{"id":1299,"date":"2008-10-30T09:53:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-29T23:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wpblog\/?p=1299"},"modified":"2008-10-30T09:53:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-29T23:53:00","slug":"2008-trip-day-5-a-great-big-loop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/?p=1299","title":{"rendered":"2008 trip day 5 &#8211; A great Big Loop"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify\">I started on a great loop around the rim. My intention was to get to and stay the night in Byron Bay, because I still have never stayed there the night. However, it turned out to be much further than I though and I did not have the stamina at the end of the day and bailed at the first place I could find.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3337114400\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3364\/3337114400_2d2486a980.jpg\" alt=\"2008-10-30 track\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But back at the start, I headed north from Casino. My first major stop, and this took hours, was the Border Ranges National Park. Here the Prius struggled a bit, though for an unexpected reason. Some of the roads were very steep and gravel with stones. As the prius has a very low ground clearance, I had to take it slowly. But at low speed, the electric motor is at its most powerful. As I was going uphill most of the weight of the car was on the back wheels. The Prius is a front wheel drive and so I was having great difficulty stopping wheel slip. The problem with that was, the traction control kills the power when the wheels slip, I&#8217;d loose momentum and then when the power came back, I had slowed a lot and the wheels would slip more. With care I never once stalled the car, but I came close.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076166029\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3041\/3076166029_97342f3150.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076998342\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3295\/3076998342_b6f3cb3c17_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076165567\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3172\/3076165567_52589d312c_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076165311\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3049\/3076165311_6794797e75_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076995592\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3236\/3076995592_08fc7da706_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076995266\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3034\/3076995266_22ff2ae194_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076994762\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3058\/3076994762_13d96d5428_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076994066\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3182\/3076994066_ab229c7a2e_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076161407\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3188\/3076161407_e3678a6739_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076159697\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3241\/3076159697_cbf7a68d7b_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076158521\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3281\/3076158521_f52c6ab2ff_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076157087\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3177\/3076157087_06730bdd6f_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3076158035\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3253\/3076158035_43ed2ded45_s.jpg\" alt=\"Border Ranges National Park\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I then headed up the road that followed the main interstate railway line between Sydney and Brisbane. I followed this as I wanted to see if I could get photos of one of the two railway spirals in NSW. I had travelled through this spiral when I once caught the Brisbane Limited.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3042434805\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3008\/3042434805_d2bcdb9177.jpg\" alt=\"the lions road\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3041057185\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3033\/3041057185_d7df61bcfd_s.jpg\" alt=\"North Coast railway\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3043273782\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3199\/3043273782_4bc6a40892_s.jpg\" alt=\"the lions road\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3039868069\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3153\/3039868069_48b46c9617_s.jpg\" alt=\"Wilson Ave\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3039868323\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3171\/3039868323_d20a8aa9ac_s.jpg\" alt=\"Wilson Ave\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3040706560\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3038\/3040706560_efe146e566_s.jpg\" alt=\"Wilson Ave\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3041056809\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3049\/3041056809_0cb9a4bb0e_s.jpg\" alt=\"North Coast railway\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I then came to what must be one of the most fortified border crossings in Australia. Only the Western Australians take their border crossings more seriously.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3043274626\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3069\/3043274626_df7a604660.jpg\" alt=\"the lions road\" \/><\/a><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3043274046\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3223\/3043274046_b3ab3c8c32.jpg\" alt=\"the lions road\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After some of the steepest roads I have encountered, but luckily only quite low hills, I found myself unexpectedly heading for Beaudesert. I was even now starting to feel tired. So I backtracked towards the coast. On the way I made a detour to Reilleys at Lamington National Park.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3087413627\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3088\/3087413627_b8dc8e7691.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3087409339\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3100\/3087409339_b9fda30f5c_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3088246366\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3254\/3088246366_c406e2216a_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3088247056\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3249\/3088247056_66fb0e4dab_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3087410249\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3130\/3087410249_15cc8ebc65_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3088249042\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3292\/3088249042_3dc39262d5_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/yewenyi\/3088249748\/\" title=\"Go to the photo page\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/3101\/3088249748_e98fedb88f_s.jpg\" alt=\"Lamington National Park\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I then made a dash for Byron Bay, but I was very tired. So I ended up staying the night at a place called Pottsville. Most of the residents were small business workers. It  turned out to be a good night singing and playing the blues (some of the others were guitar players) on the balcony of the motel.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I started on a great loop around the rim. My intention was to get to and stay the night in[&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holiday-diary","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yewenyi.net\/wp\/old\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}