What a contrast
I reluctantly left Whian Whian and the lush rainforest, and headed due west towards Tenterfield. I had a very hard time trying to convince Mac that we needed to be heading south.
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of backroads and I ended up doing quite a bit of highway riding before asking the locals to direct me to nicer parts of countryside. The landscape around these parts consists of wide open plains and roads with long sweeping curves.
Due west again thru Inverell, then south to Bingara, I pulled in to the Imperial Hotel just in time to get undercover before the heavens opened up. No phone coverage in these parts (note to self - get Telstra sim card).