New England High Country 1000

Travel Journal by Luke Patch

This week I rode the New England High Country 1000km route with 5 guys from the Breaking Wind Cycling Club. We set out with a goal to finish it in 6 days.

I had to work late on the Friday night so after getting a sleep in on Saturday morning I drove to Tenterfield and started the route a bit before midday. The other guys had started at 5am so by the time I reached them at the first campsite at Dalmorton they were all tucked up asleep in their tents and bivy bags.

The morning of day 2 we faced a massive climb to get out of the campsite at Dalmorton. Ride up and over the Great Dividing range was no small effort. The first hour we only managed to climb 6 kilometres. The constant misty rain made the greenery of nature look spectacular but also caused slippery roads. Fortunately no accidents that day. We stopped at Ebor to caffeinate, eat and resupply. After a big day in the saddle we finally rolled into Wollomombi just as the sun was setting. The General store at Wollomombi opened up especially for us on Sunday night providing a much appreciated hot meal, snacks and water supplies.

Day 3 saw us pass through 3 towns: Armidale, Uralla and Walcha.

I wish I had the time to stay longer in Walcha as it has a special place in my heart. Few years ago whilst on a 2 month long bikepacking trip from Lismore to Hobart I was experiencing some mechanicals with my bike in the middle of nowhere on the bicentennial trail. A friendly farming couple Louise and Bill invited me in for a coffee. Then Bill gave me a lift into Walcha and used his local contacts to find me the parts I needed to put my bike back together.

Day 4 was another day with no resupply but we happened to luck out early in the morning at the cafe at Bendemeer getting a coffee, a couple of bacon and egg rolls and some sandwiches for later on in the day. The ride this day had a couple of unconfirmed water sources with 200kms to cover. We had a bail out plan at Bundarra, if we needed it. Luckily the weather was mild so we didn’t drink as much as expected and made it all the way to the intended campsite on the Gwydir River without running out of water. The sunset riding to the Gwydir river was absolutely spectacular.

The next day we were up on our bikes by 5am to make the most of the day. The ride was to Glen Innes where a comfortable hotel room, warm shower and beer was the carrot dangling in front of me that I didn’t even know I needed. 4 days of cycling in one kit and I was becoming aware of my BO. I rode like a demon. I was sore but previous experience told that the legs weren’t going to get any worse. This day had some very rough corrugated gravel roads and at times I felt I was sitting on a jackhammer. The last 40kms of the ride was sealed and I used my aerobars to maximum advantage. Hot shower, multiple dinners, beer and real bed felt incredible.

The last day we departed Glen Innes back towards our cars at Tenterfield. Everything was going well: the legs felt tired but strong. Then, out of nowhere, a kangaroo jumped out and knocked Brendan off his bike. He managed to slow down enough to limit the damage, landing on the kangaroo. He avoided the worse, still he hit the ground fairly hard. We didn’t know the extent of injuries and were trying to assess if he could continue the ride. At this stage a couple driving to work stopped to offer support. The wife was a nurse who promptly applied the First Aid. Luckily he didn’t land on his head but his body was pretty banged up. The nurse and her husband drove him to Glen Innes hospital where Brendan was discharged with no broken bones, just sore shoulder and bits of bark off.

After witnessing the crash we decided to take the highway back to Tenterfield and avoid any further mishaps. We returned back to Tenterfield early that afternoon making the 6 day target, completing a week of thoroughly enjoyable bike packing.

For more information about the route please visit bikepacking.com