Hundreds donned the heavy winter clothing and travelled to nearby Barrington Tops to enjoy the snow covered landscape over the weekend.
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While many Hunter residents headed north, Port Macquarie's Brittany Daly and her family were among those who came down from the other direction, taking advantage of the easing of travel restrictions off the back of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Majority of National Parks campgrounds, cabins and cottages reopened in NSW from June 1, in line with the easing of holiday travel restrictions announced by the NSW Government.
Travellers are now required to make a booking for all campgrounds and campsites in national parks. This includes locations that were previously available for use without a booking.
The first snow of the season fell on June 1 with a light dusting from Barrington Tops to Uralla and Armidale.
Brittany said she last visited in June, 2019 when the area was also blanketed in snow, but said it was even more beautiful this time around.
"As you get higher the snow becomes much more dense," she said.
"It provides a great layer over the green bush."
The Daly family is camping at Boothill Compound, just outside of Dungog.
They have seen a lot of other people making a getaway during the holidays, with many caravans and trailers on the road.
It was Brittany's daughter's second time experiencing snow and she absolutely loved it.
"Her first experience was at the Snowy Mountains Highway through Kosciuszko National Park, when we travelled from Darwin," she said.
Isabella, Brittany's daughter had a great time playing in the snow and throwing snow balls.
Brittany said even though the snow attracted people from all over, it wasn't overly busy and there were many spots for people to pull over.
"There were a lot of families exploring and many other four wheel drivers," she said.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, no snow is predicted to fall later this week and rain is forecast for the weekend.
Temperatures will vary between six and nine degrees for the daytime maximums during the week.
What you need to know before visiting Barrington Tops
Did you know Barrington Tops is the highest point of the Barrington Coast?
It's also the highest sub-alpine region in the country outside the Australian alps and it gets a regular dusting of snow each winter.
The Barrington Coast Business Hub provides useful information for visitors on how to #StaySnowSafe in Barrington Tops
Their advice includes:
- Before you leave home check the weather forecast with the Bureau of Meteorology.
- Before you leave home check whether the road is open, call Gloucester Visitor Information Centre 6538 5252
- And before you leave Gloucester always check the weather and road conditions before you leave town and head up to the Tops.
- The Barrington Tops Forest Road is mostly unsealed road in variable condition.
- 4WDs are better suited for driving in snow and ice conditions, so leave the two-wheel drive at home.
- The distance from Gloucester to Polblue is 68km of which 23km is unsealed road. Travel time is up to 1.5 hours depending on conditions.
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