Happy as to be out on the gravel today.
A few notable features in this pic :
The Tunnel is a long one, at 524 metres.
It was built in 1894, to enable a (steam) train to carry produce from the Riverport at Murwillumbah to the seaport at Byron Bay, a distance of 50 km.
As you can imagine, there were no decent roads and absolutely no cars or trucks in those days !
The only realistic transportation options were to use ocean-going boats, or to build a Railway !
As you can imagine, the end of the 19th Century was a period of widespread and intense Railway construction in various parts of Australia.
The Railway of course was an engineering masterpiece, with a number of tunnels and many bridges between Murwillumbah and Byron Bay.
Then finally 20 years later Byron Bay was linked to Sydney with the construction of more railway line through to Lismore, Casino and Grafton (but there was no bridge over the big river at Grafton so the journey to Sydney necessitated a transfer to a ferry boat across river until the 1930’s 
)
After the 2nd World War, the relevance of the Railway started to diminish.
Roads were built and sealed, people started to use cars, trucks and motorcycles.
By the 1970’s, the 132 km of railway line between Murwillumbah / Byron Bay/ Lismore/ Casino was on borrowed time. Most freight went by road and there were only 2 passenger services per day.
The last passenger service ran in early 2004.
Now it is a Railtrail, but unfortunately not the full 132 km corridor, only the first 24 km and the last 30 km.
Only in Australia would you find such a curious counterintuitive disconnect, an abandoned Railway corridor of which only the first part and the last part have been turned into a community asset !
But it is a magnificent community asset, especially the “northernmost” part, between Murwillumbah and Mooball, a distance of almost 24 km completed Railtrail.
It was constructed by Tweed Shire Council, assisted by the NSW State Government in 2022.
It’s an all-weather trail, except for 2 low level crossings which are covered with freshwater only after very large rains.
As you can see in the photo, it is easily negotiated with a Singlespeed bicycle.
But skinny tyres are best substituted for something a bit wider. I am running 700x28/32 on the Shogun as pictured.
Any other considerations ?
Because the Trail is heavily used, it’s best to avoid weekend mornings and Public holidays !
There are plenty of cafes and a few hotels along the Trail, but some are not open on Mondays or Tuesdays.
The Trail has plenty of tree cover, which makes it cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter.
A bell IS a good idea, as is a LIGHT, because the tunnel is VERY dark !
What more is there to know ?
Probably lots of things, best discovered by visiting the area.
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT MAGPIES OR SNAKES !
There are plenty of them, but unlike some other places in Australia, they are rarely aggressive !
Road access : Murwillumbah is 800km north of Sydney and 30 km south of the Gold Coast Airport.
It is technically in NSW, but many people get a wee bit confused think it’s in Queensland because it is close to Brisbane and the Gold Coast 
After one very uncomfortable night in a tent I built a hut out of a rusty 6x4 trailer and some pallet timber, then eventually replaced that with a 3m long tiny house for a weekender.
