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| Wollombi Brook at Paynes Crossing on the Old Convict Road |
Route: Broke, Paynes Crossing, Wollombi, Kulnura, Wyong.
Extensions to Toronto (Lake Macquarie), The Entrance (Central Coast) and Brooklyn and Windsor along the Hawkesbury River (northern Sydney) are discussed.
Distance: 104km
Overview
This section of the tour follows what is known as the Great North Road or the Old Convict Trail. It was the first road between Sydney and the Hunter Valley and was built primarily by convict labour. The original masonry still exists along sections of the road. The routes discussed between Broke and the Hawkesbury River are excellent for cycle touring: generally quiet roads, good scenery (much of it bushland), remnants of Australia's convict past and a couple of quaint historical villages. I enjoyed this area enough to return in Easter 2005 for a two day tour (Pennant Hills Train Station - Dural - Wisemans Ferry - Mangrove Mountain - Kulnura - Wollombi - Cessnock - Toronto - Fassifern Train Station). For information about the Old Convict Road and the surrounding area, visit one of the following sites:
The tour itself can end in different ways or connect with other tours I have written about. Each ending is discussed in further detail below; I shall only give an over view here. The original tour I did ends at Wyong Train Station, a good option for those who can only afford one day's cycling from Broke. A longer route to Brooklyn Train Station could also be done in a day (albeit a long one) and gives better scenery than the route to Wyong. Those who want to heading to the coast can cycle via Wyong or Toronto and connect with my Lake Macquarie Cycle Tour. In my view the route to Wyong is probably superior, but Toronto is a better destination and closer. Those with two days up their sleeve should really consider cycling to Windsor Train Station via Wisemans Ferry for some excellent scenery along the Hawkesbury River.
Finally, each of these routes could be used to craft a 2, 3 or 4 day touring route using Sydney's CityRail network. Start at Windsor or Brooklyn Train Stations, and cycle north to one of Wyong, Fassifern or Singleton Train Stations.
Broke to Wyong (104km, 2km unsealed) - main map of Wellington to Wyong tour
The first 30km passes through a beautiful, relatively flat, sheltered valley by the tranquil Wollombi Brook. Traffic is very light and except for the two kilometres before Wollombi, the road is sealed . In my 2001 tour I camped at Paynes Crossing, 17km south of Broke, at the end of Day 3. To find this campsite, immediately after the bridge at Paynes Crossing, there is a small dirt road on the right. About 500m down this unsealed road was a small secluded clearing, backing onto Yengo National Park, where I pitched my tent. A nearby creek provides running water.
Wollombi (tourism website, community website, another tourism website, SMH travel guide, Wikipedia entry) has a small general store, tavern, museum, café and many historic buildings. In my 2005 tour I slept in the park near the village centre and brook. There is also a grassy reserve near the Tavern available for camping (no showers). For further information contact Wollombi Tavern.
From Wollombi it is 7km south to the smaller village of Laguna (history webpage, monthly markets), which has a general store. A few kilometres later the road leaves the Wollombi Brook and begins the climb to Bucketty. Along the way are the remnants of original cutting and stone masonry of the convict road, complete with signage and historical information. Bucketty (Wikipedia entry, tidy towns entry) is a hamlet of 180 people perched along a ridge. It has no services and is 23km from Wollombi. At Bucketty, an unsealed road to the right heads toward Wisemans Ferry. The sealed road heads to Kulnura.
From Bucketty it is 19km to Kulnura along an undulating road. About 3km before Kulnura is the turn off to Mangrove Creek Dam, which has a picnic area, lookout and lies 10km off the main road. Kulnura (Wikipedia entry) has a good general store that serves fast food. The area is dominated by fruit orchids, some having roadside stalls.
From Kulnura, the road to Wyong descends steeply down Bumble Hill to the Yarramalong Valley, losing 300 vertical metres in less than 5km. Yarramalong (tourism website, Wikipedia entry) has a pub and a village store (providing petrol, take-away food, snacks, newspapers and general goods) and is about 7km from Kulnura. From here the road follows the Wyong River to Wyong. The traffic becomes heavier here and with little shoulder can get a little unpleasant in comparison to the road between Broke and Kulnura. Nevertheless the valley is very picturesque. The town of Wyong (local guide and business directory, Wikipedia entry) is 25km from Kulnura and has a reasonable shopping centre and industrial area. I found it to be rather unattractive in contrast to the rest of the tour. From here it is less than two hours by CityRail trains to the centre of Sydney.
Those wanting to cycle to the coast can do so by turning right from the Yarramalong Rd onto Old Maitland Road, and following this into Cobbs Road, which leads to Tuggerah Station. From here, pick up Day 1 of my Lake Macquarie Cycle Tour. From here it is a further 17km along off-road cycleways to The Entrance, which lies on the coast. In total, it is about 45km from Kulnura to The Entrance.
Broke to Toronto (93km, 2km unsealed) - online map
Take the above route from Broke as far as Wollombi. From Wollombi, use the route on the online map as a guide to Toronto. I cycled this route in 2005. From Wollombi, it is a mostly pleasant undulating 27km cycle to the rural centre of Cessnock (Wikipedia entry, tourism page). With 18,000 inhabitants, Cessnock has a good shopping centre, including a bike shops. From Cessnock, the most direct route (as shown on my online map) to Toronto passes through Kearsley (small shopping centre, really and outlying suburb of Cessnock), skirts around Mulbring, climbs over the Watagan Mountains, and descends to Freemans Waterhole (service station) along a reasonably busy road. There is a shoulder (of sorts) most of the way.
The road between Cessnock and Mulbring could be avoided by cycling the quieter yet sealed road from Millfield to Mt Vincent via Paxton, Ellalong and Quorrobolong. My gut feeling is that this route would be preferable unless you want to do some shopping at Cessnock. It is also about 4km shorter.
The lakeside town of Toronto is very pleasant, breaming with cafés and is the endpoint of my Lake Macquarie Tour (visit that tour for more details). Fassifern Train Station lies on the CityRail network and is a short cycle from Toronto (see Day 6 of my Lake Macquarie Tour).
Broke to Brooklyn (125km, 2km unsealed)
In comparison to the Broke to Wyong route, this option is longer, but could be done in a day as you get a more consistent down hill run at the end. It also brings you closer to Sydney and you get to see some of the stunning scenery near the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.
To begin, follow the above route from Broke as far as Kulnura. From here, head south to Central Mangrove and then pick up my Hawkesbury Cycle Tour route to Brooklyn. It is 46km from Kulnura to Brooklyn Train Station (also known as Hawkesbury River Train Station), where it is typically 64 minutes by CityRail train to the CBD of Sydney. Those who don't mind climbing up hills could continue cycling from Brooklyn along the Old Pacific Highway as far as Berowra Train Station. Beyond Berowra the traffic using the old highway increases. If cycling from Broke to Brooklyn is too far for one day, one could camp (for free!) at the football field at Mangrove Mountain, which is a short deviation off this route. See my Hawkesbury Cycle Tour for more details.
Broke to Windsor via Wisemans Ferry (minimum 160km, unsealed sections) - online map
This option would take at least two days. To begin, follow the Broke to Wyong Route from Broke as far as Bucketty (53km). From here there are three ways to cycle to Wisemans Ferry. The online map shows the route of the first, while I have only done the third. Both the first and third options offer good scenery while the second option offers rough traffickless cycling through bushland along a route of historic significance.
From Wisemans Ferry, follow my Hawkesbury Cycle Tour to Windsor Train station, which is typically 73 minutes by CityRail train to Sydney Central Station. (Note: On my 2005 tour I cycled from Pennant Hills Train Station to Wisemans Ferry via Dural along Old Northern Road. Traffic was light only because I started cycling at 5:45am on a public holiday. I have driven along this road on a Saturday evening in the opposite direction, and the traffic was heavy. In general I would not recommend cycling this road.)
© 2004-2010 Robert Taggart. Last updated 9 January 2010.