"North West N.S.W." Top 5 Page for this destination Australia Travelogue by iandsmith

With a name like that, you could only be in Australia. This shot is of an Australian icon called The Breadknife. It certainly is an odd shaped piece of sandstone and is only 1-2 metres wide. Climbing on it is, understandably, forbidden. The walk up to it will take you about 3 and a half hours for the return journey. You will be stuffed afterwards! At times the track is steep but most of it is a well made brick pathway. The Warrumbungles (loves those aboriginal names) are near a town called Coonabarabran.

Come and join me

On the way down on the opposite side near the Breadknife.

What a poser

Here is a place where international tourists can be counted on one hand. Well, maybe two or three. It's about 30kms north east of Narrabri. From the top of this old volcanic plug you can see more of N.S.W. than from any other point. From memory it's about one sixth.

Timeless erosion

Bit of an ego trip here. This shot actually graced the cover of a magazine and was taken on the old Glen Innes - Grafton road. You would be lucky to find this exact spot but, on the way down the escarpment, keep your eyes peeled for little tracks off the side where the creek is and you may find your own treasure as I did.

Enmore

This shot is also a bit of an ego trip and won a minor prize in some photography thing I entered. It is of the Oxley WIld RIvers National Park, probably the most overlooked (like that pun and ambiguity) area in N.S.W. Hardly any international tourists go there which is a shame because it really does characterize the words "wilderness" and "bush". It covers a huge area but is only accessible in certain places, this shot is taken at an obscure location called Enmore which you can get very near to before you have to walk about a kilometre to here. It's not a documented lookout but it shows how the Macleay River has worked its way through the hard rock over millenia. Some good places that are readily acessible are Wollomombi (highly recommended) and Dangar Falls (also highly recommended) which are easily arrived at from Armidale.

Can you see the pot of gold?

Out in the country you can see the storms from miles away as they roll in across the sunburnt plains. Late spring and summer are the best times to see such phenomina. If you get lucky at somewhere like Mt. Kaputar you may get to watch a lightning show up close and personal. This was taken in the Upper Hunter Valley near Muswellbrook.

Uncrowded places

This is a seldom visited part of Australia. Located on the Port Macquarie - Walcha road it is well worth a visit at the end of winter when all the wattle is in bloom. It's a lovely place for walking and a picnic lunch yet overlooked by the majority for the better known Apsley Falls not far up the road. Although Apsley is more dramatic with its sheer cliff faces, I think this is prettier.

On the Gwydir Highway

One thing you'll get if you travel up in this region long enough are sunsets. Some of them are quite spectacular. I like to think that this one, taken near Glen Innes, is one such sunset.