Gloucester to Coogee (Sydney)
We set off early to drive into the Barrington Tops National Park area to see the mountain views. Initially we went through Barrington to go to Barrington Tops but soon realised it is a long way through forests and not taking us south which was the general direction we needed to go due to time constraints, so we headed back into Gloucester and took the opportunity to fill up with petrol as there do not seem to be many petrol stations in these more remote areas.
We revised the route to go up to Gloucester Tops, another part of the park. The run in is very scenic country with rolling hills and lots of cattle, albeit, we soon started to climb into the mountains and wildness area things soon changed. Once we began to climb up more steeply the tarmac turned to a gravel track.
Thirty four kilometres, six fords and a lot of single lane sections later we make it to the top after a drive of nearly two hours. One kangaroo ambled and another one hopped across the track in front of our car which made the perilous drive worthwhile. Fortunately we did not meet any other cars and it was only a short walk to a look out over absolutely stunning scenery.
We ate our picnic at the picnic area at the top. There was no view from here as it was in the forest but a really amazing lack of human sound; all you could hear was the birds or the odd wind noise. No people, cars or planes !!
Time to head back down the mountain, thirty four kilometres, six fords and a very windy steep track back to the valley.
Our next stop was the Hunter Valley just to check out the wine. Unfortunately, due to the amount of time spent in the Barrington Tops we only had time for one wine tasting and the purchase of a couple of bottles for drinking with Louise in Coogee. The winery we visited was Hungerford Hill. While the wine was very good none is exported so no chances to sample at home.
Finally we headed for Coogee again. Mary very successfully navigated us around Sydney with only one missed turn which was not her fault but poor signage on the inner motorway system. Not a problem as we went into the CBD and were able to pick up the bus route we knew to Coogee from previous visits.
We arrived early evening with Louise for a chilled glass of wine before going out for a super Italian dinner in Coogee.