This is a big drive, people, we'll be burning a fair bit of diesel on this one. My wife and I will try to do this one beforehand to give you an idea of how far it is.
The rough trip goes from Maitland, just south of Singleton, through Denman into Merriwa then through some countryside that takes us up onto the peak of the Liverpool Ranges and up into Willow Tree - which is 340km north of Sydney. We then return via the New England Highway through Murrurundi, Scone, Muswellbrook and Singleton to Maitland.
There is a fair bit of dirt road between Merriwa and Willow Tree and no known water crossings. There are no hazards that we know of that will require vehicle recovery - it's basically a nice drive in the country. The rest of the journey is on sealed roads.
Satellite imagery shows a place we might be able to stop for lunch at 31°50'23.73"S, 150°31'5.30"E on the top of the range, but we won't really know until we get there. My wife and I will try to check this out before the day so we'll have a better idea of where we can stop and I'll edit this post accordingly.
People from Singleton - meet us at the corner of Golden Hwy and Putty Rd, there's a clearing on the left side just as the road heads down hill and to the right. If you go past the Broke turnoff you've just gone past where we'll be waiting.
People from everywhere else should meet us at the lake on the left side of the road just over Pvt Trzcinski bridge.
People from Sydney should come up the F3 freeway to its very end, turn left onto the New England Highway and drive through East Maitland. People from north coast should come down the Pacific Highway, turn towards Maitland at Hexham and go through to East Maitland. You'll enter an 80km/h zone and go past the Maitland Showground on the left, then enter a roundabout - follow the sign to Singleton (should be the third exit), go up over the bridge and see the lake on the left side where we'll be meeting.
Times will be worked out when we know how long the journey will take. We're looking at 30 October for this one.
-- Start time from Maitland - 9:30am by the lake, 10:00am from the Putty Road (give or take a little bit depending if we haev any that need to refuel at Greta).
The rough trip goes from Maitland, just south of Singleton, through Denman into Merriwa then through some countryside that takes us up onto the peak of the Liverpool Ranges and up into Willow Tree - which is 340km north of Sydney. We then return via the New England Highway through Murrurundi, Scone, Muswellbrook and Singleton to Maitland.
There is a fair bit of dirt road between Merriwa and Willow Tree and no known water crossings. There are no hazards that we know of that will require vehicle recovery - it's basically a nice drive in the country. The rest of the journey is on sealed roads.
Satellite imagery shows a place we might be able to stop for lunch at 31°50'23.73"S, 150°31'5.30"E on the top of the range, but we won't really know until we get there. My wife and I will try to check this out before the day so we'll have a better idea of where we can stop and I'll edit this post accordingly.
People from Singleton - meet us at the corner of Golden Hwy and Putty Rd, there's a clearing on the left side just as the road heads down hill and to the right. If you go past the Broke turnoff you've just gone past where we'll be waiting.
People from everywhere else should meet us at the lake on the left side of the road just over Pvt Trzcinski bridge.
People from Sydney should come up the F3 freeway to its very end, turn left onto the New England Highway and drive through East Maitland. People from north coast should come down the Pacific Highway, turn towards Maitland at Hexham and go through to East Maitland. You'll enter an 80km/h zone and go past the Maitland Showground on the left, then enter a roundabout - follow the sign to Singleton (should be the third exit), go up over the bridge and see the lake on the left side where we'll be meeting.
Times will be worked out when we know how long the journey will take. We're looking at 30 October for this one.
-- Start time from Maitland - 9:30am by the lake, 10:00am from the Putty Road (give or take a little bit depending if we haev any that need to refuel at Greta).
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