"Tops" destination for the outdoor family

Tops destination for the outdoor family

Canoeing on the Barrington River, near Gloucester, NSW

You'd think a beautiful World Heritage Area only a couple of hours drive out of Sydney would be hugely popular. But Barrington Tops and the area around Gloucester, NSW, is one of our state's forgotten treasures. For outdoor-loving families, it's a no-brainer. Get up there - any season!

The area holds some of the southernmost parts of the vast Gondwana Forests World Heritage Area, and some glorious subalpine areas where it snows. At any time of the year here a drive up into the mountains is likely to see temperatures about 10 degrees colder than in Gloucester. 

At Christmas and Easter camping is popular along the rivers and in the national park. There are plenty of places to camp, including the popular Camp Cobark, which offers horse riding. But if you want somewhere guaranteed to be dry to come home to, and a few more creature comforts than camping usually offers, then I'd recommend Barrington River Hideaway. The website is a little deceptive, and there isn't really much of a hands-on "farm stay" element, but the four 2-bedroom self-contained cottages are in a lovely quiet spot over the Barrington River where you can paddle and swim. There's also a lovely communal campfire area, myriad frogs, and lovely decks on which to enjoy the birdlife.

Activities

Canoeing

Canoeing on the Barrington River, near Barrington, NSW

Most people who holiday in the area seem to have a kayak or canoe of some sort, and shooting the fun, but rarely scary rapids is a common activity. Access points on the Barrington River include Rocky Crossing, Bindera and the junction with Cobark River.
If you don't own any of your own gear, fear not, Barrington Outdoor Adventure Centre will either hire you everything you need, or will put you on a tour with an instructor.
One word of warning: having experienced outdoor adventure companies all around Australia and the world, I am used to efficient, excellent customer service, very knowledgeable, interested and interesting guides, and a feeling after a day of finishing an activity, a high that lasts for a week. I found BOAC overall, the worst organised, most inefficient, least knowledgeable group I have ever encountered in the outdoor arena. Even though we had booked in, paid in advance, checked with them the day before about times and turned up in our own gear (so didn't need to hire any clothing), it took them two hours to be organised enough to get us canoeing on the river. And even though they use the same access points regularly, they were unable to handle our exit point without getting the vehicle bogged, and we had to get out and push the vehicle in the mud.
Despite that, the actual canoe tour was fun (if quite short, for all the waiting around), and our guide on the river was excellent. It cost us a bit over $100 a person for about three hours on the river with the guide, but we didn't cover a lot of territory.
BOAC are pretty much your only option if you don't bring your own gear.

Liloing

For all of the above reasons, liloing may well be a simpler, more fun way to enjoy the rapids without investing a lot of time or money. If you and the kids want to just splash around and enjoy floating down a bit of the Barrington River, you can't really go past Barrington Reserve (accessed by turning east just north of the township Barrington). There's several hundred metres here of fun, little rapids, and then a hike back along the grassy camping area back to the start.
If you feel like more of a liloing adventure, you can pick a longer route, working out your entry and exit points. We entered at Barrington Reserve and exited at Barrington River Hideaway. We were warned that "no one has done that on lilos before" and "it'll take you four hours at least". We did it in two and half hours, passing cows, myriad waterbirds and multiple little rapid sections. We were a little sore from all the paddling through the still black water sections, but with smiles on our dials. The water level was up a bit, after a lot of rain, which probably helped keep us moving along.

Hiking

Hiking at Gloucester Tops, Barrington Tops National Park

This area has some absolutely crackerjack walks. The best hikes are in the subalpine areas up in the mountains,  a good hour's drive away from Gloucester. Don't miss the Gloucester Tops loop track, which combines the Antarctic Beech Forest Walk, Gloucester Falls Walk and River Walk. Driving the other way into the mountains, via Barrington, the walks are generally shorter, but there are more of them. Or you can strap a pack on and hike between the two areas on a network of great tracks. There are peaks with views, old scenic huts, rainforest sections and wildlife galore.
Closer to Gloucester, it's worth hiking up the steep Gloucester Lions Bucketts Walk, off Bucketts Road just out of town. It'll take you up the Bucketts Range, which sort of looms off to the side of town and offers sensational views back towards it. It'll take a bit over an hour to walk up and back if you are fit, and well worth the stroll.

Rock-climbing at Gloucester 

Seldom talked about, the rock-climbing at Gloucester is even more seldom undertaken. Although a short guide section appears in the excellent Newcastle and Hunter Rockclimbing guide of 2013, it appears that hardly anyone in town knows anything about the climbing. The main walls are on a dairy farm right down the southern end of Bucketts Range, and include everything from an easy grade 7, 25m climb, to 120m adventure climbs.
We approached the farmer, who has posted "no trespassing" signs, and were careful to be ultra polite and asked if we could try to find the climbs. He claimed not to know anything about the climbing area. Unfortunately the area at the base of the cliffs is very overgrown with a combination of thorny weeds and thick scrub, and we failed after an hour of scrub bashing to find the climbs. On exiting the bush, we realised we should have perhaps stayed walking in the paddock for longer, then tried to head straight up  to the climbing area.
So, the challenge is still there for the adventurous family - using the guidebook and manners of course.

Other activities

Excellent cafes aside, the area has a few other fun activities, including some great mountain biking areas on fire trails through the national park. Also, check out the unorthodox Church on the Hill - a lovely community of people who are likely to call "church" standing around a bonfire singing songs. Well worth checking out.

www.kensbigbackyard.com.au