Murwillumbah & Rail Trail

There are 2 buses departing from Casino- a limited stops service to Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, and an all-stops service stopping at every settlement along the way. The all-stops one only had 8 passengers but unfortunately, the bus driver had to stop at every single stop, making detours to the bus stand even if no one was getting on or off. Heading out of Casino in the dark with its run-down houses it goes onto Bruxner Hwy towards Lismore, looping around old Lismore Station and dropping off a few people at Lismore transit centre across the river. Throughout the night it heads towards Ballina, stops at towns (Lennox Head etc) all the way up to Byron Bay, a major tourist hub. An overnight detour into Mullumbimby before travelling uphill on Tweed Valley Way towards Murwillumbah. The bus slowly climbs uphill just as the sun starts to rise until it goes into the town of Murwillumbah, inland right at the top of the hill. I got off as the only passenger booked towards this place at 5:40am, running roughly 20mins late. A short walk down the road is McDonalds where I got my 1st coffee of the day, a bit of food and somewhere to rest before shops open at a more reasonable time.

In the morning, I got my bike rental from the old Murwillumbah train station, the start of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. The station, now disused and refurbished into a mix of retail space, tourist information centre and a cafe, had regular passenger services all the way to 2004 when the Murwillumbah XPT train was axed. The branch line serving Lismore, Byron Bay was abandoned as it was too expensive to maintain, with the XPT train service now terminating at Casino.

Next to the train station is a goods shed, a few switches and a turntable for locomotives. The train line was once an important lifeline for goods trains, but has eventually been replaced with upgrades on the Pacific Highway along the coast. Years of straightening, widening, and bypassing of towns have drastically improved travel times, unlike the train line stuck with its centuries-old curvy alignment weaving through the slopes. A drive from Sydney to Brisbane is now 9 hours compared to 13 hours on the train. 

Cane farms, cattle fields, and a few signs for trains still remained on the trail. Speed limit signs, mileage signs indicating no. of kilometres from Central, and multiple wooden bridges on the brink of collapse. The bridges are likely the main reason why the train line was abandoned- there's too many of them and it'll cost a lot to replace them.

Crashed into a farmstay along the trail where there's a cafe, a shop and a few farm animals. I got my 2nd coffee while taking a break amongst groups of children having a weekend getaway. 

The line continues up the subtropical forest before it reaches Burringbar tunnel- a 500m long railway tunnel wide enough for only one track. 

On the other end of the tunnel the trail crosses through a few farms before reaching Burringbar, a small settlement along the road linking Murwillumbah with Pacific Hwy. The same subtropical forest remains but sections have been cleared for agriculture. 

Slightly down the road at Mooball there's a few roadhouses and a pub.

The trail ends at Crabbers Creek where it meets Pacific Hwy on the coast. The town centre is slightly inland away from the trail, which has a general store. 

The rail trail ends shortly after the town. Some other sections of the old line have been converted to a rail trail, and soon there'll be one between Casino and Lismore. A tourist heritage train runs on a very short section of the track near Byron Bay. There's generally hate around the construction of rail trails as it would be more useful for regional residents to have a functional train service. With lines already abandoned and unlikely to revive it might be the best use after all. The concept is barely new- there's a few in regional Victoria, and many old railway alignments in Taiwan or Japan are now scenic cycling routes. In Taiwan there's one near Sandiaoling, and the old tunnel is now a tourist attraction with nature taking over after decades of abandonment. In Murwillumbah, nature starts to take over the old wooden trestle bridges which are interesting to see.

Stopped at a cafe on the way back for lunch, going through more forests and around more trestle bridges. Near the end there's a general store at Strokers Siding, housing a community hall and a pottery shop. The community hall housed a pottery fair and there's been promotions for a Mozart concert over there. 

Towards the end there's an art gallery which served as a great vantage point for the nearby mountain ranges. There's Wollumbin/Mt Warning, being an ancient volcano surrounded by a caldera. The caldera is now the scenic rim, stretching from the Border Ranges to the Gold Coast hinterland. The gallery is also one of the most interesting regional galleries. One collection asks us what the concept of home means to us. It's more than a physical place, but any place that are sanctuaries to us, where the outside world set aside for us to relax and be ourselves. It can be out in the nature, in a national park, deep in the forests. The concept of home becomes increasingly vague the more someone travels, as if anywhere can be our home as long as we see familiarity or peace. It's no longer the place we live or work, as in modern days it can happen literally anywhere with a bit of mobile reception. 

The guest house sits on an elevated platform right by the river, with a balcony facing right towards Mt Warning. Murwillumbah is a bit off the beaten track but still draws its fair share of visitors, being at the base of Mt Warning. The irregular-shaped mountain peak, formed as a volcanic plug, is easy to spot even from a distance. It's far from the tallest mountain, but it possesses some sort of magic that connects people to it. The way it's still in its purest form untouched by humans, being in the backdrop in many places you visit, it's a guide to your travels and a place of comfort where your mind rests. All nature has beauty in its own ways, and it doesn't have to be the most challenging terrain- alpine ranges, cliff edges, Himalayas etc, for one to find comfort and call it home.

The gallery also explores the idea of buying souvenirs, a way to idealise nature or places into an object at home, reminding us of that experience. There are the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben types of souvenirs that are mass-produced and sold everywhere, and there are the more random ones. A really nice rock from a bushwalk, a painting of a corner in a regional town that I pass through every day, are all there to connect us to our past experiences. My friends collect tissue paper and toothpicks from different restaurants, and we all have our massive collection of postcards. It's the personal connection that matters, and that's a big part of why we travel. 

In Chinese Uni of Hong Kong there's an elective on travel philosophy. HongKongers love travel and our frequency of overseas trips is one of the highest in the world. Many travel as they want an escape, but leaving one place for another does not necessarily mean happiness. There's the fear of the unknown, challenges in unfamiliar territory, and even expectations from friends or family to jam-pack itineraries with long lists of activities. We love to travel to other countries and analyse them in our standards of living and development, applying our universal values. Are there really universal values, and are they what those people need to do good to them? We'll find places we see as horrific to live in, but in reality, it probably is the best we can get and the best mode of life moving forward. 

The hostel has a few long-term residents staying for work or various projects. A lady works with the local rotary service on developing disaster plans for residents. These areas are known for flooding and their frequency will only increase with climate change. Many people have no knowledge of how to handle a disaster, and somehow international travellers know more than locals in that regard. Fortunately, Murwillumbah is amongst the best places in the region, compared to the rough places on the coast between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, Grafton, Lismore, Casino, just to name a few. Lismore was heavily impacted by floods, and signs of destruction are still clearly seen. The town is a decent model for many regional towns in the area- there's an abundance of theatres, art complexes and activities. It's far from the most interesting, but at least life here wouldn't be boring.

At just 20km from Mt Warning it's an easy day trip even by bike. The summit track is heavily damaged in 2022 floods and has never reopened, still under consultation with traditional owners. Being a sacred place for the traditional owners, it might as well never reopen, leaving the summit to rest and be viewed from a distance. 

A new walking track opened in the region and it's been a huge topic amongst the greater bushwalking community. The multiday Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk has been controversial with its exorbitant campsite fees costing hundreds of dollars. To the local residents, this doesn't seem to be an issue- in fact there isn't a lot of conversation on how to conserve nature. There's not a lot of consultation and that is partly due to the lack of concern about these issues. Some say national parks are running out of money and are now seeking commercial developments but certainly this is far from the case. The costs draw more question- is this level of development warranted? 

Ecotourism has been around for a long time and visitors are drawn to immerse themselves in nature and admire natural views. When you ask why someone would have ecotourism or nature experiences in their travel itinerary, many would say they want to experience somewhere quiet where they could connect with nature. On paper, developing new infrastructure and drawing more people into national parks seems promising, boosting the ecotourism industry, but it's also destroying the very thing that draws people in the first place. Hong Kong has seen severe overcrowding around its lookouts and walking tracks, with ill-prepared tourists littering and ignoring warning signs. There's always an accessibility-infrastructure feedback loop- new lookouts and facilities make things accessible, which draws in more people, requiring more infrastructure to support that. 

How can ecotourism be sustainable? Some proposed 4 key elements to it: ecotourism principles, policy framework, education and conservation. Conservation should always come first, and tourism comes next. This sounds like common sense, but a lack of outlined principles and overarching framework across projects and government departments is leading to developments that go against conservation principles. Eco-lodges, private resort ventures and luxury apartments right at the heart of conservation areas are just a few examples of what happens. Nothing is there to govern against the destruction of the environment in the name of ecotourism. As the desire for nature experiences grows, there needs to be an agreed-upon principle which is strictly acted on. 

Education comes hand in hand with tourism- as tourist numbers skyrocket what the focus should be is attracting visitors who will genuinely benefit and learn through ecotourism experiences. Families who educate their kids on Leave No Trace principles, and overseas tourists learning about the geological formation, just to name a few. What's unfortunately the case is tourists focusing on social media photo shoots and the educational signs on rock formations get abandoned to the side. Tourists looking for social media-worthy pictures tend to only focus on photography skills and not every other aspect nature offers. In an idealistic world everything would be accessible to all, but as numbers grow uncontrollably, the only way forward is to limit accessibility to those who would make the most out of it. After all, why should all natural, wild areas be made accessible? Are we all entitled to visit every mountain no matter how we reach the top? Even if we force our way towards the summit with cable cars and artificial developments, does that really draw us closer to nature, or further away from it? 

Towards the afternoon a coach from Robina, Gold Coast arrived into Murwillumbah towards Casino, where it connects to an overnight train towards Sydney. Bus driver jams over his own playlist of country music and running out of music from my own playlist I might as well listen along. Having probably done this drive for too many times the driver skilfully commands the vehicle through tight curves and slopy terrain like a rollercoaster. It's also a light vehicle with just 5 passengers on board, making things extra simple. All these reminds me of minibus drivers in Hong Kong, listening to their radio and speeding past mountainous roads. The bus turns onto the scenic Bungalow Road curving round the hilly hinterland before reaching Lismore in the dark, desolate with not a single person on the street. Quiet bus, tranquil nature, great music as it gently bumps through country roads, all reminding me of why public transport is the best way to travel. Soon the bus cruises along the straights of Bruxner Hwy towards Casino before an empty train arrives and a good sleep back to Sydney.