We met a fellow camper a couple of days before arriving at the Warrumbungles. First encounter: brickworks, friendly smile, “hello neighbour”. Second encounter: me strolling back from the showers, chatting about sunsets and jet trails.
That’s when the conversation took a hard left turn into “weather manipulation” and “jet ice trails that don’t disappear”. Then a story about Taree flooding. I still thought she was joking, so I mentioned my QLD Government disaster‑funding role… which earned me a look that said you’re clearly part of the problem.
I made a polite escape. Moral of the story: campgrounds are full of characters, and sometimes the plot twist arrives mid‑conversation.
Leaving Uralla we drove around Tamworth to get to Willow Tree – showground and a place to start my training with the DJI Mini Pro 5. Campground was 500 metres off the main road on the other side of the railway track, looking at some silos, and a very reasonable $15 a night including hot showers.
Drones are easy to launch, but like all new smart gear they come with 1000 options. Always check with the local Info Centre before launching to avoid any local bad vibes. Had fun and got Shelly learning as well. Photos tell the story.
Day trips around the local area were nice, but no 100‑metre gorges to amaze us – just country towns doing it tough with tourism. Amazing how 100km down the road everything changes: no national parks, no gorges, just country 😊. And it shows how hard you sometimes have to dig to find those secret spots. I reckon the locals keep a few hidden, and fair enough — places can get overloved fast.
The morning we left was a bit chilly.
We decided to head further west so we could get to Orange, so backtracked north to Gunnedah and stayed at another showground. Needed gear to fix the Ultimate — the pop rivets holding the gas strut on the back steps were way too short and two had popped out. Photos sent back to the company. Bought longer rivets, drilled out the old ones, added some T‑Rex silicone glue and fixed the issue. Better than driving 14 hours for the same result.
Gunnedah also gave us a bit of luxury: both Shelly and I got a half‑hour back, neck and head massage. Therese was amazing. Nice spot for an overnight stay.
On the way we passed this:
Seven or so years ago we stayed at Warrumbungle National Park and loved it, so we wanted a revisit. Also wanted to see if the locals knew about John and his rescue. The NPWS staff at the desk were very aware — their version matched John’s and it sounds like he was lucky it wasn’t worse.
We headed through Coonabarabran and arrived after lunch, doing a short 3km walk to warm up. Last time Shelly had just come out of a moon boot from a stress fracture, so we didn’t tackle many of the harder walks.
Did a short walk (Wambelong walk) to get our feet back into it again and straight away the views started popping up.
Next day we started with the easiest walk: Fans Horizon, 3.6km return… but with 1000 steps. Yep, they were there. Only a Class 3, but plenty of vertical. Did you hear the word steps? There were a lot of them. But we made it to the top and the view of the Breadknife and the Spire was worth every one. Three hours later we were back at camp, quick food, 15‑minute nap — slightly exhausted but amazed.
In the arvo we left Camp Blackman No. 3 and walked the Greenslopes fire trail. Tara Caves is closed at the moment, so hardly anyone uses it. Another easy, beautiful walk. When we turned back, the views of the main spire features had me thinking I needed my mate the drone to capture it. Came back.
Next day we couldn’t bring ourselves to do the Grand High Tops (over 6 hours), so we chose the shorter Spireview walk. Another Class 3, minimal steps (or so we thought). Great view, minimal steps — my type of walk. At the top of the lookout we meet another couple (Mark and Karen) who had done the laps a number of times – as I had doubts about doing the Gibb River Road, Mark quickly set me straight – a must.
On the way back we tried a side trail while still fresh. Could have been a mistake. We got close to the top of Macha Tor, which required scrambling up loose rocks. I got a totally unreasonable sense of dread and couldn’t continue. Shelly, who’s usually more fearful of heights than me, said “I’ll give it a go” and went straight past me like a mountain goat.
I tried again — dread came back in force. “See you soon dear, I’m going nowhere.” Fifteen minutes later my amazing wife reappeared after reaching the top of the bluff. So proud of her.
Next day the weather changed so we slept in a bit and then went for a drive to Coona in light rain.
On the way back we went up to Sliding Springs Observatory and was blown away by the science – views through the clouds were also amazing.
Next morning we moved on again. Love the Warrumbungle’s — the place gets a 10 out of 10 from us, including the facilities and hot showers
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