Spyder Wars: traction control to Kyogle and beyond Woodburn

I planned to go for a ride that I thought would only be for several hours and I would be back home by lunch time. I had been wanting to do this trip since the start of the week, but I was unwell with a cold so thought I would need my witts about be before leaving to places unknown. The plan had been to ride through Kyogle and onto Casino though I wanted to see a town called The Risk as I wanted to take the risk. (Did you see what I did there?) I had been hoping that it would not be a wet day and I was not disappointed at all as there was blue sky.

I left just before 9am in the morning and told the dog I would be back by lunch though somehow I don’t think that would happen at all. I headed towards Murwillumbah as I was heading to Kyogle via Uki. I think that would be the Kyogle road, but I think I would be right. It takes you to the turn off towards Nimbin if you want to head that way too. I had to have two pit stops along the way and I have no idea why this was happening as I stopping in Tumbulgum and then Uki. Looks like they were building a new pub out that way to replace the one that burnt down. The road was not too bad until I got to the other side of Cawongla as the road turned into a messy goat track for several kilometres and a windy road. The road did improve though I kept my eye out to make sure it wasn’t too bad. It was not too far at all to Kyogle once we hit the decent roads.

Pit stops in Kyogle meant I was able to get a couple of minutes off the bike and I wanted to head up the Summerland Highway towards a town called The Risk. The reason behind me going looking for the town was that I had seen it on the map and wanted to see it. If I kept following the Summerland Highway I would have ended up in Brisbane via Woodenbong and Beaudesert. I found The Risk and even a few cows that were on the side of the road. I really did not want to wear one even though they crossed the road in front of me. On the way back I waved to the farmer who was watching them. At the time I was getting worried I would run out of fuel on the way back to Kyogle though I never did and I was wondering where other petrol stations in the area actually were. I had to stop at Kyogle again for fuel and some food for lunch well a pepper steak pie.

The next leg of the journey took me through to Casino though I did not actually get to see very much of the town at all as the highway sends you straight out again. I was wondering which turn off I should take if the Grafton or Lismore roads would get me to my destination. I wanted to head to Woodburn and I did stop to google directions. Somehow Google sent me to a casino that was 7 hours away. I had to put in Casino NSW and the map gave me better directions. I was taking the road to Lismore and was following the right track. I soon found I was having a nice ride though I really did not want to go through Lismore. I imagined myself having a temper tantrum and throwing things saying I did not want to go there. I missed the turn off that took me through to Woodburn and had to ride down to the turn off for the Lismore airport and turn around.

The turn off took me towards a town that I had only read about in assignments in university. I wanted to visit the town and as I went round a bend a car had just gone over the white lines on my side of the road and I could have sworn we just missed each other by not very much or it could have been further away. I wasn’t crapping myself at all at that stage, which is unusual for me. The town of Coraki would be good to visit though I had to take the long way round as a bridge was out. It was a very long way and I took another road, Tukurimba road though I did see the detour road took me to Woodburn so it wasn’t a big loss. A car following me that had turned off onto the same road took off like a bat out of hell and I never seen him again. Once in Coraki, I had to stop quickly as I had a bug on the inside of my visor and had to get it out. The house I parked in front of had the owner asking if I was alright and I told him I needed a couple of minutes. We chatted about the bike for a bit and then I got to have a quick look down one of the streets along the river before deciding I should head to Woodburn before it got too late as I had a couple of things to do.

Once I exited the town I had seen a road that could take me to Woodburn and it was an unsealed road. Several hundred metres down the road I decided it was best to turn around and go back as I did not want to destroy my tyres with the unsealed road with all the rocks even if it was 10kms away. I had to take Tukurimba road to the Woodburn – Wyrallah road as it was sealed and I wanted to join the main highway. At least it was sealed and I had no problems riding to Woodburn. I was getting tired at the same time as it was now around 2pm. The sky was now cloudy, but was actually perfect as the sun was not in my eyes. The day was coming to a close and I was aiming my nose towards the north in Tweed where I would ride home. I found after my long ride during the day that I had done around 400kms. The ride along the highway was only annoying when it was posted at 50kms through Broadwater and a slow run over the hills. I will be back down that way the next week for a big bike service and I was satisfied the bike had a decent reun.

Kapital Tour Day 10 – All things must come to an end

Kapital Tour Day 10 – All things must come to an end

Today was it. The last day on the trip that was a flash tour through two cities and I was happy to say that I had done well indeed by finding plenty of things to do. I am that sort of tourist who doesn’t sit and relax, but jumps out and explores. The morning found me wandering around a little bit of The Rocks and Dawes Point searching for the old ferry landing that had been on that side of the harbour. I found the location of where the ferry was and its really walk past and not even realise what it was under the shadow of the Harbour Bridge. The Garrison Church was closed for renovations until July so that couldn’t be visited. I did find the Dawes Point gun battery though I had thought it was covered up by the works the builders were doing on the bridge making sure it is alright. This took me right up to the time I had to leave to collect my bag from the room as I had to checkout. I didn’t need to be at the airport until around 12pm so I had plenty of time.

Once I checked out of the hostel I decided to upload the pictures from the camera to my external Hard Drive so then I would not really have to do so later. After that was done I uploaded onto Youtube another video that I had made. It took a little bit though it was still taking up time before I had to leave. Once I left the building I made sure I would be alright and not fall over down any slippery steps. There was a tour I could not merge in as it was all school kids being taken through. I doubt I would become one with that group at all. I ended up next to the Contempory Arts museum where I checked out the cottage and William Bligh. I was happy to be heading towards the airport on the last day that I had in the city. At least I was not leaving in the early AM to get home. There was a very noisy crane that was working on pier 5 at Circular Quay and once they did stop they were nice enough to apologise for making so much noise. I thought that was pretty cool for someone to be in the city though I was quick to catch the train to the airport.

Once at the airport and I checked in saying no to a seat on the exit row on the computer I had to wait half an hour before I could put my main bag in. Luckily there was plenty to do and some reading to catch up on. Once I was done and through, it was then I had found the weather had turned and it was raining at the airport. I had lunch and found where I had to go quite easily. The plane was a little bit late from Cairns, but I was not worried at all. The flight did not take long and I found the weather was wet back home too. It was good to be back after a short trip away and I got to meet a few people. I think I made full use of my multipass that I got so that I could use on the trip. I have found hiring a bike will help with the quickness of getting around distances that you will take a while in getting around on foot. The Nations capital is like a big country town on a long weekend and people literally vanish unlike Sydney and other cities. I think winter is sometimes the best time to visit some areas especially as heat wears you out quickly. At least it was this trip that I was having computer problems and not anything longer as I would have been stuck if the computer deteriorated any further. My blog word file would not open on the netbook, but works on my home computer so that shows there is a problem somewhere.

Kapital Tour Day 9 Prowling Parramatta

Kapital Tour Day 9 Prowling Parramatta

The plan for today was to head out to Parramatta by ferry this morning and then head back by train after I was done for the day.  I had found that the boat couldn’t go up steam on low tide though just after 8am the boat was not particularly busy at all as I thought like all ferries in Circular Quay they would be busy. I sat on the bow watching the world go by though wondering about the worker who kept walking off though he left his bags nearby.  Had always thought stuff like that was an issue in todays world though I was not bothered. There were a great many things to see along the trip and I did take plenty of photos well before I reached Parramatta. I could see why you would end up taking the bus at low tide as the channels right up to the city were narrow. Although I was feeling chilly, I stayed where I was on the boat as I wanted the experience. Once we came to the end of the line we could not go any further as there was a weir and I became worried when the boat began turning around as I thought the captain hadn’t realised I was there and there were no passengers. They were turning around so they could leave in the other direction plus there were several other passengers on board too.

The sign welcomed me to Parramatta and I was happy for that though I needed to have a pit stop before I went anywhere at all or else I might have problems and I had no idea where I wanted to go. Once in the loo I was told I had 10 mins, which was alright and then the toilet claimed there was no one inside and to move. I moved, but it couldn’t detect me and said some fateful words... Unlocking! I locked the door though it was weird as I did not want the door to open or unlock on me. After I escaped I went walking for the information centre that had maps for me though I became lost as usual looking for the building, which should never be surprising, but I did find it after looking up the information on my phone. I really misinterpreted the sign and wandered in the wrong direction back the way I had gone. The information centre was next to the Lennox Bridge that was built on the foundations of the Goal Bridge and has tunnels that have now been blocked off. Both bridges are meant to be really old as in from back in the colony with convicts old though don’t quote me on that. I didn’t actually go check it out as I had ran out of time at the end of the day. I did have a look at The Prince Alfred Park that had a war memorial and I later found this park was used to hang people though I was in a hurry to visit the Parramatta Stadium while walking along the river. The map I had gained showed me where the historical sites were, but never gave much information about how to get there. I wandered around the stadium though next door was the leagues club.

I was actually going to check out the site of the Female Factory which housed women during the convict era though I soon found out I could not enter the location as there were people around and it looked busy so being unshaven they would know that I did not belong. I decided to Google on my phone outside the Cumberland hospital to see if there were tours or anything. A nice lady started chatting to me letting me know they were filming there and one of the shows was Lovechild. I was surprised about this and told her I was not a local and I surprised her as she told me it was good for a tourist to be interested in stuff like that and up the road was the old Parramatta Goal.  Googled that too though I had to check out the buildings inside the hospital as there were some nice sandstone ones there. The hospital had to be one of the oldest in the country. The New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry was a lovely sandstone building though there was a bell outside that made me think it had another use once in the past. I did wander towards the old goal though decided to head towards the cafe across the river from the leagues club. The walk to the cafe was not too bad an there was another weir along with bats that were in the trees.

Once I stopped and had something to eat, I was off to the area that was called the Dairy Cottage that had something to do with early crops and the dairy that helped the colony. Salte I think the guys name was though it was interesting to see the wire animals seem to be a big hit on the tourist sites these days. I have no idea what the attraction actually is, but they are there and I am playing tourist so cant really knock it. From there I was wanting to visit the Boar war memorial and Old Government House. I soon found the memorial to be blocked off as they were doing some building in the park to make it pretty. I was looking at what in the distance looked like part of a cemetery only to find that it wasn’t a cemetery, but several blocks and a monument to the old observatory in Parramatta Park that had been built by governor Brisbane. There was also a bath house that had been turned into a bandstand nearby too that was one of Australia’s oldest recreation building. I wandered over to the Governor house to find I was allowed to take a wander through the grounds though there would be no tour on the Monday as it was all to do with school tour groups. It was a UNESCO heritage site long with a few other convict heritage locations. The barracks had a fire several times and was a school as well though the stables were knocked down to make the Parramatta train line so thats progress and I never realised just how close that train line runs in the city.

After the Old Government House I wanted to check out the Tudor arch though got the wrong exit as I chose the closest one and then found the right one with yoga people doing their thing in the gardens. They might have been wondering why I was taking photos of them, but I wasn’t and nor could I hear them over the music I was listening to. There was a memorial to Lady Fitzroy who had hit a tree in the park while she was in a carriage, but I don’t know the story. The next location with a very cloudy sky was St John’s Cemetery which is one of the oldest as it was established in 1790. When I walked up to it I seen that there was a closed fence with a padlock and I thought well damn just my luck. I tried to open the gate and it opened so I could gain access though I would never have been able to jump the brick fence. It had been in the news recently about how the cemetery was very overgrown and unsafe to walk through though I did find that the cemetery was easy to walk even though half of it had been maintained. There were many notable residents in the cemetery with Reverend Samuel Marsden, Lady Fitzroy and Wentworth. There are a few First Fleeters in the cemetery though one of the graves was covered in a big blue tarp and I think that was the Wentworth grave though I could be unsure. I think it was William Wentworth’s father or William himself though I cannot remember, but they are both prominent in Australian history. I did enjoy wandering the cemetery, but knowing it was starting to get later I was wanting to get back to the city before the hordes of commuters get the idea of catching the train at the end of the day. To get to Lady Fitzroy I found the grass to be very long and it was lucky it was not summer as there would have been snakes too. So it had been half maintained, which wasn’t too bad.

The wander to the town centre was really interesting as I thought I could get there and then there would be easy signage to tell you where the train was so that I could catch it. The first thing I really noticed was St. John’s Cathedral, which was built around 1803 and is still around today. Across from the cathedral was the old Town Hall and a sign that said it used to be an old market place. By this time I really wanted to get the train so started off in a direction before realising I was going the wrong way as I should have the church to my back and not heading towards the park. I turned around and found the Parramatta Library where I thought I was on the right street only to find I was wrong again. I did eventually find my way to the station and there viewing board that tells you the services were not working and I couldn’t hear the announcements as three were talking over the top of themselves. I made my way to platform 1 and an announcement told me Platform 3. I raced to the platform and made a perfect jump onto the train that was 10 points before the door closed. I was not sure if I was actually on the right train, but I looked up several stations on my phone and found I seemed to be going the right way. It was also raining so I had to be careful once I got off. I got off at Town Hall with the intentions of taking pictures, but never did that though it was wet and it was busy. I got an early tea before heading back to the hostel via Circular Quay though I had to figure out what train to catch there as I wasn’t familiar with the lines. I knew the City line took me there, but I ended up on a Central Coast line, but luckily I got off. I was damp when I wandered through The Rocks though it will be slippery if there is more water around.

Tomorrow is the day I head home and was a good short trip away from everything. One thing I need to get sorted is a buggy netbook, but that is no huge problem since I wasn’t on a long trip.

Kapital Tour Day 8 A gentle city stroll

Kapital Tour Day 8 A gentle city stroll

Sunday was the day that was going to be an easy one hopefully. I was planning to meet a friend in the city around lunch time where we would walk through the Botanic gardens in the city. I started off with having to sort out the washing as I really needed to do some and wasn’t going to wait until later in the day when the mass hordes would have the same idea. I went to get breakfast while the load was in the wash and was wondering what was with the strange coffee from a chocolate shop called Guylian as it could have been rocket fuel instead of coffee. The one at maccas was a little bit better. The dryer took around 40 mins so I used that time to wander around The Rocks though I ended up above Millers Point where the building was going on like for the Casino. People do not seem to be too happy about all this and it is a bit of roadworks going on in the area too. I was thinking of entering the Garrison Church though there was a service going on and I had to get my clothes out of the dryer.

By the time I got the clothes out I thought I would hang out for a little while in the room to have a look at some stuff online before making my move towards Hyde Park to wait for Sharon who was going to turn up sooner than later. I decided to catch the train instead of walking that far and even though I didn’t have far to go I thought I would save time. That is especially after taking a wander through The Rocks towards Wynyard.  The train didn’t take long at all and I jumped out spending around 15 mins taking a wander around the block. I did end up in Martin Place and never actually realised how close Channel 7 was to the Lindt Cafe though it would only have been several metres away, but I avoided the building as I had no interest in it. The coffee could be good though I rather a pie, but I was waiting on someone. Once I found a seat in Hyde Park some guy went off his tree at another person as he did not like them taking a picture of the chess game, but other people directed him away from the photographer. I was thinking this is why you do not do drugs, ever. He really wanted the guy to delete the photo and another nut jeered him on by telling him to grab the camera. Luckily by then Sharon was arriving though she got lost herself.

Our aim was to visit the Botanic garden though we did enter the Garden Palace gates though we did find a cafe nearby that had food and coffee. It was the sort of day that I needed as I had been full on since I left home and getting up early for my trips around the country side. We didn’t walk through the whole area though we did find little bits and pieces to keep us occupied. We found the rose guarden thouh it was more Sharons thing as I cant smell flowers. We ended up finding the other cafe and another little tribute towards an old Sydney with what was called a culvert that was a drain that had been built during the Macquarie era. These were hand made by the convicts and wasn’t something we expected. The Macquarie Wall was something else of significance through the park that was still standing. We had a nic wander along the harbour foreshore on our way to have a look at Mrs Macquaries chair that isa featureof the land scape where the lady would sit and watch the ships. By this tme it was getting late and the plant shop was actually closed on Sunday. Sharonn wanted to take off before it became dark as she had a long trip ahead of her and we separated around Martin Place.

I was trying to find a bookshop though I was a little lost in the dark, but I was actually heading in the right direction. It is the type of bookshop you visit while in Sydney and once I had a look though I only had an hour before it closed so I had to move on. I took the train from Town Hall to Wynyard though I could have headed to Circular Quay instead. On the way I dropped my bag off so that I could have dinner at the Hero of Waterloo one of the pubs that claim they are the oldest though who knows for sure. I was happy to have a meal there and a beer by James Squire called The Three Wives that would have been interesting to drink with the meal. I ate at the bar though I had to change places since where I was at became pretty crowded and people had trouble getting around me. It was a nice walk back at night too and not many people around though it just depends on what part of the city you are in. I did find that when I was lost all I needed to do was to google the streets from the corner I was on and it would show me where I was and then I had a fair idea.

Tomorrow is the last full day of the tour and I am going to visit Parramatta, leaving on the ferry in the morning and returning by train though the plan could change.