Mann, Boyd, Nymboida and Henry Rivers...now there's a mouthful! With a range crossing between each river. The road described as "unsuitable for caravans" should read "unsuitable to unskilled and tentative caravaners". Fortunately none of that in the Patrol and Lotus Inn, so instead of the long steep uphill grind on the blacktop we opted for the gravel road some 120klm to Grafton along the Heritage Way.

This road was cut by hand for the bullock teams of old as the only route between Grafton and Glen Innes and holds great historic value and the signs of the pioneers struggle to tame the Great Dividing Range . Between each river system is a rocky range with a pass cut through it, then down to a mix of great pastures or a road clinging precariously to sharp slope above a twisting river. All this is framed by the higher ridges and peaks of the Great Divide.

There are sections of this road where we held our breath as the road was hardly wide enough for our rig, rocky slope and bush to one side and a drop of up to 100 metres to a fast running river. Some of these sections were a kilometre long and often blind driving as it twisted to the landscape. In all this was a memorable drive and one we will repeat at some stage!

Our destination is Grafton as a stopover on our way back to the Gold Coast to catch up with family and for Tom's birthday in early October.