Cycling through ­Woodenbong

After stacking my bicycle, pulling a wheely after work, I found a physio who did a great job of taping up my ankle. I had to skip the mini-kokoda on Sunday (Sorry team!!) but went ahead and did the ride.

I stuck the photos over on flickr.

I stayed at Surfers and met Matt at Nerang. We cycled up to Beaudesert and stayed the night in the pub. The next day we weaved our way around the Lindsay Highway. Lots of backroads and at one stage we had to lift the bikes over a padlocked gate and through a couple of fields. The Farmer was OK about it, luckily (I’m pretty sure he’d closed off a public right of way). We received lots of local advice on the way from people in pubs, traffic sign holding people, cows, dogs, children and cafe workers. Nearly all the advice was useless.

Rathdowney pub had a great $9 steak, mind you at that stage road-kill would have tasted good. After crossing the border near Mt Lindsay we spent a freezing night at Woodenbong. Woodenbong pub is another story altogether, freaky little town - I loved it, we drank too much beer and the warm fire was paradise.

The next day we headed along Summerland Way and turned up Cox’s Lane which was the beginning of the Tunumbar NP peak trail. It is an excellent quality dirt track all the way up to the top and along and then down to the wet and bedraggled ‘Iron Pot Creek’ campsite.

Matt’s knee was starting to get pretty painful by this stage but my ankle was holding up fine as long as I kept it strapped up. We spent a dark night in the forest and ate like kings.

The next day I got diarrhea and Matt could barely pedal.

We bailed out and slunk off to Kyogle at the bottom of the hills. From there we caught a train to Grafton. The guard on the train went mental when I asked where to put my bicycle, “WE ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES!!WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR BIKES!!”. Luckily we had dismantled them and boxed them that morning and they had been booked so he could not find a way to stop us from ruining his efficient little world. So we eventually made it to Grafton and cycled up to Lawrence (42k north).

Well actually I cycled but Matt hitched a lift on account of his knee being fragged. Luckily Matt is an expert at taping up his knees … not

So that is pretty much it. Matt and I separated on the ferry, he got a bloke in a ute to give him a lift to Maclean and I pedaled down the Pacific Highway where Jay and the boys met me 40km later. My arse is now fully recovered, thank you.

Since writing the above Matt and his partner Ali have started a travel blog which they update occaisonally - 4ks-an-hour