Today was a nice day of biking.  On face value it looked like it was going to be a long day on the highway but the road was better than we expected.  The day started as normal with us packing up and on the road at 9am.  We cycled the first 20km on a relatively quiet road from Iluka to the highway through the Bundjalung National Park.  We then joined the highway and cycled along a nice wide verge with the national park on both sides.  The traffic wasn’t too bad and we made good progress and arrived in the bustling little town of Woodburn.  Obviously this is a stopover for drivers refuelling with food and petrol although it’s funny entering a town with big billboards touting KFC and McD’s 25km away.  In other words, don’t stop in this town.

We had a snack in Woodburn then crossed the river into another world.  We cycled along an exceptionally quiet riverbank lane with sugarcane plantations on either side for as far as the eye could see.  We past some wonderfully dilapidated houses and barns, past men and machines harvesting the cane, and past kangaroos and lots of birds.  It was a really nice ride and we saw a couple of other cyclists out for day rides.

We arrived in Broadwater which is also called Sugartown.  In the centre of the little town is a huge sugar mill where the cane is crushed and sugar is extracted.  The process fills the air with a sugary, almost golden syrup smell.  We checked into the friendly tourist park then walked into town and had a great vege-burger.

Highlight of today:  Cycling through a national park and along a quiet country road.

Lunching in Woodburn

Quiet lanes

Sugar factory

A nice sunset