Cycling from Ballina to Lismore Australia

Cycling this part of Australia Presented No Problems Except the Rain

Aug 29, 2009

The climate in Ballina, Australia, is noted for its sunshine but like anywhere it can have its off days. For cycle tourists this can sometimes mean a few days in hiding.

On a bad day, the rain can sweep in from the sea making the library and naval museum good places to fill in time. The clean, well managed youth hostel with its comfortable chairs, is also as good a place as any to hole up with a book and wait and the hosts, a couple who never appeared to stop working, often hand around a large bowl of popcorn of an evening.

In good weather, before leaving Ballina, there are cycle tracks in town to ride and a beach to swim. On leaving, follow the river upstream until the road ends at the ferry crossing. The ferry is a large double ended punt that winds it way across the river on two wire ropes and takes about 10 minutes a trip. Cyclists get their bikes taken across for no charge and the road on the other side is dead flat for about 16 easy kilometres along side the wide, slow moving Richmond River.

Wardell Cafe with Cow For Sale

Where this side road joins the motorway it is worth riding back north a very short distance over the big steel gantry type bridge to the little town of Wardell. The café in Wardell was for sale and, as an inducement to buyers, the lady owner was offering to throw in a cow for free. With a cow included in the offer, her café was bound to have been snapped up fast. Who could resist the big soft brown eyes of a friendly house cow?

From Wardell back track across the bridge and ride along the motorway south. It was here the deluge suddenly started again drenching us to the skin with torrents running down arms, off helmets and streaming down legs. With heavy vehicles throwing up clouds of spray one couldn’t have got any wetter if one had ridden into the river. It made for a fast wet ride to Broadwater with its sugar mill and shelter under a veranda. Unfortunately it is not possible to get a tour of the mill so a few meters further south, turn left off the main road and cycle through the swampy Broadwater National Park to the river mouth town of Evans Head. The rain stopped, the sun appeared and clothes dried out as the trip continued.

Evans Head Hotel Like Curate's Egg

There is accommodation at Evans Head in cabins, motels and the Illawong Hotel which is an impressive looking art deco style red brick edifice. There is a typical sports bar with plenty of TV screens downstairs, a good restaurant and a decent courtyard for outdoor schmoozing. Upstairs it is dark with grubby neglected rooms, foul toilets, broken furniture and in a state of general neglect. On the bright side it is both cheap and cheerful.

There is a river mouth and beach to explore with a lookout on the headland but not a lot else, so after one or two nights ride inland to the nearby small settlement of Woodburn located right on the edge of the motorway. The coffee here is up to standard and the riding easy as this is all flat river flood plane. About a 150 metres south of the town, cross the little Evans River and ride inland further and, very quickly, the large wandering Richmond River is close nearby again. In spring long legged Brolgas might be seen dancing their spring time ritual dance of love beside roadside ponds but keep well back from them as they stop their dance and look embarrassed if they notice they are being watched.

It is an easy ride to Coraki which is a town with a past and probably not a lot of future. It used to be a busy inland port with coastal ships coming up river to take out produce from the huge area of fertile farmland all around. The building of the railway ended Coraki’s usefulness for shipping produce although it never came near town. Instead the railway went through the rural town of Casino just over 30 kilometres further inland and, with an easy road between, trucks took the freight direct to the railhead instead of the port. From Coraki the road is mostly flat all the way to the major town in the region, a small city called Lismore. The last few kilometres are along the busy Bruxner Highway. It was not surprising that Lismore is a lively place with a University and thriving cultural scene. There are motels and hotels here for accommodation but the cheaper places are frequently booked out. It is well worth exploring Lismore with its many restaurants and bars, some of which have good meal specials on different nights. There may well be other happenings on in this university town but it is not always easy for the visitor to find out about them. The Visitor Centre is the best place to start looking for most things. There is a lookout with a short steep road leading up to it but unfortunately the view is obscured by trees so it is not worth the effort.

The trip from Evans Head to Lismore is a pleasant easy days bike ride with no serious hills along the way. A crop growing in some paddocks may puzzle travellers. It is likely to be Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia). From Lismore the cycle tour heads to Nimbin.

The copyright of the article Cycling from Ballina to Lismore Australia in Australia Travel is owned by Ian Miller. Permission to republish Cycling from Ballina to Lismore Australia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.