I can't recall the number of times I have driven between Sydney and Brisbane on the Pacific or New England Highways or on Thunderbolts Way but until April of this year I have never taken the road from Scone to Gloucester which travels through the Barrington Tops and Gloucester Tops National Parks.
We spent 4 days camping there with a small group of friends, it really is a beautiful part of Australia. This was a test run for our planned drive to central Australia later this year. There are serious 4WD tracks in this area but most of the main sections of the parks can be reached by a normal sedan. It hadn't rained for a few weeks so the roads were very dusty but there are plenty of shallow river crossing to rinse it off, after a few kilometres what was dust then becomes mud but it was a lot of fun.
There are numerous hiking trails in the parks but no drinking water or food. You need to carry everything in with you. It is the leech capital of Australia, especially the path that goes into the forest from the ruins of Barrington House. I haven't found any repellant that works so far but salt makes them drop off. If anyone has a tip on what to use please leave a comment.
A quick drive through the last car wash for the day got some of the countryside off the car.
There's no phone or internet signal across most of the area, that in itself is a good reason to go there but there is coverage if you need it in Gloucester and also a few good coffee shops and pubs.
