Windsor to Wyong, Saturday 5 March













1) Hawkesbury River above Wisemans Ferry

2) Wisemans Chain Ferry

3) Local wildlife pictured in the Yarramalong valley






Windsor is west of Sydney. Today's ride looped a long way north to Wyong on the coast 60 miles to the north of Sydney. I took the route from a listing of rides near Sydney on the Internet. Part of the route involved using a minor road and a chain ferry across the river. I did some research on the Internet the previous night to confirm this was still running.

The forcast had been for rain all day but luckily this was delayed to the afternoon. The day started hot humid and sunny with temperatures getting to 33C before the rain arrived.

The big advantage of taking roads which depend on ferries is that traffic tends to be much lighter. I headed north on a byroad to Sackville and then a chain Ferry to Sackville North. Then a byroad climbing to a ridge and a main road still relatively quiet to cross the river again at Wisemans Ferry. Both the ferries are free presumably provided by local authorities.

I stopped for elevenses at a cafe in the town of Wisemans Ferry and got supplies for later.

On the other side of the ferry the road runs along the banks of the Hawkesbury River and on the edge of the Dharug National Park. The road is marked as a main road but is really quiet. The rain started about 1.00 and continued fairly light for 4 hours before clearing to blue skies again.

I had noticed on the Map that there was a Mangrove Lower and a Mangrove Mountain and guessed there might be a climb in-between. This proved to be about 1000ft. After a stop for tea at Mangrove Mountain I descended on more quiet roads and down Bumble Bee Hill to the Yarramalong valley and a pleasant byroad down to Wyong.

Distance for the day was 76.8 miles with 3503ft of climb and a riding time of 7hrs 35mins