Back to basics at Barrington Tops
No showers, running water or phone reception. Your worst nightmare or best bush camping experience yet? finds out at Barrington Tops.
Bouncing down a dirt track, we approach a particularly steep and muddy section. “Here we go,” my partner, Luke, shouts as he hits the accelerator of our Toyota
Hilux 4x4. Muddy water splashes up to our windows and he gives an excited “whoop”.
It’s opening weekend for the newly revamped Gummi Falls campground in Barrington Tops State Conservation Area, in NSW. Gummi is only reachable via 4WD and the journey to this remote campsite is certainly proving to be the destination. We’ve already spotted brumbies, birds and kangaroos not far from the track.
Gummi is intimate, with only five campsites that have been recently mulched. There are cast-iron fire pits, while Manning River murmurs alongside. Gummi Falls – the waterfalls that give the place its name – are one-metre-high cascades, with a basin for swimming and fishing. Rose robins flit about as we set up, and I notice there is a scattering of sticks perfect for kids to collect as kindling or for campfire marshmallows.
Barrington Tops features World Heritagelisted Gondwana rainforest that was spawned from an ancient volcano. The conservation area’s highest point reaches 1586 metres above sea level. During winter, the sub-alpine environment attracts snow chasers, with temperatures getting down to a chilly five degrees. (If you want to see snow, call the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to check road conditions.)
In summer, Barrington Tops is the perfect place to keep cool. While the town of Barrington below reaches 34 degrees Celsius, us campers are enjoying a cool 26 degrees at “the Tops”. Still, we spend our day seeking out water.
Ladies Well, in Chichester State Forest, is the most popular of Barrington Tops’ swimming spots. The deep plunge pool is surrounded by granite boulders. There are also many walking trails, ranging from 10 minutes’ long to overnight hikes that crisscross the streams that join Hunter River and travel more than 400 kilometres down to the sea at Newcastle.
We return to the campsite to play Finska, a Finnish log-throwing game, to fish in Manning River and relax in our camp chairs. At night, we roast marshmallows over the campfire, gaze at the millions of stars visible to us without light pollution, and play trivia games by torchlight in our tent. Then we sleep, deeper than I have in months without the noise of city life.
Road trip tip
Stop in Dungog for lunch at the Tinshed Brewery and to buy firewood from Jo, “The Wood Barren”. Jo takes firewood very seriously and hand selects all her timber.