THE DRIVE DOWN.
Our first meeting point was 6am at BP Stayplton. Jan and Darren arrived first with a call from Dave to say he was running late (surprise, surprise!). Then we headed to meet Mary at Dreamworld. Jan was travelling in his new 97 Forester, fitted with his Lib’s big mud tyres and his in-car cam mounted in front of the passenger seat. Darren was in his Impreza wagon, fitted with his new tricked up AWD gearbox and EJ 2.2 motor. Mary was in her 07 Auto Forester XT. Dave arrived at 6:30am in his 05 Forester X. Next stop was Ballina to pick up Rob Noble and his son Doug. We called in to Woolies to get some last minute supplies. This is where Jan realised he left all his fresh food in the fridge back at home! Oops! After a shopping spree we were back on the road, with Rob well ahead of us in his 03 Forester XS. He was also towing his 16 ft boat.
We stopped for fuel in Coffs then had lunch in Kempsey. Rod Viertel and Colin caught up to us on the highway near Port Macquarie. Rod was in his very nicely lifted 3.0R Outback, fitted with a SubaXtreme front bar and sump guard. Finally our last stop was Coopernook camp ground where Rob and Doug had already got us a camp site with a fire and shelter. Doug was able to secure a top site, as he and his young family only live a few kms down the road. We set up camp and then the boys fitted a new Crossbred steel sump guard to Mary’s Forester. We had dinner and a good old chin wag around the camp fire.
DAY 1
After some overnight rain, we woke up to a plague of flying ants (termites) - they were everywhere. With Doug’s vast local knowledge, he was to be our tour guide. After brekkie we set off to Vincent’s lookout, with a 4WD detour (up and down a creek bed), which was enjoyed by everyone. Arriving at Vincent’s lookout we were stunned by the views over Manning valley and out to the sea. Next stop was Newby’s Caves and Newby’s Lookout, where Jan and Dave went A over T on slippery ground. Back in the cars again to Starrs Creek for a rainforest walk beside the creek and a pit stop. Then to Big Nellie, one of the highest points of the area at 542m. Rob waited at the bottom, while the rest of us did the climb up. Near the top it’s very steep over slab rock. We rested while taking in the great view, and then returned to the base for lunch. While we were there, four Foresters came in driven by bird watchers looking for a pit stop. Next stop Flat Rock lookout with a 500m straight drop to the valley floor (very scary).
Waitui Falls was the next stop. It was a short walk to a great place for a summer swim and picnic. Pity it was overcast and cool. Leaving there we headed to Middle Brother Mountain with consistent drizzling rain all the way. The lookout was in complete cloud cover. On the way to the huge “Big Fella Tree”, Jan saw a good side track and navigated the steep climb to the top. Dave had a go and got stuck ¾ of the way up while the rain started to get heavier. Darren headed up after Dave and was able to get around him to reach the top. Jan got stuck trying to help Dave and Darren was able to snatch Jan up the hill. Jan walked down to help Dave slide backwards to bottom where Mary, Rod and Colin were waiting for them. We found another way down from the top on a track that led to the main road and we all headed back to camp. After a quick spruce up we travelled into nearby Taree to the Manning River Hotel for a nice dinner.
DAY 2
After a night of drizzly rain, we ate a hearty breakfast then set off to the Lansdowne general store for some supplies. Daza was to be Dave’s navigator today, as he had discovered a head gasket leak in his Impreza. Then it was off to the mountains. As the original track that Jan had planned to use was closed due to a big land slip, Doug showed us another road to use. First it was through dairy country - nice and green, then climbing high up into the hills covered in mist and clouds. Our first stop for the day was Ellenborough Falls, the second highest falls in the southern hemisphere at 160m. After viewing the falls from two stunning lookout points, we decided to descend the 641 wooden stairs to the “central leech feeding area” - the base of the falls. We got our breath back while taking many photos and prepared for the climb out. At the top we all did a leach removal ritual (Colin holds the record for most leeches with 8!). We also had to defend ourselves against a vicious bush turkey while having morning tea! Unfortunately, Dave fell victim to its wrath of fury and has the peck marks to prove it!!
Back on the road again driving through the picturesque Comboyne Plateau, famous for potatoes and dairy cows, we were heading to the town of Comboyne for lunch at the “Udder Cow Café”. On arrival Dave discovered he had a flat rear tyre that had to be changed. He would be able to plug it back at camp. After lunch, we back tracked a few kms to Rawson Falls, which is a 3.5 km return walk. After the walk we did another leech check. From here, Doug showed us some back roads that would lead us to our camp. On the way, we had a drive around a disused quarry. On a very slippery section of track, a certain female club member did not manage to stop in time - surprising Jan with a “gentle” nudge!! Fortunately no damage was done. Rod and Colin “abandoned” us to refuel and managed to find a nearby Servo that had free hot showers. When we all met back at camp, we decided to have a huge communal cook up with everything from lamb chops, bacon, eggs and snags of all types.
DAY 3
We had an early start today because we had a long day ahead of us. After having a frustrating day as a passenger, Darren decided to take his car. He just had to keep a close eye on the temp and water level. Our first stop was Wingham for fuel and supplies. Then it was up into the hills for more sight- seeing. Potoroo Falls was our next stop. After a very obscure bush track we had to cross the creek a few times, which we had fun getting over. The falls were spectacular, hidden away 400m from the road. It was a cascading waterfall into a very inviting deep rock pool. The type of thing you see on postcards. On the way in, Rod ended up in the drink trying to cross the creek on a fallen log. Darren and Doug also ended up on their butts coming down from the top of the waterfall. On the way back up to the main road Darren got a bit carried away on the last two corners and got a bit sideways and swiped the bank (bugger!) – but there was no damage.
Our next stop was Dingo Tops camping and picnic area. We decided to stop for lunch, eating the leftovers from last night’s mixed grill. Dingo Tops is an old forest station with some old steam operated machinery on display. It really needed to be under cover in a museum somewhere. It was a beautiful and well maintained area which Jan said was 950m above sea level. We continued on to Rowleys Lookout. It was a steep drive to the car park and an even steeper 400m walk to the top. It was well worth the effort, because it is a 1008m high lookout with 360 degree views of the mountains and the coast which were spectacular.
At Blue Knob Lookout (the old Rowleys fire tower), Jan tricked us all on the radio, saying that we had another very steep 500m walk to the tower. We were extremely relieved to find that we were able to drive right up to base of the tower then climb a few metres up a wobbly ladder! We then backtracked a little heading to “The Cells” which is an old gold mining area. We headed down a steep track that had a sign that said “dry weather road only - engage low range”. The 2 auto vehicles wouldn’t have wanted anything steeper. We descended 400m in about 4kms. After the bottom creek crossing we were running out of daylight and there were ominous back clouds above. Not knowing what lay ahead we decided to go back the way we came in. It was going to be a long steep climb, but fortunately everyone conquered the challenge of a particular loose rocky section to make it to the top. We made it out to the winding Oxley Highway heading down the range for a Chinese dinner at Wauchope, playing “I Spy” on the way to keep everyone awake. After dinner, with another hour drive ahead, another game of “I Spy” was enjoyed by all and we made it back to camp safely at 9:00 pm for some beers and a chat.
DAY 4
It was an early pack up the next morning as we were heading further south to Stockton Beach. Darren discovered his old faithful Engel fridge had died overnight, so he had to transfer his cold food to Dave’s fridge. Our first stop was Coolongolook (locals call it “come and have a look” for short) Caltex truck stop for fuel and brunch. Then it was about another 150kms to Anna Bay on the northern end of Stockton Beach to a Caravan Park that Rod told us about. It was a top spot as we had the whole back area to ourselves. It was right near the beach in a nice grassy shaded area. It also had a covered camp kitchen. We wasted no time in setting up camp, so we could set off to the BP servo to get our beach permits and let our tyres down. Rob decided to travel with Dave and Doug went with Mary to help her navigate the dunes. We hit the beach just before low tide. Everybody was keen to have a drive on the famous Stockton dunes, the highest in the southern hemisphere. It was also Mary’s first time driving on the sand and nearly the last (only joking!) We stopped at Tin city to admire the “architecture” - rough tin shacks built for fisherman and weekenders. Jan and Darren decided to go into the dunes while the rest headed south to the Sygma ship wreck, said to be the largest ship wrecked on the east coast.
Around this time we were treated to an aerial display by 3 F18 Hornets from the nearby Williamtown airbase, doing high speed banked turns. As we got further south the beach sand got softer. Dave got bogged in the soft sand and had to dig himself out. We regrouped at the ship wreck, and then went inland as far south as we could go. We were over looking Newcastle and its harbour. By this stage we had to let our tyres down around the 15 to 18 psi mark. Then we continued north to meet up with Jan and Darren, they said they had found a burnt out L Series wagon that had probably been stolen. We followed each other in and around the dunes with lots of photos being taken. Mary discovered a steep drop off and Doug said he needed a crash helmet. By late afternoon with storm clouds approaching, we headed back to camp for dinner and our first proper shower for the trip. While the boys did running repairs to Mary’s car (only a bent number plate and a refit to the front right plastic inner guard) she went for a swim in the pool. Then Jan, Darren, Dave, Doug and Mary went down to the beach, where Mary went for another swim and the boys went rock climbing over to the nudist beach, unfortunately as it was nearly sun set the beach was deserted. We finally got that threatening storm while we cooked dinner in the communal kitchen. It was all over in about 20 minutes. With some mains power available, Jan set up his laptop and we all enjoyed viewing a lot of the photos and videos that everybody had taken so far.
DAY 5
After another early start we set off to Gan Gan lookout. There was a great view over looking Nelson Bay, Port Stephens to the north and Stockton Beach to the south. When we fuelled up and inflated our tyres we set off west to Chichester State Forest. We stopped at Raymond Terrace for some more supplies and morning tea. From here, Rob and Doug were heading back to Taree. We thanked Doug for helping us with his knowledge of the local area and said our goodbyes. We drove on to a lookout at the historic town of Stroud, where there are some convict-built underground grain silos still in place. We also had a quick stop at an old road tunnel under the rail line between Stroud and Dungog. Further on our next stop was the Chichester Dam. It is a pretty spot with great facilities. It was built in the late 1920’s and has been upgraded over the years and now has some hydro electricity output. The dam was at full capacity and water was flowing over the spill way. We continued on more forestry roads to a great remote camping spot on Frying Pan Creek. On the way while checking out some other camping spots, we crossed a flowing causeway and another deeper rocky creek that helped clean off some of Stockton Beach sand and salt.
DAY 6
We awoke to a beautiful morning in the Frying Pan Creek camp site to a chorus of currawongs and cockatoos. It didn’t take long to pack up and head off again to explore the Chichester Tops Forest area. We climbed high into the mountains with more spectacular views, while travelling through recently logged areas. At a track junction we found a cleared area with a lot of very old logging machinery on display, including a Hercules bulldozer with cable operated blade and ripper and a Caterpillar winching machine. We followed a track to the top of a logging area but couldn’t continue because the descent was too steep, so we went back to the main track. The track that led us out towards Barrington Tops was blocked by a large fallen tree so we were unable to get through. We continued on another track that led us out to the town of Gloucester. Along the way Darren had to change a rear tyre due to a blowout. While in Gloucester we stopped for lunch and fuelled up.
After lunch we headed onto Thunderbolt’s way over the Great Dividing Range to Bretti Reserve. While we were in Brettie Reserve, Dave heard a knocking noise. After checking it out, he found a loose swaybar link. After fixing it and with plenty of time left in the day, we decided to continue on to Tia Falls. Driving along a forestry road there was another plea for help from Darren as he had another flat tyre. Fortunately this was able to be repaired using Dave’s tyre repair kit. This road wound through some very scenic cattle and sheep country. We saw some original Slab huts and very early rustic farms. On the top of the range at 1300m, we hit our highest point on the trip so far. Arriving late afternoon at Tia Falls, with just enough time before sunset we got our tents up, had dinner and coerced Mary into writing the day’s trip report before bed!
DAY 7
Another fine and clear morning dawned, it was pretty mild considering we were still over 1000m high. It was perfect weather for folding up the tents for the last time and more sight-seeing. First we set off for the short walk to Tia Falls as the camp sites are only 50 or so meters from their top .The Falls are spectacular, with a good strong flow. They are tiered and have a number of pools as they drop to the bottom of the deep gorge, probably deeper than Ellenborough Falls. Back on the road again heading to Apsley Falls, we passed some fox carcases that a local farmer had hung from a big gum tree.
Apsley Falls are just as impressive as Tia Falls, with a lot of water going over into a steep and very deep rocky gorge. Our next stop was the town of Ullara which was busy having its Thunderbolt festival. We decided to go and have a quick look at the famous bush ranger, Thunderbolt’s grave site. We stopped in Armidale for lunch where Darren tried to buy a new tyre but he had no luck. From here we farewelled Darren, as he had to high tail it home to attend a family wedding on Sunday. He made it all the way without a spare! Just outside Armidale we stopped at Thunderbolts Cave, where there was an easy 4wd track to the cave. To help pass the kilometres, we played question and answers of the trip - it was good to do a recap. At the top of the Ben Lomond range we reached our highest point of the trip 1440 m. Also many times during the trip we would compare our outside temp dash display. Interestingly Rod’s Outback would be the highest, by a few degrees, while the Forester’s would be about 1 degree apart. We did more sight-seeing at the balancing rock near Glen Innes and also at Deepwater’s restored railway station. It even has the old steam train steel water tank still standing although the line has been out of service for years.
We stopped for another break at a road side coffee and gift shop just north of Stanthorpe. We said our goodbyes to Rod and Colin outside Warwick as they were heading home via Toowoomba. We were down to 3 cars now and we had our final stop at the Amberley Mobil servo then headed our separate ways home.
In one week we covered a lot of country doing 2500kms on some great roads and back tracks. It was a fantastic trip, with terrific company and stunning scenery. Everywhere was green and lush. Hundreds of photos were taken and plenty of video action was recorded to document our adventure.
This trip report was a combined effort updated each night. Mary was our expert secretary who did the bulk of the typing and Rod was our main spell checker. A big thank you goes to Jan for organising and leading the trip.
