GC>SYD 5 days in a motorhome leaving tomorrow, give me your tips.

[tryagain]

So, as we were already heading to Sydney for Christmas, I had a look and saw there was a deal for one of the one way motorhome relocations, as a result, we now have 5 days to kill in between here and Sydney, leaving tomorrow, thinking of heading down the new England highway as don't think I have taken the family that way before.

So hit me with any tips of places to visit, places to stay, worthwhile side trips, etc etc.

[Spada]

Nice drive if you follow the Summerland way to Graften, then follow the Waterfall way from Graften - Armidale - Walcha - Gloucester and ending on the M1 just north of Newcastle.

The New England is a direct inland route just behind the Dividing range, the M1 is a direct route along the bottom of the dividing range. the above suggestion has you zig-zagging up and down the dividing range and is a much prettier drive. There's countless forest & national parks along the route, especially once you get down around the Walcha/Barring Tops stretch. All the waterfalls should be pumping after the weeks rain?

Bitumen all the way, other than any side detours into National Parks/Forestry camps.There are some steep'ish narrower sections that will be a bit slow in a motorhome, but they are completely do-able. And you'll be free of all the heavy traffic on the 2 main highways.

Start researching here - https://blog.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/the-ultimate-guide-to-waterfall-way/

[tryagain]

Thanks Spada, I think I'll lock that in. Good weather for chasing waterfalls!

[edz]

####    Be careful on the Nymboida  range .. Might have some floofing in the lower sections or water washing over the road from the higher bits ..
Dangar falls Dorrigo, Ebor falls ..Woolomombi.. Bakers creek falls Hillgrove  to name a few should be powering atm .

[tryagain]

You mean like this https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/waterfall-way-in-dorrigo-coffs-harbour-wet-weather-nsw/12986532?nw=0

[alnjan]

yeah I'd be inclined to wait a week or so before doing the New England maybe. 

[Spada]

You mean like this https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/waterfall-way-in-dorrigo-coffs-harbour-wet-weather-nsw/12986532?nw=0

That's on the range between Bellingen and Thora (just behind Coffs Harbour). If your coming up from Grafton via Ebor you wont go that way unless you take a detour and turnoff just before Ebor down to Coffs and back onto the M1. From there you can head south to Telegraph Point and take the back road to Wauchope, then Oxley Hwy up to Walcha to rejoin the Waterfall way. Well worth the detour as there are some nice falls and scenic outlooks around Dorrigo. Another option to go through Dorrigo is to go Summerland way to Grafton, then instead of heading up the range through Nymboida, take the turnoff for the back road to Coffs (via Glenreagh), then up to Dorrigo and on to Ebor to rejoin the first option.

All of those roads are a regular motorcycle figure 8 weekend we used to do out from Brisbane with an overnight stay at either Walcha or Bendemeer. 5 days in a motorhome in that area you'll have to pick and choose, wont have time to see it all.

[tryagain]

yeah I'd be inclined to wait a week or so before doing the New England maybe.

No time to wait, dates are locked in, just the route and what happens along the way to be sorted.

[Bird]

with an overnight stay at either Walcha

awesome pub to stay at

[gronk]

With the 17 new cases today, I'd be watching news updates as to where in Sydney you want to go ?

I'm going to Qld on the 28th.....unless Qld close the border again ??

[tryagain]

With the 17 new cases today, I'd be watching news updates as to where in Sydney you want to go ?

Yep, keeping an eye on that pretty closely. After the Motorhome leg, we have stays at Syd for a few nights, then upt o the central coast for a week, and then mid North coast for about another week, if it's just Sydney that gets cut off again, then we will have 2 weeks of being away from there by the time we look to come home, or alternatively, we can easily can the Sydney visit (only the in-laws  )

I'm going to Qld on the 28th.....unless Qld close the border again ??

[alnjan]

At least we have sunshine now, hope you have some out there.

[paul.o]

Nundle is good, Chaffey Dam in the same area, Bretti if you go along Thunderbolts Way, call into the Drifta shop at Gloucester. Hunter Valley Gardens Christmas Lights Spectacular would be good depending on ages of kids. You could stay at the free camp at Broke before or after that. And then travel down through Wollombi along the Old North Road that was built by convicts which has some sandstone culverts that they built. This way dodges a lot of the M1 Freeway, and comes out near the Central Coast.

[gronk]

Nundle is good, Chaffey Dam in the same area, Bretti if you go along Thunderbolts Way, call into the Drifta shop at Gloucester. Hunter Valley Gardens Christmas Lights Spectacular would be good depending on ages of kids. You could stay at the free camp at Broke before or after that. And then travel down through Wollombi along the Old North Road that was built by convicts which has some sandstone culverts that they built. This way dodges a lot of the M1 Freeway, and comes out near the Central Coast.

I think you'll find Hunter Valley Gardens will be booked out. Bretti will be packed...no shade when it is.  Chaffey Dam, might get a spot or two. Always some good shady spots at Broke.
East coast of NSW is/will be packed to the rafters.....all those overseas travellers stuck at home have decided to go camping or stay at any accommodation they can find.

[Moxley]

I’d avoid Sydney. If people are asked to stay out in Nthern beaches, probably sensible to avoid the place for now.


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[tryagain]

I’d avoid Sydney. If people are asked to stay out in Nthern beaches, probably sensible to avoid the place for now.

Certainly in no rush to get there, need to return the motor home there on Tuesday, but won't be there before that, so gives us a little bit of time to see how it plays out. Just gotta play it by ear I guess is how it rolls in times like these.

[Fizzie]

Hey TA - this morning's news:

"Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk responded to the outbreak by declaring the Northern Beaches a coronavirus hotspot.

From 1:00am on Saturday December 19, anyone who arrives in Queensland from Sydney's Northern Beaches will be required to undertake two weeks of mandatory hotel quarantine at their own expense.

Flights arriving from Sydney into Queensland will be met by officers and partner agencies, Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.

The state's Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young urged people to reconsider travelling to Sydney, warning that if other areas of NSW were declared hotspots people "might end up being caught in that process.""

Do you actually have to go into Sydney itself

[tryagain]

Do you actually have to go into Sydney itself

Theoretically, yes. But will probably now get my old man (central coast) to meet us just north of the  "greater Sydney region" and he will return it for us to save us having to enter the area, certainly been an eventful day or so. What we do after that is still undecided.

[rags]

Theoretically, yes. But will probably now get my old man (central coast) to meet us just north of the  "greater Sydney region" and he will return it for us to save us having to enter the area, certainly been an eventful day or so. What we do after that is still undecided.

Given the Central Coast LGA is included in the greater Sydney hot spots, I’m thinking Newcastle would be a good spot to meet and you could fly from Newcastle or hire a car from there.

[gronk]

Given the Central Coast LGA is included in the greater Sydney hot spots, I’m thinking Newcastle would be a good spot to meet and you could fly from Newcastle or hire a car from there.

At this stage, if you have contact with anyone from the Central Coast, a hot spot, that could impact where you go afterwards.

[Fizzie]

Not getting any better, TA

What’s changed from 1am 20 December:

    The Queensland border is closed to anyone who has been in a COVID-19 hotspot in the last 14 days. Currently the Greater Sydney region, Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven, and Nepean Blue Mountains are hotspots.
   
    Anyone travelling to Queensland who has been in NSW at any time since 1am Friday 11 December must complete a Queensland Border Declaration Pass before they enter Queensland.
   
    Anyone (including all interstate visitors and Queensland residents returning home) who was in the locations below during the dates listed must follow testing and quarantine requirements.

[gronk]

   
    Anyone (including all interstate visitors and Queensland residents returning home) who was in the locations below during the dates listed must follow testing and quarantine requirements.

If I was you, I'd be getting your old man to pick up from Cooranbong or somewhere similar. That way you can truthfully say you weren't in a hotspot. It may all change by your dropoff time, but currently that's where you stand.

[tryagain]

Well after a long day, left Walcha yesterday morning and headed to Glouster, from there, thought I ring Apollo and see what they suggested.
I told them I didn't want to enter the greater Sydney region as I then would be liable for Hotel quarantine to return home, after being bumped around too a few different people (probably not a play book for this) and asking them what are my options where, they said they would give me a call back.
They then offered me the option to return it back to the Brisbane office, I asked if it would be possible for my Dad to be listed as a driver, just to see if that was an option, to which she said she wasn't sure as they normally require any Driver to have their licence viewed in person at the office before being able to be a listed but she would find out and  get back to me.
Whilst we were waiting, we had a chat and decided that as we wouldn't be able to get into Greater Sydney to see family and spend Christmas, it was just best to head for home, so headed for the M1 and turned left.
Got to the border checkpoint at about 11pm NSW time, and then had a 2.5hr wait to get through, so got home at 2am NSW time, 15hrs after leaving Walcha. Kids did pretty well in reality, was a pretty long day in the saddle, with a lot of that driving through rain. Now to plan for Christmas day at home.

[Bird]

Well after a long day, left Walcha yesterday morning and headed to Glouster, from there, thought I ring Apollo and see what they suggested.
I told them I didn't want to enter the greater Sydney region as I then would be liable for Hotel quarantine to return home, after being bumped around too a few different people (probably not a play book for this) and asking them what are my options where, they said they would give me a call back.
They then offered me the option to return it back to the Brisbane office, I asked if it would be possible for my Dad to be listed as a driver, just to see if that was an option, to which she said she wasn't sure as they normally require any Driver to have their licence viewed in person at the office before being able to be a listed but she would find out and  get back to me.
Whilst we were waiting, we had a chat and decided that as we wouldn't be able to get into Greater Sydney to see family and spend Christmas, it was just best to head for home, so headed for the M1 and turned left.
Got to the border checkpoint at about 11pm NSW time, and then had a 2.5hr wait to get through, so got home at 2am NSW time, 15hrs after leaving Walcha. Kids did pretty well in reality, was a pretty long day in the saddle, with a lot of that driving through rain. Now to plan for Christmas day at home.

Sounds like you didnt really have much choice.. its a bastard of a situation... but

[tryagain]

Sounds like you didnt really have much choice.. its a bastard of a situation...

There were a few other possibilities, but didn't include them so as to not make it more long-winded. But this was the best one. It is what it is situation wise, no point getting upset about it, but it would have been nice to catch up with family after not being able to see most of them since Christmas last year, but will just have to wait a bit longer.