Gold Coast Show long weekend 2104 - Day 3.

Yet another sleep in but after a leisurely breakfast and pack up, I was still able to head off just after 9 am. I turned south at the highway as I was wanting to have a look around Iluka and the southern part of the Bundjalung national park. It was only a short run down the highway to the Iluka turnoff and then I started to explore the little offshoots into Bundjalung, including various picnic areas and to the beach at the ominously named Shark Bay. 

The beach leads all the way back to the black rocks camp ground, unfortunately you can no longer exit from the beach to the camp ground. The camping ground at Woody Heads is a nice looking spot but way too crowded for my liking, would be good for a family trip however. Then it was onto the Iluka Bluff nature reserve which has a nice little beach and picnic area. There is also a short walk up to the top of the bluff, where you get a great view of the surrounding coastline. 

Then I continued on into Iluka itself and after a bit of a drive around the town and seashore, I found a great spot for some fish and chips and Thai fish cake for lunch. 

After lunch it was time to start heading back home but I was not wanting to head up the main highway and deal with any traffic congestion. So after consulting several maps I thought I had found a back way across to The Summerland Way which would take me up to Casino. I headed up the highway a few kms and turned off to Tullymorgan then after a few kms there should have been a turn to the north to the huge metropolis of Gibberagee but the road I wanted to take looked somewhat in disrepair and there was a "No Through Road" sign. Oh well, I headed south through Tullymorgan and then had to go further south towards Lawrence before I found a road heading west towards the Summerland Way. I was never lost as I could see where I was on the gps map app on the tablet and I could see where I wanted to go but it was frustrating I couldn't go the way I wanted. 

I was back onto bitumen roads and heading north and hardly saw another car, making for a very easy drive. The only thing that livened the trip up was a stroppy policeman in Casino doing a RBT. The detector they use in NSW is completely different to the ones up here and he kept telling me to count and I was expecting to have to blow into the detector, so I was a little confused but ended up counting to one and being told to be on my way. Then it was north to Kyogle and then turning west towards Murwillumbah. After 50 kms or so I took the Burrill creek road turnoff to Tyalgum. This started as a very narrow bitumen road winding along the creek and became a very narrow dirt road not long after. The scenery was excellent and about 5 or so kms from Tyalgum the road was bitumen and became wider giving a subperb view of the surrounding mountains. 

The superb views continued on the other side of Tyalgum on the way to Chillingham and I think it was Mt Warning I could see from the back. 

From Chillingham I could have headed north and home through the Numinbah Valley, but I chose to head towards Murwillumbah and then go up and over the hills through Tomewin and into the back of Palm Beach through the Currumbin Valley. 

All up over the three days I had done almost 600 kms and had a very pleasant weekend.