Day 2 (23-Dec-12) Glen Innes - Pokolbin (620 km)

I had set the alarm for 05:00hrs, but on being awoken at the appointed hour was surprised to see it was still dark. It then dawned on me (pardon the pun) that NSW is one hour ahead of Brisbane – what a dumbass! I thus used the time to catch up on some work before arousing Astrid at 06:00hrs. We eventually departed our cosy cabin at 07:05hrs, following a hearty breakfast, heading south on the New England Hwy under clearing skies.  At Guyra we headed South East and entered Guy Fawkes NP just before Ebor to glimpse the Ibor Falls. After a quick 2km hike to see both the upper and lower sections of the falls we drove to Cathedral Rock NP. There we hiked/scrambled up to the summit of Cathedral Rock for spectacular vistas over the park.

 

Following a quick descent back to the car we then headed over to Wollomombi Falls in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. The volume of water tumbling over the falls was less than at Ibor Falls, but the setting is jaw dropping, with the water tumbling into a deep gorge. Following 5km route march over steep terrain to see the falls from various perspectives we jumped back in the car for the long, but very scenic, drive to Pokolbin, via Amidale, south through Tuggolo and Giro State Forests to Gloucester.

 

After taking on additional fuel and a few Red Bulls to keep tiredness at bay we followed a very cunning route devised by our Garmin Sat. Nav system (aka Emilie). In order to truly immerse ourselves in Australia’s famed rural back country, we had programmed Emilie to confine us to byways and county lanes. While this did achieve the desired results, the route we were forced to follow was extremely tiring, with more hairpin bends that I care to remember. We thus did not arrive in Pokolbin until 19:10hrs, fully 12 hours after departing Glenn Innes.

Needless to say we were exhausted by the day’s proceedings, but were revived somewhat by the very enchanting setting. Realising we would be leaving early the next morning I got back in the car in search of a petrol station while Astrid made dinner – a sumptuous pasta dish. With stomachs full, and body parts embalmed in wine, we rapidly succumbed to tiredness, and found ourselves in bed by 21:30hrs, barely able to keep eyelids open.