Casino Weekend

26 April 2017 / Words by Wayne Lang; Photos by Wayne and Cathy Lang

Led by Graham Rochester, a small group of cars left the Port Service Centre at 8:30am for our Casino Hinterland Poker Run. After a drive of some 40 minutes, they met up with Cath and I at The Puma Service Centre just outside of Kempsey. So far, we had Graham and Pingky, Kevin and Carole Attrill from Wingham, Greg Cox, Peter Rodgers, Cath and myself.

We led the way up the painfully boring Pacific Highway until we reached the Bellingen turn-off, where we headed for our morning tea. Once reaching Bello, we turned into the Old Butter Factory, where we met up with Coffs Harbour locals, Chris Clark and his wife Sandie Hammond, where we all enjoyed a nice light breakfast. Run details and poker score sheets were handed out and it was time to bid Graham and Pingky farewell, as Pingky had work commitments to attend to.

From there, we ventured up the Dorrigo Mountain via Thora for an un interrupted drive up to Dorrigo itself. Then it was out though North Dorrigo and Bostobrick up to the Armidale Road and then onto Dundurrabin, Nymboida, Coutts Crossing, where I bumped into my old mate Strawb for a brief roadside chat, and finishing up in Grafton for lunch at the Crown Hotel.

After leaving The Crown, we set off for Casino via Lawrence. A nice little drive that avoids some of the main highway. We eventually reached our digs for the next few days at the River Park Motor Inn. It was nothing too flashy, but the bed was comfortable and the inhouse breakfasts were a very nice surprise. That evening we walked a few blocks to the Casino RSM Club for dinner. The meals arrived a little later than we'd have liked due to a large turnout on the night, but when they did, the food was very nice. After a substantial tasty meal and few beers, it was off back to our rooms for a peaceful night’s sleep for a big day ahead.

In the morning, we woke to a breakfast of poached eggs and bacon, orange juice and a cup of coffee, plenty to keep us going until lunchtime at the Hinze Dam at Advancetown. We made our first poker draw before leaving our motel and then it was off for the poker run proper, leaving Casino and taking the short drive to Kyogle. Once reaching Kyogle, we then headed out on the Kyogle Road up through some awesome twisties where we decided to pull over to let a few slow vehicles get far enough ahead to not spoil the great drive. In the meanwhile, it gave us the chance to have the second of our poker draws.

We were off again, passing through Cawongla and Uki, before turning left just short of Murwillumbah to go out to the Tyalgum Pub. After reaching Tyalgum, we had a brief chat with the publican who told us his version of the devastating floods that just fell short of entering his pub. A few photos later, we did our third poker draw and set off for the short run out to Chillingham.

Turning left off the bridge, we continued out to Advancetown and the Hinze Dam, named after one of the most corrupt politicians in Queensland's history. Once we'd arrived, we settled in at the View Cafe for a lovely light lunch overlooking the Hinze Dam complex and the huge Advancetown Lake. Then it was off for a nice stroll around the walkways, where we took many photos and enjoyed each other’s company and a few laughs, before doing the fourth of our poker draws.

It was then time to make tracks up the Nerang-Murwillumbah Road to Beechmount Road, where we made a left turn for the wonderful drive overlooking the beautiful Numinbah Valley. With a terrific view of the Gold Coast off in the distance, we came across a group of paragliders doing their thing from the edge of the road. Cath and I had told the group of seeing this when we were last up here, but to have it happen again during this trip was a bonus. Watching these people sailing above you in virtual silence, over the picturesque valley below was almost breathtaking.

We then continued our drive until reaching Canungra, where we had planned to go down through the Lamington National Park, but unfortunately due to all the floods earlier in the month, many of the roads were completely closed off. So instead we made our way out to Beaudesert and the run back to Kyogle via the Mt. Lindesay Highway. We stopped briefly at Rathdowney for a toilet break and the final poker draw which saw Kevin and Carole Attrill take out the win with a pair of Jacks.

We then passed under the shadow of Mt. Warning along some awesome twisty road back to Kyogle, under the backdrop of a postcard sunset. The rest of the drive was pretty relaxed until we finally and a little later than expected, back to our motel rooms. A quick freshen up, and it was off to our chosen spots for dinner. Chris and Sandie decided to go in search of some Chinese, while the rest of us had an excellent meal at the Tattersalls Hotel on Barker Street. I spent a few hours downloading our photos and videos of the weekend onto my laptop, while Cath hit the sack.

The following morning it was time for us to all bid each other happy trails until our next run, and it was back towards Grafton where Cath and I were to go and say g'day to a friend of ours that we hadn't seen in roughly 38 years. We drove back to Grafton, again via Lawrence with the Attrills and Peter, and parted ways at South Grafton. We gave Red a touchless wash in South Grafton, so we could show her off to our old mate Kim, who is co-owner of Sweet Sisters Boutique in Skinner Street. We walked into her shop and she immediately recognized Cath and raced up and gave her a huge hug. It was such a thrill to see her after so many years. We talked about old times and friends for a few hours before having to finally say goodbye, but we all promised we'd keep in touch.

Then we had a nice brisk run back through the Corkscrew until reaching Dorrigo, where we stopped at the Plateau Cafe for a sandwich and milkshake, before the descent down the mountain. Once we'd reached the Pacific Highway, we were pretty worn out from the last couple of days and settled into a sedate drive home. By the time we got home, we'd done about a 1,200 km round trip.

Cath and I would like to sincerely thank those who joined us and made our run such a fun event.