Day 3, Sunday
The day we went to Barrington Tops {or more aptly, the fringes of}
{written on the go with minimal editing}
Last night (Saturday night that is), I announced that we should all be ready for breakfast a little bit before 7am. We have an early 8am start. The plan was to take a road trip all the way to the Barrington Tops up north, 3 hours drive away according to Google Maps. One would think that if hiking was on the agenda the multitude of national parks around the Hunter region were the likely ‘goto’ places. Oh no siree. Cha always wanted to visit the Barrington Tops (it’s the equivalent to San Fran’s Yosemite without the sequoia trees). From home it’ll be a good 4-5 hours drive; too far for a day trip. Somehow an overnight stay did not strike my fancy. Hunter Valley was closer to it, so it makes sense to go visit it now.
Mabuti na lang pumayag ang driver ko. Yey. The plan was to drive to Thurderbolts Lookout, the one with a 1km walking trail. Just short enough to stretch our legs, have our sandwiches for lunch and take in magnificent mountain views. Ha! Sana nga the reality will equal my mind’s eye. I’ve got my maps and brochures from the i (information center). I was confident I have done my homework.
I packed us sandwiches – mango jam for the boys and chili jam for mum and dad. Fizzy drinks and lots of chichiria for the road.
We left at 9am. One hour later than intended, pero pwede na.
We are now on New England Highway. One hour into our road trip; 2 hours of driving ahead of us, maybe even more. I am grateful for the GPS in the car. The first time I punched in the destination, it gave us the wrong route. So I had to change the destination from Barrington Tops to a different town called Scone to “force” a route I want. Scone. Shall we eat scones over there? I will if they have it. I changed the 3xCDs, kept Sia (she’s a mainstay for now), inserted Radiohead, Green Day and Counting Crows. Radiohead is now singing Iron Lung, A’s favourite band and favourite song na naging favourite na rin ni Cha. If you are wondering re iPod connectivity, the cable is kaput!
Toilet and coffee stop at Maccas (Aussie nickname for McDo, pronounced as Mackers). Hot chocolate for the boys, cappuccino for A and flat white for me. We share a cookies and cream cheesecake. In a crowded McCafe full of queuing caffeine buffs, we stand out like a sore thumb. We are the only Asians inside Maccas, we are indeed off the beaten track from the usual migrant route. They are off to the snowies {short for the snowy mountain}, the lot of them.
And we are lost at 11.42am. Our car’s maps are old, and it’s not taking us where we want to go. Smartphones to the rescue. We finally found the right way, and up and up the mountain we climb. Again unsealed roads, no one about except cows and horses.
We drove for two more hours. Since the road was not paved, we were slow, we didn’t cover enough ground. It’s 2pm when we finally entered the gates of the Barrington Tops National Park. Wow. Malamig sa loob ng forest and madilim because of the thick massive trees. Ariel was worried about our tyres. I felt no such concerns, I am really gungho like that. I wanted to keep going. But with our slow pace, I told Ariel we will reach Thunderbolts Lookout in another hour. In my heart, and the map’s two inches distance from where we are and to the lookout, in reality its more like 2 more hours. I furtively checked our petrol gauge, 250+ kms in the tank. Great. I wanted to keep on. But my driver did not want to risk it. We both knew that temps drop quickly and darkness fall a lot faster in the forest. Ariel looked for a clearing with enough sunshine for lunch. We went up a hill and ate our sandwiches standing up, shivering. Twas reminiscent of the mountaineering days indeed.
At 3pm, we found our way back the long and winding route, back to Scone, back to the Hunter Valley. I made a mental note not to come the northern part of Barrington Tops next time. For indeed we will return, but we’re taking the eastern entrance for next time. Its the usual way. Sometimes going off the beaten track does not work out.
But this does not dampen my adventure spirit. Nothing has. So far.
Norberto says
Swerte k parin Kasi both of you are hikers 🙂 can’t blame A for fearing a flat. We are like that when we are the drivers..