Working backwards from the time we needed to arrive at Patonga - for the 11.30 ferry - we concluded that we needed to leave around 7am. We didn't have any supplies for breakfast in the motel, so (breaking my cardinal rule of 'must eat before riding, otherwise I might die') we hit out for the 14k …
Continue reading Day 9-LAST DAY – Forries Beach to Hornsby via Patonga-Bobbin Head ferry
We had a few choices of route between the Central Coast and Sydney. There is of course, the Old Pacific Highway ... but, we passed on that. We had done it the other way late last year on the Newcastle Overnight ride... and definitely weren't champing at the bit to do it again. (There would …
Quick view check before leaving Newcastle... and a chat with a passing English couple about bike touring! Marc had researched the flattest route out of Newie, as we headed for the start of the Fernleigh Track at Adamstown. We spied a "COFFEE - This Way -->" sign at a roundabout just before the start... so …
We've ridden this route south to north a couple of times, so it was interesting to do it the other way. Marc figured out what he thought was a pretty flat route out of Newcastle City Centre... so that's worth following (particularly if your legs are at the end of a trip like ours were!) …
Continue reading Day 8-Newcastle to Forrester’s Beach (map & notes)
An earlyish start to allow time for breakfast in Tea Gardens, before catching the 9am ferry over to Nelson Bay. We've done the ferry trip before on a family outing, but catching it as part of a cycling route has kind of been on our bucket list for some years, after seeing the ferry …
The ferry from Tea Gardens is operated by Port Stephens Ferry Service. We rang the previous afternoon to book on the 9am ferry, but the guy was all 'just turn up'. I think we were charged $10 each one way, and $5 for the tandem (can't remember)... It can be cancelled due to weather …
Continue reading Day 7 – Hawks Nest to Newcastle (map and notes)
Our original plan for today was to ride the Lakes Way to Bulahdelah. But then... we'd had a guy in the bike shop back at Laurieton ask Marc if we were going to go to Seal Rocks, and said that he'd heard of a road connecting the Seal Rocks road to Mungo Brush. As we …
Continue reading Day 6 – Forster to Hawks Nest (via Mining Trail/Old Gibber Fire Trail)
Our original plan was to head to Bulahdelah for the night, via the Lakes Way (which would have been 63km) but we heard about the Old Mining Trail (and Old Gibber Trail) through Myall Lakes National Park, and got the heads up from the National Parks Officer (at the Ruins campground office) that this road …
Continue reading Day 6-Forster to Hawks Nest via Mining Road Trail (map & notes)
The forecast was for rain, and the radar was showing incoming rain from the west, so there was a bit of a debate about breakfast logistics..and whether to get going and shelter through the worst (at, probably, the pub at Coopernook). We opted for a quick bacon and egg roll when we discovered that there …
Tandem Tours 