Sydney to Brisbane - Day 9 - Gold Coast

When cycling long distance in England...I remember a common occurrence being a quaint little village, steeped in history, always containing a very old church and a pub. In Australia, the common occurrence when going 'around the outside' is an epic, wild, and remote sandy beach. Between Ballina and Byron, there was a classic.

The was some nice bushland between here and Byron, but the road is pretty tight (no room) and you need to stay alert. Once entering the town it doesn't  take long to catch the vibe here...super chilled, hippy, surfing, creative people....I loved it immediately. There were some dark clouds offshore getting shunted inland on a punchy northerly, but still the main beach was kinda packed with people. It would have been fun to stay here longer but I felt if I stayed an hour that would easily turn into a week...and I still had a fair way to cycle.

There was a lot of traffic around town and it felt bad to leave, but great to be on quieter roads. After a hairy highway crossing I got onto Wooyung road which traversed beautiful sugar cane fields punching directly east away from the freeway and towards the wild coast. Once again, the coastal afternoon northerly was strutting its stuff and nothing was easy. Upon hitting the coast I turned off for a pit stop on yet another massive white sandy beach. At first I thought no one was around until I realised a couple were enjoying themselves and their privacy about 100m away....good on them it was an amazing spot for it.

Another massive beach...south of Pottsville

The town of Pottsville was not far ahead but it was a bit of a push into the wind and I was yet again drenched with the effort and dehydrated on arrival. Thankfully there are fantastic cafes here and friendly people abound.

North of here it was hard to distinguish bike path from footpath...because well, they are one in the same. Navigation was fiddly and the riding slow. My fault entirely for failing totally to have a slow itinerary. I did get the bonus of an extra hour as the clocks went back crossing into Queensland, the 4th Aussie state border on my bike! From Coolingatta you can see the hulking skyscrapers of the Gold Coast across the bay to the north. They look out of place....like an alien invasion. I guess that because that is exactly what they are...and yet still pretty spectacular I suppose.

Gold Coast on the far horizon

It was nice to see my goal for the day, not so nice to see it at least 20km direct line of sight. The bike paths in Queensland have some quirks. The craziest of which is just short of Gold Coast from the south, where there is a one way street for cars but with a bi-directional bike path squeezed on the right hand side. I couldn't have the gumption to actually use this path until I saw other cyclists going different directions up the one way street.

The Gold Coast us a crazy place that makes its own laws...I suppose. All I knew is that I was smashed when I got here and needed a rest. The NSW Coastal Cycle path plan takes 4 days to cover what I did just did today, so, I took a day off and did very little beyond walking and eating.