Day 3 started out with a refuel at Armidale in northern NSW and the planned route was to head over towards the coast and then back to Glen Innes before finishing up in Tenterfield. I consulted the weather forecast to see that it would start cold, get much warmer and have no rain.
The forecast was wrong – very wrong! I left Armidale rugged up riding in 10 degree C temperatures and it wasn’t warming up and the roads started to get wetter as I headed towards the coast. Being cold and wet isn’t a great combination on the bike so when I came to a T junction, I had a decision to make: go right down towards the coast through woodland where the road would be wet and cold or go left and double back on myself to find drier roads and warmer weather.
I chose to go left only to find more mist, roadworks and a large kangaroo! However the road surface soon got better with sweeping corners and undulating straights that felt good and after 80 kms I found myself back in Guyra on the New England Highway. I passed through here in January and so I headed to Glen Innes for a late breakfast at the same cafe I visited on the last trip up here.
I refueled, added extra layers and headed towards Tenterfield. By now the weather was dry but cold, so the forecast was clearly wrong, however, I had a cunning plan ….. carry on to Queensland, its always warm there!
Sure enough, when I reached the State border at the infamous train station where the rail guages are different on each side of the platforms, it was 10 degrees warmer than only 50 kms south. I had a coffee basking in the sun before retracing my steps back to Tenterfield.
I checked in to the Best Western Henry Parkes in town and settled in to get warm. Tomorrow is another run back down to the coast and is the final day for the Ducati Turismo 2015, although I am staying up an extra day before heading home over two days.
Today’s distance was about 320 kms all up, so a good effort despite the poor forecast!
Leave Motoring Weekly a comment! Your views are very welcome.