Old Bar to Gloucester

With an early morning flight from Brisbane we land at Williamstown, pick up our hire car and head up the Pacific Highway towards Old Bar, about 150km north.  About half way there we call into Bulahdelah for breakfast. The restaurant is in an old house with pressed steel ceilings and walls and our breakfast and coffee are most welcome. Then its onwards to Old Bar for the morning. Old Bar is a seaside town, still relatively unspoiled by development, about 13km from Taree with a great beach and friendly locals. We head back out of town, detouring to have a look at Manning Point at the mouth of the Manning River which turns out to be quiute a small village with a few expensive homes, a couple of restaurants and the ubiquitous Bowls Club. Oyster farms line the banks of the Manning River and there are plenty of signs advertising fresh oysters.

We head back to the Pacific Highway and then off to Gloucester through the countryside. Rolling lush green hills, cattle grazing and some great scenery. Soon we are approaching Gloucester which nestles below a range of hills known as "The Buckets" and which are a scenic backdrop to the town when approached from the east. Its well worth stopping for a photo at the lookout some 5km out of town. We drive into town and have a bite to eat, a cuppa and then have a wander around visiting the local Art Gallery and finally checking in at The Roundabout Inn.

plenty of signs advertising fresh oysters

After freshening up and settling in we head for the Bistro and Bar and find it inhabited by the local rugby union club who have obviously had a win and are celebrating, plenty of people and noise but we enjoy ourselves and after managing to find a table and chairs order our meal which is served quite quickly and is most enjoyable. A reasonably early night beckons as we have been on the go since 3:45am this morning so we head for our room after an entertaining evening.