Nth Coast holiday

Well I finally got away on holidays! It took a few days to unwind and get into holiday mode but once I did it was nice and relaxing with some fun riding.
Unfortunately the weather before and at the start was not the best, resulting in some very wet tracks and severely limiting my riding options

The plan was to head up the coast from Sydney, stopping at selected riding spots along the way, making my way as far as about Coffs Harbour.
First stop was at the Wallingat National Park on the Lakes Way just past Bulahdelah. I'd heard of some nice fire trail and a lookout (Whoota Whoota) with views of Myall Lake and north to Forster. The drive into the park however was 'interesting' with the road severely churned up by logging trucks, but I finally made it to the camping area, jumped on my bike and headed for the lookout. This was a nice first ride for the week of ~22km and a fun (return) hill profile.

The view from the top was awesome and worthy of the effort getting there. I even found a short section of singletrack at the top for a quick blast along. By now it was getting late in the day and would be cold and dark soon so I headed back to the car. Realising I forgot to pick up beer on the way (essential ingredient for a camping holiday) I opted to not camp there and head into town instead. Well within a few minutes of getting in the car it started pouring down - absolutely torrential rain! The map showed the road in the National Park did a loop so wanting to avoid the churned up section I encountered on the way in I opted to continue around the loop and back to the main road. This nearly ended in disaster!
Half way along the exit road I came to a fork in the road - one side said Private and the other had a barrier with a 'Road Closed' sign on it - but moved to the side of the road. Having already committed to leaving via this road and not wanting to risk turning around on a narrow very muddy firetrail in the dark and torrential rain I opted for the 'Closed' road. By now I was getting very nervous; the road (dirt/mud) was slippery, visibility was very poor and I wasn't sure about the road being closed or even if I was on the right road or now! Just then I remembered the GPS on my phone and managed to pull up a location and map of the area that fortunately showed the road I was on and that it did in fact meet up with the main road. Phew!!! So I proceeded ahead gently, driving past some logging trucks which I guess explains why that section of road was marked 'Closed' and finally made it to the main road. I then headed straight to Forster and found a nice warm and dry motel to stay in (Oh yeah, and a few beers...)

Next day I was planning on riding around Seal Rocks but it continued to rain so I simply had a look from the dry of the car and proceed with heading up the coast. On the way in a brief dry spell I happened to pass a sign for The Grandis Tree - the tallest tree in NSW apparently. I turned off and started to drive up the dirt road but parked the car and rode instead. This was another nice piece of firetrail, about 10km round trip and well worth stopping at on your way past. The turn off is on The Lakes Way between Bulahdelah and the Seal Rocks turnoff.

Onwards I went to Taree to check out the trails in the Kiwarrak State Forest. It looks like there would be some fun riding in there however it was raining (again) and I somehow broke three spokes so I didn't stay long.
Back into town I went, found the bike shop (Pedal Power - very friendly and helpful) and got some spares. I had spare spokes with me but for some reason no nipples and they didn't fit the original nipples on the wheel. Spent that afternoon repairing the wheel and stayed in a dodgy room at the local pub that night.

Still raining the following morning so I headed further north and finally into some sunshine. I headed straight for Port Macquarie and the tracks at the HVMBC clubhouse. I spent 3 hours there riding sweet single track and grinning from ear to ear. Some parts were a bit muddy but the rest of it amazingly dry. I camped that night in Port Macquarie.
The next day I opted for a ride to Crescent Head. The map shows a 4wd track heading up the coast, and about 28km one way. I thought this would make a nice day trip. Well this turned into an 80km adventure but awesome. I stopped at some beaches along the way and enjoyed the sunshine and blue sky. Had some problems with my shock on the way back with it compressing too much so I stopped at Gordon St Cycles on the way back to town and they sorted it out by putting some more air in the shock. I guess it had lost a bit of pressure over the last 12 months or so.

The next day I went back to the HVMBC tracks for a couple of laps and then headed on to Coffs harbour. I stopped at Pine Creek on the way into Coffs and had a quick ride. This looks like some great riding however it was very wet and there is a lot of damage caused by erosion and motox bikes I guess. Very unfortunate as this looked very promising. Perhaps after another week without rain it would be better. I only stopped here briefly and ended up walking a lot of it.
I had big plans the following day of doing a big epic ride around the mountains, possibly even the Coffs Marathon course but decided against it due to the weather forecast plus safety concerns about riding that far into the bush solo with no support.
Instead I went looking for 'Cows with Guns'. This turned out to be an absolute disaster!!! I had some scribbled directions I had managed to write down during a brief period my laptop decided to work and let me access the Internet. However the road I was looking for wasn't showing up on my maps and I searched for ages looking for it. Turns out I drove past the turn off a few times! I stopped and managed to get my laptop to work and pulled up Google Maps. I found one way to the trail head from the south and headed off on yet another dirt road. (My poor Commodore copped some abuse this week!) Half way along I encountered another 'Road Closed' sign and after the last episode quickly turned around and got back on the tar. I eventually found what I guess is the main road access - hidden beside a disused roadside rest area, down the wrong side of what appears to be left overs of the old highway. This quickly turned to dirt and even though the directions on the Coffs Cycle web site said was 2wd friendly I soon encountered a hill covered in mud and wheel ruts. Not wanting to get bogged and being fed up with mud by now I stopped, reversed, found a clearing on the side of the track and tried to turn around. FAIL!!!
The dirt was very soft and extremely slippery resulting in me getting bogged. And on a Monday with no passing traffic expected for a long time . So I start digging and putting sticks under the tyres, driving back and forth, more digging and sticks, let the tyre pressures down to about 10psi and finally managed to get out. At this point I called it quits and decided to head home!

So after lots of dramas I did manage to get some fun riding in, but also got very dirty in the process. Glad to be home now and with a few days holidays left will probably hit the local tracks or road for some fun and training.

Some lessons learned:
Motels are not necessarily better than camping. Especially if you need to clean the bike and want some space.
Weather - you're at the mercy of the weather on trips such as this. Just hope you don't get rain!
A car does not have enough power sockets to charge a phone, GPS, Camera and laptop. And Murphy's law says they will also run flat at the same time.
If you don't know where the tracks are I suggest printing out a map beforehand. eg Google Maps. Maybe even load the GPS coordinates into your GPS?
Don't rely on your work laptop.
Don't stress and just relax! You're on holidays and don't have to do anything at a set time.

Cheers,
Jon

ps The Dog's name is 'Sparky'. My daughter asked me to get her a Teddy Bear whilst on holidays so I said "Sure, but it's coming riding with me..."