Mt Warming for sunrise as she had never done it.Cooked soup and pasta for diner on my stove. My budget is going well. Banana sandwiches rock! Bought a big bag of porridge oats for 50p and pasta for £1. Most of the time though food is double compared to the UK.
FB: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96282&id=1408960696&l=90078ba42c
26th Oct - Mt Warming for Sunrise
View Australia Tracks in a larger map
Alarm went off at 3 and I got everything all ready. We got into the car at 3.30 and drove the 4km up the road to the start of the walk. The walk up was fine in the dark with head torches. I was a well marked route with man made steps and chains etc in the difficult parts. There is one stretch which is pretty step up the rocks to the stop. It was good to stretch my legs on the last section as Alison told me to go ahead.
The views really were magical! I love having a decent camera and being able to record all of this trip. There was low cloud over the valley. The views were amazing. We watched the sunrise for about 1 hour. There were 3 other people up there: a couple that had walked up as well and a guy that camped up the top (we woke him up when we arrived as we did not realise that he was there).
We got back about 9.30 and I then went to sleep in my tent until 12 and got up to pack away my things. Chatted with lovely people from UK over my porridge breakfast at the campsite. Left the campsite at 2 and biked into town for some supplies. On way I had to stop at this beautiful little cafe by the creek for a coffee and some cheese cake. It was a lovely treat :-)In Murwillumbah I got some string etc to temporary fix my pannier rack on my bike. Also got some cheap food and of course the obligatory banana sandwich.
As I was leaving town (already running late) I stopped to take a picture of the Jackaranda Trees with the lovely purple flowers and met Guy who is walking from Brisbane to Melbourne for the next few months. He was really lovely. Hat and stick and everything.....We had a really good natter for about 1 hour. It is a shame I was heading out of town as it would have been good to spend more time with him. I might end up meeting him on ride from Melbourne to Sydney in a month. Good to meet another nutter.
Left town about 5ish thinking that would give me about 2,5 hours of biking and I would get to the place 10km beyond Natural bridge where the guy at last night's campsite said I could free camp. Tough ride up to the boarder to Queensland. Uphill for about 1.5hours non stop. Slow going but beautiful. My legs did not go or anything but I was glad to get to the top.
When I got to Natural Bridge it was getting really dark and I looked for a place to put my tent - but there was no where obvious and also signs for no camping! I thought about it and saw the public toilets there. Outside the loos was a large decking area for people to sit and eat etc. I thought the best idea would be to wait for the people to leave so that no one knew that I was here. I though people would leave by 8 at the latest as there is nothing to see in the dark! How wrong could I be....I decided to hide in the disabled loo for a few minutes and wait for people to go. There started to get more and more people outside and I got very tired and sleepy (it had been a long day). I feel asleep (knowing that I had to get up very early to bike to met Kim). It has to be one of the strangest places I have stayed.....
It turned out that it was a big tourist thing down here to go and see the glow worms in the caves. I was woken up by the rangers at 9ish. They had seen me in here. They had no sense of humor. They said that they would drop me off down the road somewhere that I could put up my tent. Unfortunately they would not wait for 10 mins for me to go and see the glow worms and so I missed it. Oh well :-(
I rough camped by a river under a shelter as it was easier to put up my tent there. It was 11 ish by the time I got sorted. I did not have the best nights sleep.
FB: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96284&id=1408960696&l=45a885426e
