Why this ride
A 161 km round trip from Sydney - roughly 3 h 10 in the saddle. It goes by way of Australian Convict Sites, Old Great North Road and back through Australian Convict Sites.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sydney day out · Old Great North Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 161 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 10
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sydney
Sydney's harbour is the reason it exists. The First Fleet arrived in 1788 and chose the sheltered cove where the city stands, on land long cared for by the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. The Harbour Bridge, opened in 1932 and known to everyone as the coathanger, and the Opera House, whose white sails by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon were completed in 1973, have since become the pictures people carry in their heads. In reality both look better when you stand under them at dawn, with the ferries just starting up and the water gently moving.
Read the complete Sydney write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sydney is where the day begins. Next is Australian Convict Sites.
2. Australian Convict Sites
North of Sydney, where the Hawkesbury River winds between sandstone cliffs and forested ridges, there is a road that convicts built by hand. The Old Great North Road, begun in the 1820s, was meant to link Sydney with the Hunter Valley, and it was cut and paved by gangs of prisoners working with picks, hammers and iron bars, often in chains. It runs for over two hundred kilometres, and several sections survive, with walls of fitted sandstone, culverts, drains and cuttings that still look neat after two centuries. Together with other sites it is part of the UNESCO-listed Australian Convict Sites, which record the transportation of about 160,000 men, women and children from Britain.
Read the complete Australian Convict Sites write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Australian Convict Sites comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old Great North Road.
3. Old Great North Road
The Old Great North Road is one of the most remarkable pieces of engineering in Australia, and it was built by men who had no choice. Between 1826 and 1836, convicts were set to work cutting a road from the colony at Sydney north to the Hunter Valley, a distance of well over two hundred kilometres, through some of the most broken sandstone country on the continent. They cut deep into the rock with hand tools, built retaining walls of carefully fitted stone, and carried out the work in chain gangs under harsh discipline. The most spectacular surviving section is Devine's Hill, a steep climb with tall dry-stone walls that still look perfect after almost two centuries.
Read the complete Old Great North Road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Old Great North Road. Next is back through Australian Convict Sites.
4. back through Australian Convict Sites
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Australian Convict Sites write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Australian Convict Sites, late in the day. Next is Sydney.
5. Sydney
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sydney write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Sydney. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Sydney to Australian Convict Sites
Sydney → Australian Convict Sites is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Australian Convict Sites to Sydney
back through Australian Convict Sites → Sydney is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.