Longreach Trip – Day 1 – NSW Mid North Coast
The first full day of our 8 day road trip to Longreach and back started in Maitland. Due to a major landslide on Thunderbolts way, we had a lot more distance to cover than originally planned. If we were going to make it in a reasonable time, we were going to have to be very disciplined around timekeeping and stops.
To try and maximize driving in daylight hours, we met at 5:45AM so we could depart at 6AM sharp. It was cold and dark as we set off, but at least we were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the foggy rolling hills of the hunter. Our breakfast stop was two hours away in Gloucester. The outside temperature got down to 3.5C according to my 126 outside temperature display.
We made good time and had a nice breakfast in a Gloucester cafe. All seven cars were running well. Unfortunately, due to the landslide, we could not avoid a 65km section on the A1 freeway. At least we were able to take The Bucketts Way for the first section of this leg, before the boring freeway section. We refueled in Wauchope, and I was quite impressed with the 560SEL doing 13.8l/100km.
Our next leg was the Oxley Highway. I had originally wanted to include this road in our route. The only reason I didn’t was due to distance on the day. The landslide forced my hand and I’m glad we took this road. I had read that it was popular with motorcycle riders, but can get clogged up with caravans and camper vans. Both things were true, but they didn’t interfere wtih our enjoyment of the road all that much. My 560SEL at almost 5.2 meters long was probably not the ideal choice for a road like this, but it did very well.
The motorcycle groups we saw rode fairly sensibly, and while we saw lots of campervans and caravans going eastbound, we were only stuck behind one. That driver had the courtesy to pull over and let the long line of cars past after about 10 minutes. We probably had more issues with SUVs, their top heavy design making them unsuitable and slow on these twisty roads.
The Oxley highway had some really good tight bends and changes of elevation, as well as some tight sections. There was a fair amount of active roadwork, and one way sections. There were a few places where landslides had damaged the road and only one lane was in operation. The last section into Walcha was faster with sweeping corners and very little traffic.
We made it into Walcha a bit early and met a friend who had travelled down from Brisbane to join our group for a couple of days. He was driving his 1989 420SEL. After the lunch stop in Walcha, we headed north on Thunderbolts Way. The first section was decent, but the section from Uralla to Armidale was a bit of a moonscape.
After Armidale, we turned onto Waterfall way. Our next destination was Ebor Falls. Waterfall way was also a great road. A very different character to the Oxley highway. It was also a twisty road, but the corners were not nearly as tight. It was a good contrast. Ebor falls was a good stop. The Waterfall was right next to the parking area and was very impressive. Overall the cars were running well, but the petrol blue 280CE had developed a sticky brake caliper.
Due to time, we were not going to be able to complete the entire length of Waterfall way, which was a shame. Instead, we continued on towards Dorrigo, where we turned back on smaller roads towards the Armidale Road. I’m really glad we did this. The extra section of Waterfall way was very much worth the drive, was were the smaller roads towards Armidale. We decided against the scheduled fuel stop, to try and get to Grafton as fast as possible. Passing Dorrigo, it looked like they had the worlds largest collection of Red Rattlers, but it turns out there was a steam train museum there.
By this time it was starting to get dark. After my experience with the Kangaroo near Mudgee a few years ago, I was not keen to be driving at twilight. This road was narrow and windy, and not easy to drive with the sun setting. I would enjoy coming back to do this road again in the middle of the day. Not only were we worried about wildlife, but the petrol blue 280CE’s fuel gauge was on the R marking, and we had 50km to go.
Despite these challenges, we made it to Grafton by 6PM. This was an hour earlier than I had anticipated, which meant we only had to drive 30 minutes in twilight and 30 minutes in the dark. The Petrol blue 280CE didn’t run out of fuel either. As we rolled into the petrol station, the light came on. The tank would only take 65 liters, so there was actually plenty in there. It is probably using more fuel due to the sticky brake caliper.
Overall we covered 761km today. I would certainly do those roads again. I was impressed with both the Oxley Highway and Waterfall way.
