It was really tough leaving Steph and Shane, but I’m going south and they’re heading north.
We head inland to Tenterfield
A quiet, beautiful ride
Then south to Walcha
More of the same. Peaceful, uneventful
Then to a famous bike road, Walcha to Singleton
Fast open curves to start
Then tight twisties
Over some cool bridges
Past Campsis radicans (or grandiflora) growing on the ground and not in the trees. Strange
Then the road turned to dirt
Great forest riding
Out into the open towards Singleton
Then the next day the Putty Road. The twistiest sustained ride in this part of Australia. 100 miles of flipping left, right
Some mellower sections
Where I stopped to take our Christmas card photo
And into Sydney
Something that Lucinda and I have been talking about: the whole ride down since Karumba on the Gulf has been OK, and if you hadn’t ridden anywhere else in Australia we might think fun. But the truth is that nothing compares to the outback. The ride from Perth to Karumba was unbelievable heat, an indescribable beauty but mostly nothingness for day after day. An incredible experience.
The good news is we’ll be back there soon for the grand exit route.