Wisemans Ferry Run

I've been want to write about this for a while now, but haven't had the time to sit down and get it done. Just before Christmas, the guys from mx5cartalk.com organised to do a drive through Wisemans Ferry. It was on the weekend before Christmas, and we had about 15 cars show up (including a Nissan Skyline).

The route was as follows:

1. Start at Rofe Park in Hornsby Heights
2. Turn right out of the Rofe Park car park onto Galston Rd and head towards Galston Gorge
3. Proceed through the Gorge, veer left at the top as you come out of the Gorge
4. Drive through Galston, past the shops
5. Turn right at the roundabout after the shops on to Mid-Dural Rd and follow to the end
6. Turn right onto Old Northern Road and head north towards Wisemans Ferry
7. Drive right to the end of Old Northern Rd going past the shops and pub in Wisemans
8. Cross the car ferry at the end of Old Northern Rd
9. Turn right onto Wisemans Ferry Rd as you drive of the ferry
10. Follow Wisemans Ferry Rd all the way to Central Mangrove (it is a fair distance)
11. At Central Mangrove (the next big crossroads after the ferry) turn right onto George Downes Drive
12. Turn right onto Peats Ridge Rd
13. Follow this under the F3 Freeway and turn right onto the Pacific Hwy, then turn left onto the Pacific Hwy (otherwise you end up on the freeway)
14. Follow this until you reach Pie in the Sky at Cowan (at the top of the hill after you come up from Brooklyn)

Click here for the map of this route on Google Maps.

The drive is a good one. It isn't too long, only a couple of hundred kms round trip, and it only takes about 3 hours to complete. There are good winding, twisting driving roads and some nice scenery. The most picturesque part of the drive is along Wisemans Ferry Rd, from Wisemans through Spencer and up towards Mangrove Mountain. The road here runs alongside the Hawkesbury River for a while and makes its way through some small country towns. The problem here is that the road in this stretch (Wisemans - Central Mangrove) is not all that great. The surface is bumpy, uneven and has many small potholes that upset the car. The road is also very narrow in some sections, but there are very few cars that use it most of the time.... until you run 15 odd MX5's along there :-P

Of course, there is the run along the Old Pac to finish up the run. Ahhhh.... the Old Pac is a great piece of road. Lots of twists and turns and undulating ups and downs. It is a nice drive, but with a speed limit of 60km/h for the vast majority of the way, it is a little slow. You can always stop for a pie at Pie in the Sky too :-)

I have done this run on a number of occasions in both the MX5 and my previous car in both directions. It is always a nice drive and usually free from traffic for the most part.