Barrington Tops Getaway

I was lucky enough to be invited along with some friends on a 3 day getaway just north of Sydney in Barrington. I was excited to finally take a break from classes and relax for a few days with some of my favourite people. There will be a lot of additional anecdotes in this blog and will be also (lovely) photo heavy.

Day 1

The trip there took around 3 hours by car, including a detour to Newcastle. The accommodation we stayed at was the lovely Barrington River House, which is situated on a patch of farm land and surrounded by lush green pastures and cows. The house itself had 3 bedrooms and a granny flat. It was surprisingly well supplied in the kitchen with almost every utensil and appliance you’d need. We were fortunate to have had awesome weather and enjoyed an outdoor bbq and a swim in the pool on the first day.

With such a big house, it meant we had so much space for activities! Of course, this meant beer pong was a must. Despite being sober at the beginning, most of us were shocking with our hand eye coordination. The MVP prize unquestionably went to Joss, who got at least 4 shots in overall. I am glad I even got one shot! A memorable moment of the first night was when I woke up at about 11pm from a nap with the house completely dead silent and nobody in sight. I thought it was bizarre considering how many people there were in the house. It was pretty eerie and my inner Wolf Creek thoughts were acting like alarm bells in my head. I looked outside, saw a tent which wasn’t there before, and there was no sign of life. Soon enough, after looking around the house again I realized everyone just KO’d unexpectedly early and went to bed…but not before almost slipping on a discarded CHICKEN BONE on the kitchen floor. C’mon guys!

Day 2

The next day, we planned to go to the Gloucester Falls tracks for some good ol’ bush walking. Disaster struck when one of us (you know who you are) accidentally locked the car key in the boot. What followed was like a scene from a sitcom where everyone tries their hand at trying to jimmy the lock with a coat hanger through the driver door while watching tutorials on Youtube. We gave up and looked to see the closest locksmith. Being in the middle of nowhere is good because you get peace and quiet, but also means you’re ages away from the closest facilities. We decided to call the locksmith after our hike as we luckily had another car to take.

headscratching

It was a wonderful drive to Gloucester falls. Every angle was sprawling green meadows or Hobbiton like mountainsides. The scenery was even better when we saw cows, horses and even wallabies roaming the surrounding fields.

During a stopover for ice cream at a trailer park, we were lucky enough to be lent a car unlocking kit by the proprietor. It was simple kit that consisted up a wedge to stick between the door and frame, an air puffer to make room for the wedge, and a lasso to bring the lock up from the door. It looks like us spontaneously stopping for ice cream paid off (like always)!

Some new friends while buying icecream

The drive up to the top of Gloucester falls from the base took around 20minutes and was filled with narrow trails and hairpins. It almost felt like an Initial D track in the bush. The walking trail was easy for beginners and did not have a steep descent. I personally love hiking in the mountains, despite being terribly unfit, and the scenery was a real treat for me. However, we were disappointed that we couldn’t reach the falls because the trail had been closed off. It was still a really pleasant walk and despite not being able to see the falls and the river up close.

When we got back to the house, the guys successfully unlocked the car and retrieved the key! I’d say it would’ve saved around $90 for calling a locksmith out to the house. We were keen for a big dinner after a tiring day and everyone got involved with the cooking. Altogether, we made some fantastic pizzas with leftovers as toppings, wedges, potato salad from scratch, and brownies for dessert.
It was a great effort by the whole team and the result was delicious.

Edible efforts

After dinner, we followed tradition and built a big bonfire outside and roasted some marshmallows. I had learnt that dorito chips were great kindling for fires because it was made of carbs and corn oil. Seeing as we had a bag of original flavoured Doritos nobody wanted, it became our fuel source for the fire. Just imagine us throwing dorito chips into the fire like shuriken.

Aftwerwards, it was time to ruin friendships with a game of Mafia. It was my first time playing and my strategy was almost transparent to all the veterans. More practice in deception needed! I felt sorry for Cai because almost every game he would not make it past the first round. But at least it wasn’t me being voted off, right? Actually, speaking of strategy, Cai had zero except for when he was the doctor, he would just save himself haha. Again, I’d say MVP for the game overall would go to Joss and Michael. Congratulations for being the best sneaky ninjas out of the group!

Day 3

The following morning, it was sad to leave. We had to check out before 10:30 so there wasn’t much we could do but pack, clean and have breakfast. Instead of driving straight back to Sydney, we went see Anna Bay. It was about an extra hour detour. When we got there I was gobsmacked to see how beautiful it was. It looked like a perfect harmony of the desert and the ocean. There were even camels you could ride along the sand dunes.

Before heading back, we stopped for lunch at a joint by the sea called Bub’s Fish n Chips which won “NSW’s Best Fish and Chips” a few years ago. I’m not sure if I can say it’s the best fish shop in NSW, but the grilled ocean trout with homemade mango and mint sauce was an excellent meal to finish off the trip.

Grilled ocean trout

Group shot

It was a great getaway from Sydney and I would definitely recommend Barrington River House to anyone else looking to go up north with a big group. I have to thank Paul for organizing this super fun trip and the rest of the group (Sharon, Joss, Kristy, Michael, Cai, Tadeh, Anth) for being terrific company over the three days.