You can’t leave Tamworth without a visit to the Golden Guitar so before we made our departure we popped in to see the huge instrument and visit the underwhelming visitor centre. We also swung by the local camera shop as Matt has made a couple of comments about wanting some decent binoculars to look at wildlife because apparently holding up my 3kg camera and looking through the lens of a device you have no knowledge of how to use is “annoying”, go figure. I thought that a camera shop in the country where most of the customers would be farmers would probably have some good quality binoculars that weren’t too expensive, an assumption paid off and he walked out with a great set for just over $100. Cheers Tamworth!
We stopped for lunch and so that Matt could make a work call in a small town called Walcha. While he spoke with his colleagues I had a wander around the small Main Street popping into the CWA/Craft shop and having a chat with the ladies in there as well as taking in some of the frankly bizarre art that was scattered along the road. My favourite piece was the fountain in the park where a bronze and very serious looking naked man and woman stood under a tin roof which was being showered with water by a series of bowls attached to a spiralling piece of metal. The only sign that could indicate to the viewer what on earth they might be looking at simply read “slippery when wet”…something that I didn’t think needed to be said when referring to a fountain. Just up the road we rescued and rehomed yet another horny turtle (I’ve recently learnt most of the wanderers are males looking for new women to mate with) and then drove out to Apsley Falls where we set up camp and indulged in a free firewood fire.
The next morning we completed the walking track to multiple lookouts around the plunging cascades. The falls were at full strength and it didn’t seem to matter what part of the track we were on there was a constant swirling mist around us. The falls themselves were hands down the best waterfalls I’ve ever seen both tumbling well over 50m into deep brown pools below. It made the afternoon waterfall Tia look a bit lame in comparison. That night we put up our very wet awning in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park campground called Mooraback which is the most leach infected place I have ever visited. Even with my hiking boots on and socks tucked into my pants they still managed to crawl up my legs and I found myself having to stop every 5m to shake the buggers off. That night we had another unpleasant surprise when a tree came crashing down into the fortunately empty site next to ours. I nearly pooped my pants lying in the van and hearing that horrible cracking creaking sound that I know full well comes before the earth shaking bang a tree makes, my panicked brain strained trying to remember if I’d done my usual check of trees nearby the maximise our safety, I had. On Saturday morning we woke up to yet more mizzle (mist and drizzle) and packed up our wet gear. By now we’d had over a week of almost constant rain and we were both completely over it and both constantly damp, neither of us took much convincing to give up on New England and head to the coast to spend some time in a house with Matt’s mate Sheep but we decided to make it a bit interesting and made our way there via a 4WD track through Werrikimbe National Park.
In our “Best 100 Australian 4WDs” book the track was touted as having incredible forests and views but sadly the incredible forests had burnt away and the views were shrouded in mist. We pressed on until at almost the end of the track we were stopped by a deep fast flowing creek and had to go back out the way we went in. After that muck around and then a side trip to the biggest blood redwood in Australia we realised we wouldn’t make it the whole way to Newcastle and I found what I thought would be a good rest stop in the Showgrounds in Taree. The facilities were nice, the care taker was friendly, and we immediately hit it off with an older navy bloke and his wife and dogs that were parked up on the soggy ground. He told us all about his time in the navy and the shenanigans he got up to and later that night when some drug addled blokes started wandering around the Showgrounds shouting abuse at non-existent foes he came over and offered to protect us which was beyond kind even if I was a bit skeptical that a 70yo bloke that was shorter than me could take on a raging meth head. We turned in early to get out of the rain and settled down for what turned out to be a very peaceful sleep.
Campsite Reviews
Apsley Falls – Amazing campsite next to a spectacular waterfall with free wood. Matt and I are both really enjoying the NSW national park sites. The only thing that would make it better would be a shower but I guess you can go near the waterfall for that. $6pp/pn – 8/10.
Mooraback – You know a campsite is in a beautiful spot when it is raining, full of leeches and a tree tries to fall on you but you still loved staying there. I would recommend going when it isn’t raining because it was flipping cold. $6pp/pn – 8/10.
Taree Showground – Aw man, I wish I could give this place a better rating because the campsite manager was lovely but the show ground was very grim and the town was even worse. You couldn’t pay either of us to go back there. $20pn – 3/10.
Matt and Annie's Adventure 