The Wild Geese

Coffs Capers 2005
Being a weekend ride to Coffs Harbour to visit the Odyssey put on by the Coffs Harbour branch of Ulysses.

I should really let Mick write up this trip, it was more memorable for him than for me, but not in a good way!

Everything went according to plan until Ipswich - we took the high road over the Blackall Range to Kilcoy, then past Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe to Fernvale where we took a break. Can't remember for sure, but I think we had already covered up against the rain. The plan from here was to go through Ipswich then cut cross country to Beaudesert. Which we did, with a vengeance.

I can never find my way through Ipswich so I relied on the GPS to get us on the right roads, which it seemed to do. Unfortunately, shortly after leaving Ipswich we encountered a gravel road - not what I was expecting, as I expected to be routed via Boonah. Undeterred we pressed on, expecting a short stretch of gravel before getting back onto the tar. No such luck! The good gravel road became a pretty ordinary gravel road, then it became a pretty ordinary sandtrack, then it became a pretty ordinary hilly sandtrack. Mick pulled up alongside me at one point and commented that "the only thing that would make this track any worse would be rain..."

Well, as you know, careless words cost lives, and within a few minutes we were riding a pretty ordinary hilly sandtrack in the rain. And sometimes not - I lost sight of Mick in my mirrors at one point and when he didn't appear after a few minutes, I headed back to look for him. I soon found Mick standing next to his lovely new R1200ST, which was lying on its side facing the wrong way after the back end had decided to overtake the front and dump him on the ground. We righted the bike and continued gingerly on our way, having decided that going back was no longer an option in the greasy conditions.

A little later we met a 4x4 ute going the other way and even he was sliding around all over the road. We discussed our options with him and he suggested continuing as we were, stating that the road would shortly be gravel again and so have more grip. Wrong again! We carried on, still under drizzly rain, and before long had climbed one side of a ridge and found our way forward blocked by a steep descent which was difficult even to walk down. Time for a roadside rest stop, in the hope of the rain stopping and the sand becoming less greasy.

The rain did stop for a while so we decided that pressing on was preferable to spending the night at the roadside. Neither of us was game to ride down the greasy slope so we teamed up and inched first the GS then the ST down the edge of the track where there was some semblance of grip. I straddled the bike and kept it rolling at a snail's pace, Mick applied pressure to stop me slipping sideways down the steep slope at the edge of the track. It all worked out OK and we were on our way again, although still no sign of the promised gravel. Somewhere along the way Mick came to grief again and it was fortunate that I was not too long in returning to find him, as he was lying on the ground with his leg trapped under the bike. We got him rubber side down again and before too much longer were back on tarmac. All credit to Mick for only dropping the bike twice, on road tyres he had almost no grip at all. The bike was not much the worse for wear but the abrasive sand had put a few scratches in the paintwork - I hope they are shallow enough to wax over.

As soon as we got to Beaudesert we hunted out a car-wash bay where we spruced up the bikes (and ourselves). We had probably lost about five hours due to our 'shortcut' so Coffs Harbour was looking an unlikely destination for this day, but we pressed on over the Lions Road (which I love, and Mick didn't - reckons it's too bumpy or something), through Kyogle and into Casino for a slap-up buffet meal at the golf club. It was dark by the time we had eaten and we still had some 200km to go, so we decided to rent a cabin for the night in Coffs. Sorry about the snoring Mick, I was tired.

Next morning dawned sunny and clear so we rode on in much better spirits, down through Grafton then along back roads through Glenreagh to Coffs - more great roads with almost no traffic and no speed cameras as far as we could tell. We arrived at the camp site just in time to go on the Ulysses day ride to... Glenreagh. We passed on that one and elected to do the short ride starting an hour later, which proved very scenic, sociable, and quite fast. There really are some great roads in this area.

The evening get-together was held in the function room at the RSL. The main course was standard Aussie fare, i.e. English roast, unless you are a vegetarian like Mick. He had to make do with what he described as possibly the worst vegetarian meal he has ever tried and failed to eat. There were about three hundred Ulysseans present and it was a very sociable evening. We were glad that we had arrived with Chris and Sandy in their 4x4 and that we could leave the same way, as it was raining again. I retired to my tent, Mick to his nearby motel. I can't speak for Mick, but I had another good night's sleep.

My plan had been to travel further south the next day and to catch up with various friends during an extended return trip. The weather was still pretty unpredictable though so I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and headed for home with Mick. We had intended to ride with the Redlands mob but they had for some reason left early so it was just the two of us again. We pretty much retraced our steps from the outward journey, although we decided against the dirt track and this time successfully found the road towards Boonah. We rode the Lions Road again, I still loved it, Mick still didn't. We planned to have lunch in Beaudesert and as we were riding into town I recognised a couple of bikers working on a bike at the roadside - Pete and Lorrie from the Sunshine Coast branch. Lorrie's alternator had packed up and she had a flat battery, so her ride was rid. Pete has RACQ Ultra cover which meant that the bike was transported home for them, and they rode home together on Pete's bike.

We had a very relaxed and pleasant lunch in downtown Beaudesert then took another fine road towards Boonah and then Ipswich - some of it in heavy heavy rain with minimal visibility. The wet weather gear did its job though so we stayed pretty dry. The rest of the journey was standard fare, Fernvale, Somerset Dam, Kilcoy, Beerwah, Highway, home. Mostly in the rain.

A fairly wet weekend, and a bit adventurous at times, but I really enjoyed it and I think Mick did too, mostly. Great roads, little traffic, a sociable gathering at the end, and both home again safe and well. What more can you ask, really?

-- Steve

Category Camping ~ Category Rallies ~ Category Rides ~ Category Long Distance