Gingers Creek

I had an invitation to ride on an overnighter to the Oxley Highway and Gingers Creek in Northern NSW as one of the guys is going overseas for 6 months and this was his last opportunity to get out for a ride until he gets back. It didn't take much arm twisting for me to say 'YES' to get me on the ride when Gingers Creek is named as the destination. Its one of Australia's best riding roads.

DAY 1
I put in the key and and pressed the start button to be met by the sounds of a dying battery. Damn. I had to jump the R1 from the car battery to get going. Its been 2 months since the last ride and 2 months before that one so unless I get in some more riding or buy a trickle charger this battery won't last long.

This mornings departure was a little different than the others and we were to meet up at the Old Rd cafe for breakfast. The Old road is another iconic Aussie bike road which I've covered numerous times on this blog. I noticed that there were a couple of new MV Augusta parked out the front. Turns out it was Boris from Motorcycle new was having breaky at the cafe.

After a quick breakfast we headed off up the old road and turned off towards Peats Ridge and on up to Wollombi. I noticed that the famous lemming corner has been hot mixed on both the left and right handers. Apparently this is one of the most dangerous corners in the whole state. Explains how it got the name.

We then side tracked around to Dungog and kept away from the Gresford goat track. After the last ride through there I got hammered from the rough road. We went through a couple of light rain showers along the way not heavy enough to warrant stopping and putting wets on though. We stopped in at Dungog and had a bit of lunch at a cafe and continued up to Gloucester and across to Taree where we made our way to Harrington and had a beer on the waterfront waiting for Geoff to arrive. Turns out he went straight to the Coopernook pub instead so we made a beeline for our digs for the night.

DAY 2
I'd slept in a bit this morning and the guys were just about ready to go by the time I got up. We got underway soon after and took the Pacific Hwy to slab it up to Wauchope were we stopped for a coffee and  fuel for the bikes. The road coming up was a little damp but drying. The weather today was perfect for riding, sunny and about 25°C.

Coopernook Pub

The ride up from long flat to gingers creek was just about perfect. The road on the bottom end near Mt Seaview is some of the smoothest road you can find anywhere. There was a little bit of traffic but easily dispatched when you have a R1 and lunatic aboard.

Arriving at Gingers Creek store I noticed how busy it was here today, there were bikes everywhere. We stopped in for lunch and I wanted to try one of their massive hamburgers that I saw Rick get last time we were here. The hamburger was good. I highly recommend it! 😈

After a spot of lunch we took the bags off our bikes so we could ride back down the hill unencumbered. Its amazing the difference in the handling of the bike without the bag on. I followed Bushpig down the hill on his new MT10 and he wasn't going slow even though he was still running it in. This part of the Oxley highway is one of the best riding roads in Australia with 300+ bends in 54kms.

We stopped down near the mount seaview end at a picnic shelter and took a break and watched bikes going up and down the mountain.  Soon after it was time to head back up to meet Doug who was waiting for us at Gingers minding our bags.

I put the gopro on for the trip down and up and got some footage of the road following bushpig on the way down then with me leading on the way back up. Back up at Gingers i topped up the bike with 5 litres of fuel as i knew it wouldn't make it to Walcha for fuel. The mostly first gear riding along here on the R1 really sucks the fuel quickly.

Here is a short video of the twisty fun to be had on the Oxley. Warning it's just 5 boring minutes of me riding the bends, no cut scenes or story just riding. If you've never been here and are thinking of going and want to know what its like its worth a watch.

Gingers Creek Store

As it turns out i was right i used 17 litres (17l tank) just as i got to the 50kmh zone coming into walcha.

We continued along to Bendemeer where we stopped at the pub for a quick beer. What a great little place this was having a nice cold one in the beer garden by the river. Rick had also arrived 2 minutes after we got here. Beautiful spot but the pub had been booked out by another motorcycle group so we couldn't stay. We made the short 40km trip to Tamworth where we stayed at the Courthouse Hotel another good find with cheap clean accommodation with plenty of secure parking out the back for the bikes.

Cheers boys

DAY 3

Getting ready to ride to breakfast I wasn't surprised to see Dr Kwok with the tools out adjusting the suspension on Craig's triumph. 

We stopped in at a local cafe for coffee and breakfast. Doug got the big breakfast and it was indeed big, with half a loaf of bread, half a kilo of mushrooms. We said goodbye to Rick here as he headed back north to Brisbane as we were then heading south to Sydney.

We first took the nundle road out through the hills. I really liked this ride with the road flowing along the foothills with a river and valley on one side and hills on the other. The road is one of those open sweeping flowing roads one of my favourite types. There is a short twisting section called Port Stephens cutting that rises quickly up the side of huge hill.

Thunderbolts Way

We stopped off in Gloucester for fuel for both man and machine. I was still full from the breakfast so I just had a coffee for lunch. Craig also left us here as he was heading down to Newcastle. We turned off buckets way before Stroud and took the road to Dungog then on out towards Gresford. I wasn't looking forward to this part of the ride but lucky for us they had actually fixed a lot of the road and it was in fairly good condition compared to last time.

Fueling up for the last time in Singleton we rode back down the Putty road and back home. There was an unusual high amount of traffic on the putty road today and we stopped for a break to let the traffic go so we could have a good run. All up a great weekend away with the boys. This is my first trip out since the new zealand ride. I noticed that whilst we have some fantastic riding roads here in NSW there are so many straight boring long sections of road to actually get to the good bits. Those kiwis are spoilt with their multitude of choices.

Australia's Greatest Riding Road: The Oxley Highway

I was invited along on a ride on one of Australia's best riding roads, if not "the" best riding road the Oxley Highway in Northern NSW. Most aussie bike riders know of this road, it's probably our equivalent to the Tail of the Dragon in the USA. The road itself starts from the coastal town of Port Macquarie and snakes it way up through the great dividing range and out to Tamworth and beyond. But the best part for us bikers is the bit from Long Flat up to Gingers Creek and beyond that.  This road has 54kms with over 300 bends which is an Aussie motorcycling mecha. When I got the invite I was like sign me up and when can we go.

DAY 1

This was to be a 3 day affair with us meeting up at McGraths Hill maccas. I'd met up with the Slomax and we rode out to Riverstone as I had to stop and vote in our local council elections before leaving otherwise they would have hit me up with a fine for non voting and I'd rather keep the money in my pocket than give it to those bastards. Stopping early we ordered a coffee waiting for the polling booth to open, taking the first sip of coffee and it was like it had been made in the fires of Mt Doom. I think i'd burnt the taste buds on my tongue. Struth it was hot, it took 10 minutes to cool down to drink it.

Continuing on we arrived at our meeting point to find Doug and Dave waiting for us and no sign of Bushpig. About 15 minutes later he arrived. He looked like he'd gone six rounds with Mike Tyson blood shot eyes and all. We got it out of him he'd had a big night out at the pub the night before doing karaoke.

The ride took us up the Putty Road to Singleton, being a nice sunny day the blast up here through the 10 mile of twisties was fantastic and I was having a blast. I pulled over at the end for a little boys stop and let everyone catch back up and soon we were under way and on into Singleton for a refuel.

Dave's ZX-10R ballistic Missile

Putty Road Rest Stop

Road from Gresford to Dungog

After Singleton we headed out towards Dungog. This would be a fantastic little road if it wasn't so god damn rough. The bit from Gresford to Dungog and across to Stroud is an awesome area but the road is so rough it's no longer any fun. I'd say it borders on being dangerous. Some sections of this road you can no longer actually see the road anymore as it is just a series of patches upon patches until there is not road anymore just patches.  Note to Dungog council - Fix your fucking roads you pissed me off you bastards. I'll never spend a cent in your shithole of a town until these roads are fixed that's how pissed I am. I had to check I still had all my teeth when we stopped in Gloucester.

There was one sphincter puckering moment when the Slomax went to overtake only to find that there was someone coming the other way, I hope he brought a spare pair of undies because he sure would have needed them. Just goes to show you can never be too careful, and he is usually a super careful rider.

Dungog Turn off

After a lunch stop in Gloucester we continued on the Buckets way towards the coast foregoing the usually Thunderbolts way. I hadn't ridden across this road in about 15 years or more and it was quite a good bit of road winding up through the hills as we turned off up yet even more back roads to come into the back of Taree which is Troy Bayliss country. No wonder he was so fast with all of these roads on his doorstep but a hefty dollop of talent thrown in.

We decided to stop by Harrington which was on the coast for a quick beer on the water front before we headed to our digs for the night at the Coopernook pub which is just off the highway.

Harrington Hotel

Hotel Coopernook

Into the pube to spend the holiday monkey

Rick turned up about 30 minutes after we got there, he'd ridden down from Brisbane to meet us and had to contend with rain most of the way. Better him than us I thought!

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The Coopernook pub was a good little find just off the main highway, there was no noise from the highway and it was only $35 per person per room, with continental breakfast included. It was meant to rain over night so we put the bikes in under the front verandah for the night but it didn't do much more than spot a bit.  We sat out the front enjoying the warm weather talking shit and drinking some fine ales.

DAY 2

After breakfast we had a bit of a late start but that was fine by me as we didn't have a lot of kilometers to do today. We did a short section of the Pacific hwy to get us to Wauchope were we stopped for a coffee across from timbertown. There were a few bikes coming passed going up the mountain.

On the way up there was a heavy downpour for about 5 minutes just as we got to the first set of twisties. I could see blue skies on the other side of the cloud so we pressed on and the sun came out again but now the roads were wet. Fantastic, twisty wet roads.....

The Oxley Highway

The view from Mt Seaview

We arrived at Gingers Creek store just on lunch time and we were all famished. I'd ordered the bacon & egg roll on Doug's recommendation. Good call doug it was very good. Although the hamburgers that came out looked even better. Rick had trouble getting his mouth around it, it was that big no joke.

Doug decided he'd take a break and read his kindle whilst the rest of us left our gear at the store and headed back down the mountain. It was staring to dry up now with only a few damp patches here and there.

A lot of this was so tight and twisty that on the R1 I was riding most of it in first gear which allowed me to concentrate on corner speed and lines without having to factor in gear changes. There were only a few places I needed to change into 2nd or third but they were few and far between. This road is mostly 35 or 45kmh bends.


Coming around the Mt Seaview bend I could see Dave and Rick on the side of the road, I slowed to pull over but they waved me past, I hadn't seen Bushpig or Slomax so I pressed on.




As I came around a left hander what did I see on the side of the road but these two bums sitting there enjoying the sun shine. Taking my helmet and gloves off my hands were shaking with adrenaline, they both laughed at me as if I was some feeble old guy with parkinson's.

Slomax & Bushpig

Heading back up to Gingers Creek the road had dried out and I was getting my eye in now after two passes. By the time I got to the top I was starting to get a bit tired and thirsty after 80kms of hard riding on this winding road. Pulling back into Gingers Creek there were now a lot of bikes here in the carpark. I thought I better top up the tank as I probably wouldn't make it to Walcha. I was right I would have run out of fuel 30km out of town, this R1 is thirstier than an alcoholic on payday.

Dave & Rick at Mt Seaview

Ricks Tuono

Rick, Dave and I decided on a quick stop in to have a look at Aspley falls which is just off the side of the road. With all the rain lately the falls were roaring today. Time for a quick selfie.

Aspley Falls

It wasn't long before we got into Walcha for a fuel top up, a quick beer before the quick trip across to Uralla and the Top pub which was our stay for tonight.

DAY 3

Bushpig and I went for a walk around Uralla early to see what was open. Being a small country town and a Sunday there was sweet FA open so we headed back to see if the others were up yet. We did make one vitally important discovery on our walk but damn it they were closed. I had to stop Bushpig from licking the windows. Maybe next time then.

Brewery Goodness

After a big cooked breakfast at the cafe across the road from the Top Pub we got under way again heading down the New England towards Tamworth. We said our farewells to Rick as he was headed back to Brisbane as we went south. This was just boring slab work until we got to the turn off on the out skirts of Tamworth.

Top Pub Uralla

Nundle Road

Bushpig just chillin and catching some rays

Doug has shown us a new route to go down to avoid the crap top section of the Thunderbolts way. It starts from the top of Tamworth and heads out towards Nundle running in between some large hills and along beside a creek. The roads flows well through beautiful countryside here before suddenly coming up a tight twisting section called Port Stephens cutting quickly ascending the mountain side until it comes out on top of the plateau. It was rough and tight and there were plenty of picture opportunities but I was having to much fun to stop and take any photos.

It wasn't long before we'd popped out back onto Thunderbolts way near to Nowendoc. A few minutes after we stopped a Ducati 1198 and a BMW came flying up, they were starting to look for fuel so they headed for Nowendoc.

Doug on the Thunderbolts Way

Lunch At Gloucester

We stopped in at Gloucester for fuel for the bikes and ourselves. A large iced coffee hit the spot just right. I wasn't hungry after the huge breakfast I'd had. We headed back down the way we had come on day 1 through Dungog and Gresford. I had to wave Slomax through on one section as I had to slow down the road was that rough I was getting hammered by the road surface and hard suspension. I repeat it again, Dungog council get your fucking shit together before your crap roads kill someone.

Another slaps of fuel in Singleton it was the home run down the Putty Road back home. A quick stop at the top of the ten mile then we were under way again. The pace through here was good and I followed Dave and Slomax getting my knee down on Batman corner. When the road is in good condition this new R1 is superb but when its not it can be a nightmare. Such a big difference in surface conditions on this ride.

Putty Road

Stopping just outside of Windsor we said goodbye to Dave who was heading back down to Nowra, he had another 2 hour ride on top of what we had to do. Wonder how he felt at the end of that? I was shattered by the time I got home from the hammering I'd copped going through Dungog, it took me about two days to feel ok again after that ride.

Another top weekend of beer, bikes and bullshit...... er roads. Gents lets do this again soon!