Gloucester is a small farming town in a green bowl on the Gloucester River, in the Manning and Hunter country of New South Wales, with steep, forested ranges standing on every side. The Bucketts, great knuckles of rock to the south, and the Mograni range to the north give the town its backdrop. Beyond them climb the plateaus of Barrington Tops, part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, with cool-climate rainforest, snow gums and some of the oldest Antarctic beech on the continent.
The road everyone talks about here is Thunderbolts Way, which runs inland from the coast side up to Walcha and Uralla and on toward the New England tablelands. It is named for Fred Ward, the bushranger known as Captain Thunderbolt, who worked these roads in the 1860s, stealing horses, holding up mail coaches and slipping away into the hills, reputedly with some local sympathy. He was shot dead by police near Uralla in 1870. The drive follows country he knew, and the history shows in the wide verandahs of the little pubs along the way.
On a motorbike, the Way is a mixed pleasure. Some stretches are tight and twisty as the road climbs from the valley, with eucalyptus forest arching overhead and surface that can be patchy from rain and logging trucks. Others open into rolling grazing country with long views over paddocks and ridge lines. The corners are not fast, and the road can be narrow with livestock, kangaroos and wombats at dusk. Rainfall is high in the ranges and mist can settle on the heights, so expect a damp surface in the morning. Spring and autumn are lovely, with cool air and clear light, while summer brings heat, bushfire risk and sometimes closures.
Gloucester itself is the right size to be useful. With around three thousand people, it has fuel, a bakery or two and a pub where the staff will probably ask where you are heading. Fuel is not guaranteed on the long run toward Nowendoc and Walcha, so fill the tank before you leave and carry a spare drink. The town's modest main street faces the rock walls, and the first light on the Bucketts makes a good moment to be pulling on gloves and starting the engine.