Arguably Australia’s most iconic motorcycling road, the Oxley Highway runs from the coast at Port Macquarie to Walcha and then through to Tamworth.This stretch of road snakes through a variety of landscapes, from rainforest to vast open farmland, offering some truly beautiful scenery.
There is no euphemism in the name of this road, travel on it and you will see waterfalls. Many waterfalls.
You’ll also cross the Great Diving Range from Coffs Harbour to Armidale, a mountain pass with thrilling hairpin bends and long, steep hills. Stop at the many lookouts to enjoy incredible views over the gorges to the coastal flats beyond.
Stretching from Grafton on the coast to Glen Innes followed by Inverell in New England, the Gwydir highway crosses the Great Dividing Range and offers tight bends and long climbs. Highlights include Washpool National Park and Raspberry Lookout, which has extensive views across the gorge country.
For those with a taste for gravel, the Old Glen Innes Road is an unsealed alternative to the Gwydir Highway.
Turn off the main drag just west of Grafton and follow the Boyd River through picturesque cattle country. You’ll pass a ghost town, a convict-carved tunnel through a cliff and the old hideout of an infamous bushranger.
Entering New England from the south at Walcha, Thunderbolt’s Way tops this list for its wide-open vistas of rolling, impossibly green farmland and its tight bends across the Great Diving Range. It passes from the Mid-North Coast hinterland at Gloucester through the delightful towns of Walcha and Uralla before continuing on to Inverell.
A more obscure route from the coast to New England, the Bruxner Highway runs from the Northern Rivers region to Tenterfield, close to the Queensland border. The best part is the 130km between Casino and Tenterfield where the road crosses the mountains.
A peaceful country meander that is light on adrenalin but high on New England charm, Tourist Drive 19 is an easy day trip between Armidale and Uralla. It takes in the breathtaking Dangars Gorge and Petersons Winery.
A shorty but a goodie, the Mount Mackenzie Drive leads you from Tenterfield up the mountain that presides over the town to the west.
The drive is a loop that takes in rocky farmland dotted with iconic granite boulders and at the top you’ll enjoy incredible views over the town, across the Queensland border and to the Great Diving Range beyond.
There are some places where attention to detail really sets them apart. Loloma Bed and Breakfast in Armidale, is certainly one of those places. Rhonda Morris has been running the boutique accommodation since the beginning of 2017 and the moment she greets you at the front door and you glimpse...
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Armidale foodies seeking fare with a French twist head along Rusden Street to find Café Patisserie. This cosy café buzzes with activity as locals stop by for a warm buttery croissant to go with their morning coffee, in rustic surrounds of painted brick, recycled timber, trailing greenery and Edison bulb...
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Happily lose your perspective on the grassy banks of NSW’s Georges Junction: only 4WDers need apply. At the base of the Great Dividing Range, 80 km east of Armidale and 90km west of Kempsey – home to the Akubra and near Nulla Nulla where Slim Dusty was born – lies...
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