Our family was in much need of some tech free time and a full digital detox. Glen Innes turned out to be the perfect place for this to happen. Situated 4 hours from the Gold Coast and 7 hours from Sydney, Glen Innes a lovely old town full of history, National Parks and the odd pub or three.
Glen Innes – Gibraltar National Park
We were 70 km out of Glen Innes in the Gibraltar National Park in the most beautiful setting. The house, which, is owned by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, provided the perfect setting for our family break.
The Accommodation
The house is large and has many fantastic features. The kitchen and dining area is huge and you could easily cook up a storm as everything for your inner chef is provided. The lounge room is massive with plenty of couches with cushions and blankets and a wonderful fireplace with plenty of firewood. It can get quite cold in the summer evenings and very chilly in the winter.
There are two bathrooms, one with a shower and there are two bedrooms. The lounge room has pull out sofas for more people to sleep. The kids had a single bed and a set of bunks while we had two king singles in the master bedroom.
There was a large wooden deck coming off the dining area that had a bbq for guests to use. There is plenty of parking inside the house fence and outside if needed.
Gibraltar House
What to Bring
Being 70km out of Glen Innes you will need to be prepared with all that you want for your stay as it is a long drive back to any conveniences.
You will need to take all the linen for the beds including pillows. There are a few blankets in the house. All your towels for showering and if you plan to take a dip in the waterfalls. Don’t forget to bring a bathmat for the bathroom. There is also a laundry at the house.
The fridge is large in the kitchen, ready for you to fill it with all the food and drink you plan to be having during your stay. You will also need to bring all your own drinking water as the house uses creek water.
There is no TV or Wi-Fi so think about what you plan to do in the evenings. There are a few decks of cards and puzzles and previous visitors have left magazines and some books. There is a visitor book that has been filled out by previous visitors we found this a great source of tips and information for the local area.
There is a comprehensive first aid kit at the house that thankfully we didn’t need use at all but it was good to know it was available. There is also a landline phone at the house that can be used to contact the ranger or in the case of an emergency.
Things to do
Being based right in the Gibraltar National Park the house is the perfect base for bushwalking. Really that is the main purpose of being in this fantastic location and the main source of activities for each day of your stay. The house has many maps for you to research your walks and what tracks you do each day. We managed a few walks and the kids found each of the medium grade walks we did very achievable and easy to manage.
The Needles in Gibraltar National Park
We completed the a few walks based from Mulligan’s Hut. The view of the Needles at the end of the walk was simply spectacular. We loved the view from Raspberry Lookout and the kids had a swim at the base of the Boundary Creek waterfall. We headed to Granite Lookout in the Washpool National Park at sunset for a wonderful view. We did all of these activities on one day and walked about 10km. We did return to the house numerous times for lunch and a rest.
Bushwalking in Gibraltar National Park
Getting There
The house is located 90km west of Grafton and 70km from the town of Glen Innes. The Gibraltar House is on the Gwydir Highway and there is a right hand turn (coming from Glen Innes) into the house.
Once we had booked in our dates, we had excellent communication from the Ranger of the National Parks. He emailed me all the details I needed and gave me his mobile number if I wanted to talk through any more details.
Overall we had the most wonderful stay and would highly recommend a visit to this peaceful paradise.
Boundary Falls Waterfall
We were hosted by Destination Glen Innes. All our thoughts and opinions are our own and an honest review of our stay.