After an 800km drive, including an overnight stop at Raymond Terrace just out of Newcastle, we reached home by lunch-time today. At Newcastle we have a choice between taking the New England Highway, which is generally a good road or the slightly shorter route via the Bucketts Way to Gloucester (nothing like its UK counterpart) and then the Thuderbolt's Way to Uralla and Armidale. Thunderbolt was a 19th century bush ranger (outlaw) who held up stages coaches quite successfully until eventually tracked down and killed. We now tend to take the latter route because it is so scenic and little trafficked, though the surface of the road is horrid in places. Gloucester is transforming itself into a tree-hugger's paradise and lots of good cafes for coffee and/or lunch. The route also has about 160km between Barrington and Walcha with no settlements on the road. The trip is entirely rural through picturesque mountain and river scenery, along with some of Australia's best grazing country.
The photos below show some of the scenery en route from Carsons Lookout. The three pictures adjoin each other and present a vast sweep of countryside looking westwards towards the Barrington Tops, a National Park with vast wilderness areas up to 1100m in height. The Barnard River in the valley below is at about 200m, while the lookout itself - alongside Thunderbolt's Way - is about 920m. So the valley floor is more than 700m below (or c. 2200 feet). It's an impressive view and we often stop for a little R & R on the long stretch to (or from) Walcha. Even at 920m the weather was very hot(!) at 10am, and the humidity low, which is why the images are so clear.
AS
2 comments:
You undoubtedly live in a beautiful land. Richard.
Yes, many parts are very attractive and the great thing is the relative absence of people! Around Armidale we have large numbers of national parks, wilderness areas, forest reserves, waterfalls, and so on. Many of these are featured in posts on this BLOG.
AS
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