Autumn 2017 - Northern NSW

(Rocks, Rivers & Lakes)

This trip started by heading north to South West Rocks before travelling to Grafton and then westward to Mann River to stop at the rustic caravan park there.

From there we continued westward over the Gilbaltar Range to Glen Innes. Further west we stopped for a few days at Inverell and then to the close-by Copeton Waters Dam for a few days free camping.

From here the weather turned really bad, so instead of free camping at Bingara, we continued on south to Lake Keepit for a few days.

Finally we visited Coolah Tops and then headed home via Newcastle.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

Wet morning for preparing to leave - Not unusual for us though. Di got a couple of pies for lunch at the bakery so we had an early lunch before we left. Tonight’s destination was South West Rocks and the trip, while uneventful, had its fair-share of rain (heavy at times) and roadworks. When we arrived at the caravan park it started bucketing down, which made getting settled in a lot of fun. Later in the day we look a walk over the little footbridge to the beach and just got back before more rain.

South West Rocks, NSW - setup the caravan in the rain

South West Rocks, NSW - footbridge over the estuary

South West Rocks, NSW - Creek/estuary entrance

Wednesday 1 March 2017

Took a drive round to Trial Bay and the campsite where we stayed previously. The price there now is nearly twice anywhere else. Bit of a ripoff I would say, but still a beautiful spot to stop. We did not go through the jail as we have been there before. After lunch we took a walk over the footbridge again, but then continued along the little track to the river and the breakwater. A bit longer than we thought. We then returned via the beach.

Trial Bay, NSW - the old jail, now a museum

South West Rocks, NSW - nice beach

South West Rocks, NSW - Macleay River

Thursday 2 March 2017

This time the rain held off while we packed up and we drove north through Coffs Harbour and on to Grafton before turning west towards Glen Innes and our destination at the Mann River Caravan Park, located right next to the Mann River. Very nice rustic park. The owner popped in for a chat along with his dog who made himself at home in our site and then joined us for a walk down to the river. The river maybe a bit shallow for kayaking at this time. We had a bit of a storm come over in the evening but joined the owner , Lee, and other visitors for a bit of a jam/sing-along session under his veranda.

Mann River, NSW - bridge over the river

Friday 3 March 2017

Di was coming down with the flu, but still wanted to do the drive along the Old Glen Innes Road - a 250km drive. This meant going back to almost Grafton, so we did the additional few kilometres and did some shopping at the chemists, the supermarket and BCF. The old road is very narrow with lots of dirt and bends that allowed an average speed of 40kph. It follows the rivers and crosses them a few times as well as going through a tunnel. Back on the main road we stopped in for lunch and a short walk at the Boundary Falls in Gibraltar Range NP. We did not arrive back until 4pm, just in time for a big thunderstorm.

Old Glen Innes Road - old tunnel

Gibraltar Range, NSW - Boundary Falls

Gibraltar Range, NSW - Boundary Falls Pool

Saturday 4 March 2017

Showers and thunder for most of the day, so we took it easy and relaxed. I made the mistake of mentioning that I do play guitar, so we ended up having a musical evening.

Sunday 5 March 2017

The sun looked like it was coming out at last, so we drove up to the homestead at The Gorge. This was a 40km drive along dirt tracks. There is camping at the river and you can kayak up to the actual gorge -when there is enough water. We would love to come back camping sometime as it is lovely country.

Mann River, NSW - the river near the gorge

Monday 6 March 2017

Packed up and chatted to John for a while before heading for Glen Innes. The first 50km is basically climbing up to the top of the mountains. We pulled in at Dandahra for morning tea with some of Di's pancakes. Talked to the NP guys and they said the road to Mulligans Hut was alright for the caravan. We went in the 9km of dirt road and took a look at the hut and picnic area. Mulligan was trying to generate hydro power and built the hut when they were doing som research. It never happened. The camping area is great and might require a visit there sometime.

Dandahra, NSW - Mulligan's Hut

Dandahra, NSW - nice river

We stopped at the showgrounds at Glen Innes. Lots of old buildings that are used everyday.

Glen Innes, NSW - loved the showgrounds

Tuesday 7 March 2017

Drove north to Tenterfield and took a look around town, having coffee before driving up to the lookout and visiting the museum at the railway station.

Tenterfield, NSW - great town to visit

Tenterfield, NSW railway station is now a museum

Tenterfield, NSW - old diesel railway car

Tenterfield, NSW - old sheep wagon

Tenterfield, NSW - old guards van

From there we drove down to Torrington and walked up to Thunderbolts lookout and then on to Emmaville, past the arsenic mines and then back to Glen Innes. Going to be a rather cool night.

Torrington, NSW - the walk to Thunderbolt's lookout

Torrington, NSW - steps up the the lookout

Torrington, NSW - 360 degree views

Wednesday 8 March 2017

Thought we needed a quiet day.....

Thursday 9 March 2017

We had an easy drive from Glen Innes to Inverell, stopping at the lookout for a while and then had morning tea at a rest area next to a creek. Went to the information centre and then to the supermarket.

Friday 10 March 2017

Drove out to the lookout and then to the northern end of Copeton Recreation Park and back. Di was feeling unwell, so while she rested, I went to the National Motor Museum.

Inverell, NSW - great home for the transport museum

Inverell, NSW - MGA, one of my favourites from 1960's

Inverell, NSW - beautifully restored Model T Ford

Inverell, NSW - great collection of old cars

Inverell, NSW - the beautiful Riley 1.5

After that I did a walk along Thunderbolts Track and using the link tracks joined the Middle Creek track. Nice walk, even if is a bit dry.

Inverell, NSW - the walk up to Thunderbolts lookout. No water in the narrows!

Inverell, NSW - Thunderbolt's Lookout - great views

Saturday 11 March 2017

Took a walk around the Pioneer Village. Quite well done and nicely presented. They had lots of old buildings re-sited there and also a large collection of old tractors and farming equipment.

Di was still crook, so we had a quiet afternoon.

Inverell, NSW - Pioneer Museum old homestead

Inverell, NSW - Pioneer Museum old hotel

Inverell, NSW - Pioneer Museum blacksmith's shop

Inverell, NSW - Pioneer Museum. Beautifully restored Ferguson tractor. Looks like it gets used to look after the site.

Sunday 12 March 2017

Decided to have a quiet day and fix up the seat in the caravan, where the seat hatch had broken away from the hinge. I was able to borrow a drill from our next door neighbour to drill out the rivots and then borrowed some pop rivets to replace the old ones. Later I found that I had brought some with me. Our neightbour is a RAAus pilot, so we chatted about flying for a while. Our other neighbours, who seemed a little strange at first came over and we chatted until we had to go to do some shopping.

Monday 13 March 2017

We had planned to leave Inverell, but the thunderstorms and heavy rain made us call the office and book in for another day.

One of the vans in the park had water pool in its awning and this ripped the whole thing off the van, along with about 300mm of the wall. A real mess. Felt so sorry for them. We spent most of the day talking with our neighbours, as you tend to do when the weather is not great.

Tuesday 14 March 2017

We packed up and drove the 45minutes around to Copeton Dam SRC. As we drove to the camping area the rain started again, so we sat for half an hour until it eased. After lunch we drove around the park looking for launching points for the kayaks. Di still pretty crook so we had a quiet afternoon and evening.

Copeton Waters, NSW - nice site, and we had elecricity

Wednesday 15 March 2017

We were still expecting more rain, and as we had been looking at free camping along the river at Bingara, we instead booked into the park for another day. Then we drove into Inverell to get a step as the angle of the van made getting in a bit hard. From there we drove to Warialda for lunch and then down to Bingara to check the river level. The tracks are quite muddy. The weather cleared in the afternoon into a beautiful evening.

Thursday 16 March 2017

We looked at the weather forecast and decided to give it yet another day before moving on. There was no wind, so I took the kayak out. It was just a beautiful day.

Copeton Waters, NSW - just had to go for a paddle

Copeton Waters, NSW - emus were very uninterested in us

Copeton Waters, NSW - guess there was no wind

Friday 17 March 2017

Most of the vans (5) moved out during the morning. Later on the wind came up and blew hard for the rest of the day.

Saturday 18 March 2017

Surprise, surprise. The rain started just as we started to pack and wasn't stopping. We headed towards Bingara in heavy rain. Not a pleasant trip. The tracks into the free camping were very very boggy, so we decided to move on to Baraba. The caravan park there looked OK, even if it was old, but we decided to move on to Split Rock Dam, where the rain had stopped. However, we were disappointed on what was on offer there, so we settled on Lake Keepit.

Sunday 19 March 2017

Took a walk around the camping area and after lunch drove around all the bush camping areas. Looking good. Took the kayak out in the late afternoon and got back just before a thunderstorm hit.

Lake Keepit, NSW - thunder storms. No gliding this week.

Monday 20 March 2017

We had planned to go to the Wurrumbungles for a few days free camping and bush walking, but the weather forecast was bad, so stayed at Keepit until Wednesday morning. OK for a walk along the foreshore. More thunderstorms in the evening.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Very showery, so went over to the gliding club for a while. Big thunderstorm in the evening, so I put everything away, including the awning.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Packed in relative dry and drove to Gunnedah where we stopped for morning tea. Took it easy along the Black Stump Way to my daughter's farm. That road does not improve, especially towing a caravan.

Thursday 23 March 2017

Got sucked in to fixing up the farm boundary fence.

Friday 24 March 2017

We took a drive up to Coolah Tops to explore the area.

Coolah Tops, NSW - no water over the Norfolk Falls

Coolah Tops, NSW - Rocky Falls valley view

Coolah Tops, NSW - view from Pinnacle Lookout

This trip was unfortunately disrupted by heavy rain, but I'm sure the farmers were very glad of it. We still managed to visit and explore places we had not been to before.

Google Sites

Report abuse