Barrington Tops Sunday 25th August

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Nice one Dan! Just need some tie downs for the fridge.

[DSS150 Find all posts View Profile Close DSS150]

Nice one Dan! Just need some tie downs for the fridge.

Yeah that's next on the list.

Where did you get yours from?

Well also make a cage of sorts to go around the fridge so I can load up around it.

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Dan I went for the ARB Fridge Tie downs straps to suit their fridges, however Drifta supplied the stainless steek tie down hooks on the Slide.

[DSS150 Find all posts View Profile Close DSS150]

Ahh I didn't think to ask about tie down points... Bugger! Lol

The ARB genuine straps are probably the best option I think, will invest in a set.

I notice in your pic he fridge sits back a bit from the edge of the slide, mine comes almost to the edge and other end of fridge buts up against the middle row seat.

I didn't think there was length difference between 120 and 150 luggage area? :/

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

Well we returned this afternoon from our 3 and a bit day jaunt.

Got the drawers fitted up at Drifta on Monday morning and I'm very happy with the result.

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They look real good Dan. They make packing so much easier and I would never live without a set now.
I tie down my fridge with the ARB tie down straps, fit perfectly. You will need some tie down rings to hook them up to but. I am suprised they didn't put any in.
Did you end up getting rid of your door table as I see you have a top shelf built into the right hand side draw now?

Cheers
Robert

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

I notice in your pic he fridge sits back a bit from the edge of the slide, mine comes almost to the edge and other end of fridge buts up against the middle row seat.

I didn't think there was length difference between 120 and 150 luggage area? :/

One thing to check is will the bigger 60Litre fridge fit with a cargo barrier in place,if you are going to run one.
I am not sure how long the drifter set are but with my blackwidow draws, the 60 litre fridge fitted without the barrier, but when I put the cargo barrier etc in the 60 litre would not comfortably fit for me where I wanted it. As you lose a bit of space behind the seats with the cargo barrier as they have to allow acess to the child restraint points etc. . In the end it was a good place to store odds and ends but just a heads up what I found.
Just something to check that's all
Cheers
Robert

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I have had a good look Robert and there is no room for a barrier behind the fridge at all.
The top of the fridge almost touches the back of the seat.

I will have to custom make a barrier of sorts, I have a picture in my mind of how I want it, that coming to fruition in the way I want may be difficult.
I don't really know where to start but have time up my sleeve before its "really" needed.

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OK time for a bit of a run down folks...

We left home Saturday afternoon at about 3.30pm and headed to Coffs Harbour for the night.
Arrived at our Cabin in Coffs at around 8pm, tired but settled in for the night and tried to get bubs to sleep.

It was a trying night with a somewhat uncomfortable bed compared to what I am used to and bub waking up crying a fair bit during the night.

We woke earlyish and were packed and on the road before 7am.

The trip down to Gloucester was pretty uneventful, arriving at the estimated 10.30am (god knows how I managed to guess that right!)

We were a little early for booking in at the Gloucester Holiday Park so we found the local information centre and asked for some info on the Barrington Tops area and 4wding in the Tops.
The old bloke there was quite helpful and provided us with a few Brochures including a map.....



After buying a bit of extra water and food (as the old bloke suggested ) we headed off up Barrington Tops Forest Road to see what we could find.

It probably wasn't wise for me to suggest to the wife, should anything go wrong up there we could be stuck out there for the night! hahaha

The road itself turned from sealed to a dusty gravel road which was quite rutted making the ride less than pleasant. I made a quick stop and dropped the pressures to 26 all round which did the trick.

A little further up the road we found Cobark Park, a nice quiet spot to stop for lunch.

We then headed off again making our way onto Dilgry Circle for a look around.



The bush was fairly dense and though it was a nice drive there wasn't a great deal to stop and marvel at along the way.

Bub was also getting very restless in the back and it was quite clear today was going to be one of "those days" so we found our way back to the main road and headed back to the Holiday Park to check in.

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We got settled in and had a small scout around town in the Prado just to get our bearings and to see what Gloucester had to offer.

It is a mid sort of sized country town, nestled in a valley at the foothills of the Barrington Tops.

The whole area is quite stunning and the wild Cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, both in town and almost everywhere we went while there.

It was now time for a good feed and a drink or 3, so after a warm up red wine we headed to the Roundabout Inn and hung with the locals and enjoyed a few more.

Dinner prices were on the higer side for "Pub grub" but as the lady at the Holiday Park described, this was the nicest place to eat in town and the food was very good.
My scotch fillet steak was mouth watering and was the perfect end to the day, washed down by a few beers!


I had the Prado booked in to Drifta at 8.30 the next morning and was eager to get my drawers fitted so on arrival I promptly introduced myself to Beechy who was a really nice bloke.

He told me it would take a couple of hours and lent me the company Ford Courier to go back and hang out with my family while I waited.

After a poke around town and a play on the slides and swings for bub and Mum, I headed back to pick up the beast.

I was very happy with the result and was given the run down on how it all worked and how to remove the drawers if I chose to.

Beechy was happy to give me some pointers on "bub friendly roads" and suggested we head into Gloucester Tops for a decent scenic drive without being anything challenging.

We headed out, airing down again once we hit the unsealed section and were in awe at the stunning scenery out there.

The road surface was quite good and was a decent drive, with something to look at around every bend.

There were 5 or 6 Fords to cross, good excuse to have a play up for the camera!



We contined on our Merry way until we reached the Gloucester River Camping Area.

We stopped here for lunch and had a good look around.

Camping here was on the high side of the road and was asloping grassy area. You could also camp 100 metres up the road in a bush setting.



It was certainly somewhere we would like to come back to to camp one day. It had toilets, picnic areas and also had the river running through just down the small embankment.
The water level was quite low and the perfect spot for kids to safely play in, under supervision of course.

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Bub had taken a liking to the new drawers and she was a good test of how they handled the weight.



She also wanted to be a little more adventurous and feel the wind in her hair so we took her for another drive.



Yes, I am joking of course!

We continued right up to the top of the Gloucester Tops, encountering more docile beasts at every turn.



At the top there were a few waling tracks that we deided not to take this time as we had no pram and didn't want to carry the little Sumo for any distance.

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After a stop for a coffee at the top and just taking in the scenery and serentity, we headed back down to return to the cabin for the night.

Return trip for the day was a fairly relaxed 5 hours, had we not had bub we could have easily spent the whole day up there and as mentioned would definitely like to camp out there sometime.

The wildlife was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed Gloucester Tops and would defineitely recommend it as a nice "Sunday Drive".

The next moring we woke early as we were making the trek back to the Gold Coast in one hit, a tiring trip for bubs and a testing trip home for Dad!

We stopped at the lookout at Gloucester just outside town, taking a few quick snaps of the beautiful countyside draped in fog.