A D VE N T U R E S
B A R R IN G TO N TO P S , NSW
ABOVE: Views
like this make you
appreciate the
efforts of pioneers
who first cut the
access tracks we
take for granted.
RIGHT: Oldmachinery buffs will
spend hours trying
to work out what it
used to do.
from camp, and no shortage of wildlife
to listen to either. Brush-turkeys and
lyrebirds call this place home, and
those lyrebirds have learnt a whole
heap of cool sounds from around the
area. What sort of sounds, you ask?
Well, imagine hearing a chainsaw going
off at about one in the morning, right
next to camp. Yep, that happened, and
it scared the kahunas out of me.
If you’re planning to visit this region,
remember to take the climate into
56
ADVENTURES
account. You’ll climb to fairly high
altitudes quickly where that subalpine feeling really kicks in. With a
record low temperature of -17°C, the
winter chill sets in pretty bloody hard
here. We’re talking fog, snow, and
track closures – the works! In fact, the
altitude and frequent fog has wreaked
absolute havoc for pilots of aircraft
over the years with a heap of plane
crashes in the area being put down to
the harsh conditions.
Well that’s another absolutely
cracking trip done and dusted for
me and, as usual, it wasn’t long
enough. It never is though, right?
But like I said from the start, a
trip to Barrington Tops will have
you feeling brand new in a jiffy.
The worst part about this place is
you won’t want to go home! So be
warned: there’s a good chance you’ll
want to quit your day job and hit
the road full-time after this one!