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| Fred Wards grave at Urala NSW |
We were off again on our winter escape to follow the trail of Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) one of our notorious bushrangers from the 19th century. He was a horse thief who later went on to rob stage coaches but apparently never hurt anybody other than to relieve them of their valuables. He died in 1876 at age 36 years and is buried in Urala NSW. Thunderbolts way basically is a route from Goondiwindi in the north to Gloucester in the south. We headed off on Wednesday the 25th May all packed and excited at a trip that would take in roads yet travelled although most towns had been seen before. Our first free camp was to be Coolmunda Dam but the cold wind put us off so we decided to head for Texas. Here we found a great camp on outskirts of town #716 in Camps Australia (CA) on the Dumaresq River. A pretty spot but no toilets, although there was good facilities in town including free hot showers for those who did not have one on board.
After waking to a cold foggy morning we set off to Inverell to pick up the Thunderbolts Way. A short stop in this great little rural town to buy a few overlooked provisions and we headed out of town to find our next free camp. We found just the spot on the outskirts of Bundarra #140 CA on the banks of the Gwyder River. Toilets, lots of grass and a beautiful river. The next morning we had planned to move on but a visit from other campers and a new arrival convinced us to stay another night and enjoy some campfire camaraderie. There were two dear ladies ( Faye and Janice) camped just up from us and we soon found out that they were quite an adventurous pair who travelled extensively since retiring from dairy farming in the Coffs Harbour hinterland. Their husbands didn’t want to leave town so they just go off on their jaunts and enjoy free camping all over Australia. The new arrivals were Doug and Judy, off on a short trip, just like us and we soon hit it off. A post dinner fire get together was planned where we enjoyed Doug’s bird pictures and a great lesson in damper making from the ladies a few drinks and lots of good conversation.
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Judy. Doug, Janice and Faye |
Reluctantly we left next morning with the promise to keep in touch with our new made friends.
Our next port of Call was Urala as we wanted to see Fred Ward’s grave and his famous look out rock near where he was finally shot by a policeman. It was a shame to see such graffiti on the rocks.
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| Fred's lookout rocks not far from where he met his end. |
From there we needed to find another free camp and this was just outside Walcha #300 CA. No facilities and a bit exposed but we had no trouble. It was bitterly cold next morning s so we headed off quite early to await the sun and make breakfast in a warmer place. A great scenic day’s travel where we intended to make Gloucester but on discovering Bretti Reserve #310 CA at the bottom of a very long and steep downhill we changed plans . It was quite beautiful despite the antiquated drop toilets and was located at the junction of the Manning and Barnard Rivers.
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| Bretti Reserve |
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| Bretti Reserve river bank |
Next morning was dull and threatening so we thought we might as well make Gloucester to do some washing and re-provision. The Gloucester Tourist park was quite pretty with heaps of deciduous trees shedding their Autumn colours but made a mess of the van and annex roof. It started to rain that day so we did little but our chores. Next morning was a bit more promising so we decided to try and see as much of Barrington Tops NP as was possible. We tried to get to Gloucester tops first but the rain had caused flooding and the causeways were too deep to risk it. We then headed through country that reminded us of the high country of southern Australia before getting into the Barrington Tops NP. It was a beautiful drive but too wet to explore on foot so we have made plans to come back in the warmer months to see it properly.
After two days of rain we decided to head off in search of the sun, so went inland instead of East. Through Dungog (home of the recent film festival) then Singleton and the terrible traffic, rain, trucks and grime. Stopped at Musswellbrook for lunch then off through Scone to find a free camp at Nundle. Not well described in CA but found the spot on the Peel river after a couple of k’s along a slippery dirt road #156 CA. Small site with toilets and great scenery.
Next day we decided to chance rest of dirt road and wound our way past Chaffey Dam then the outskirts of Tamworth where we turned north. We decided that we liked Thunderbolts way so much we decided to turn off at Urala and go bush and head back to Bundarra the back way. A great decision as it was a very quiet route with little traffic and we were able to travel at a moderate pace and reduce fuel consumption considerably. A longish day but we arrived back at Bundarra to enjoy another night of peace and quiet, this time on our own.
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| Bundarra Reserve |
Next morning a young local buck pulled in to finish off a pie and we got talking. He was a kangaroo shooter and we had a great chat about his trade and his life in the country. He was very similar to another young fellow who called into the same park on our first visit. This first encounter with a local had a load of fire wood on board and even offered to give us some for our fire but Doug would not hear of it and he accepted some cash and left us with a good pile of wood for the damper cooking.
I was starting to feel a tad depressed with our trip nearing its end as we left this gem of a place and headed back to Inverell. We turned east towards Glen Innes and stopped for lunch and then headed towards Wallangarra where we aimed to stay at a free camp. Could not find it and as the day was getting long in the tooth we bit the bullet and headed for a budget caravan park at Glen Alpin.
We awoke to find a very heavy frost with ice on the windscreen and the washer pipes frozen solid. Took off before breakfast as we did not unhitch and planned to breakfast in the sun. This we managed near Warwick before heading home to give the truck an oil change and prepare the van for the next trip, the following weekend. BRING ON RETIREMENT!!!!!!!!!!!
