Thunderbolts Way to New England High Country

A long high-country crossing with open sweepers and a clear transition from valleys to tablelands.

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Why this ride

A long high-country crossing with open sweepers and a clear transition from valleys to tablelands. The road: Thunderbolts Way. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Gloucester start

   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.

2. Walcha stop

   Walcha sits on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales at about a thousand metres, high enough to have real winters, with frosts, a few snowfalls and a cool, clear air that smells of eucalyptus and woodsmoke. The town is small, with about two and a half thousand people, and it wears its sheep country history openly. Fine merino wool built the district, and for a century the big properties around Walcha shaped both the landscape and the social life. English elms and oaks planted in the streets turn gold and red in April, which is not a sight many people expect in Australia.

   The town is a showcase of its own idiosyncrasies. Sculptures stand on the main street and elsewhere around the town, the result of a local habit of putting art in public places, and the old buildings along the road recall the days when the wool cheques arrived once a year. Just outside town, Apsley Falls drops into a gorge of dark rock, a short drive and a short walk from the road, and it is a good way to stretch a day.

   The Oxley Highway is the reason riders know the name. West of Walcha it crosses the tableland in long open sweeps, with paddocks and granite outcrops, and east of town it begins to tip toward the coast, dropping off the Great Dividing Range in a long series of bends through dense forest and past waterfalls toward Port Macquarie. It is among the better motorcycle roads in the state, and on weekends you will meet other riders. The surface is generally good, though shaded corners stay damp, and logging trucks use the road as well. Watch for kangaroos and wombats at dusk, and for frost in winter mornings.

   Walcha has fuel and basic services, but opening hours are those of a country town, so do not count on late-night supplies. The nearest larger centre is Tamworth to the west. Autumn is lovely, with clear days and cool nights, spring brings green paddocks and lambs, and summer can be hot at midday and stormy in the afternoon. Bring a warm layer even then, because the altitude makes the evenings cool.

3. Uralla stop

   Uralla is a small town on the New England Tableland of New South Wales, at about a thousand meters above sea level, and the cold is something you can feel in the clear air. The high plateau is a landscape of rolling grassland, granite outcrops and sheep paddocks, with winter frosts that can be savage and summers that are mild. The town lies on the New England Highway, just south of the university city of Armidale, and its main street retains the verandas and brick shopfronts of a nineteenth-century gold-and-wool settlement.

   Uralla's claim to fame is a bushranger. Frederick Ward, who called himself Captain Thunderbolt, robbed coaches and travelers across the tableland for six years in the 1860s, known for his courtesy and his skill with horses, and he became something of a folk hero. In May 1870 he was shot dead by a policeman near Uralla, and his body was displayed in town. His grave is in the local cemetery, and a life-size statue of him on his horse stands in the main street. A museum in an old mill, McCrossin's Mill, tells the story of the town.

   The road that carries his name, Thunderbolts Way, runs from Uralla southeast through Walcha and Nowendoc to Gloucester, about three hundred kilometers of twisting back road that crosses the high country and then drops through rainforest toward the coast. For riders, it is a delightful, quiet route, with long, flowing bends, steep descents and few other vehicles. The surface varies, with some rough patches and a few unsealed sections near the old gold fields, and the weather can change quickly on the plateau.

   Uralla has fuel, a supermarket, bakeries and pubs, and Armidale, 22 kilometers north, has more. Walcha, the next town on the Way, is smaller, so fill the tank before leaving. The best months are spring and autumn, with mild days, while summer afternoons can bring thunderstorms and bushfire smoke. Winter mornings bring ice on the road, especially in shaded dips. Kangaroos, wombats and cattle are a serious hazard at dawn and dusk, and the Way has long stretches without mobile coverage.

4. Armidale finish

   Armidale sits on the New England tableland at close to a thousand metres, which means it feels cooler than anywhere else for hundreds of kilometres around. It is a handsome city of about twenty-four thousand people, with two cathedrals, wide streets lined with deciduous trees that turn gold and red in autumn, and a university that gives it a lively student feel. After the long climb from the coast on the Waterfall Way, it is a welcome place to stop, and it is a proper city, with every service a rider could want.

   The Waterfall Way itself is the great attraction. The road runs from Armidale down across the escarpment to Bellingen and Coffs Harbour, passing through some of the most dramatic scenery in New South Wales. At Ebor you can walk to the falls, and the Wollomombi Falls nearby are among the tallest in Australia. The Oxley Wild Rivers National Park cuts deep gorges into the plateau, and further east the Dorrigo National Park holds ancient subtropical rainforest, part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage area. The bends on the descent are tight and rewarding, but the road can be wet, and fog is common on the top.

   Armidale's history includes a long record of pastoral wealth, and the old stone buildings in the centre reflect this. The city sits in a district of sheep and cattle country, and the cold winters and frosty mornings are part of local identity. Snow falls on the tableland occasionally, and in winter, black ice is a real concern on the shaded sections of the road.

   Fuel is plentiful in Armidale, and there are many cafes and bakeries in the main street, which is closed to through traffic in places. Uralla, a smaller town to the south, is known for its association with Captain Thunderbolt, a bushranger who was shot there in 1870, and is a good stop for a pie.

   For the best weather, ride in spring or autumn, when the days are mild and the colours are strong. Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms, and winter mornings can be bitter.

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