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I’ve seen and travelled over a lot of roads in my time but without a doubt THE BEST MX-5 road for cornering thrills, open road top speed and views is the Oxley Highway.

Heading west from Port Macquarie, you climb from Wauchope to Walcha. Total length of the road is 163 kilometres rising from sea level to 1,067 metres. 80% of it is twisting and winding with hundreds of 25, 35, 45kph bends, across ridges, valleys and mountain sides. Climb through rain forests and finally at the top over open high country plains.

Those who have had the thrill of driving over it with little traffic, find their passengers end up with motion sickness because of all the bends. So go prepared.

Once you have dríven this road, the Putty Road is like a drive down the M5, close to Sydney but boring with the amount of traffic and Police around.

And the best time to do this run is with the Club and another dozen or so MX-5s

Agree - one of the best drives going.

Disgaree- best time to do it is late on a December afternoon when you are on the road by yourself in your STI

I agree, the Oxley Hwy is one of the best, plus you get to see some amazing waterfalls along the way for some casual stops.

It even gets better if you combine Oxley Hwy with Thunderbolts Way and do the loop.

Will be finally crossing Thunderbolts + The Oxley off of my list very very soon

Plan is Sydney via Bucketts and Thunderbolts to Walcha, then down the Oxley on the Sunday. If time permits would like to then do the reverse, but that probably have to wait for a return visit.

CoffeeBoss wrote:Will be finally crossing Thunderbolts + The Oxley off of my list very very soon

Plan is Sydney via Bucketts and Thunderbolts to Walcha, then down the Oxley on the Sunday. If time permits would like to then do the reverse, but that probably have to wait for a return visit.

Hey Matt,

When are you considering doing this? I might be able to join you for a day trip up Thunderbolts Way then Oxley/Pacific Hwy on the return trip. That is if the timing suits and thats of course if you like another car tagging along.

I'll be driving back to The Gold Coast from Sydney soon. Any thoughts about me driving via:

1. Putty Rd to Mt Thorley (69)
2. Take Golden Way to Muswellbrook (84)
3. Take New England Highway to Tamworth (15) then,
4. at Bedemeer take Oxley Highway via Walcha to Pt Macquarie (34)

According to Google Maps its about 716kms, or 9hrs 30 mins from Sydney CBD to the motel at Pt Mac. Has anyone done this route? Will probably stay o/n in Pt Mac if I do this compared to a straight run to the Goldie via Highway 1 (383kms or 4hrs 43mins comparison).

Well, Nath, myself and a few other friends did the Walcha -> Port Macquarie section of the Oxley Hwy a few weeks ago, and all I can say is do it!

As I said in my garage thread, Tasmania aside, this would have to be the best driving road on mainland Australia.

It's like 65kms of the best bits of The Alpine Way and The Old Pacific Hwy.

A definite must for MX5 drivers.

This is the route we took (counter-clockwise)



We stayed at the Walcha Cafe in, strangely enough, Walcha.



Toni is a great host, and if you go with a group, you can book out the self-contained flat at the back, which results in a very reasonable tariff.



Toni mentioned to us that Motor and Wheels often stay there.

A few pics of this great road:

Great pix. I ended up varying the route I had originally planned by pushing on from Tamworth to Armidale then taking The Waterfall Way to Coffs Harbour. Your description of the Oxley sounds good but arrived too late as I drove up last Tuesday/Wednesday. However, The Waterfall Way did not disappoint and the weather looked similar to what you experienced. One of the good things about driving that direction was having the sun behind on the last leg which made for fantastic scenery, but I didn't stop to take any pix - I regret that now. Plenty of twists and turns this way too. It would have been interesting to have had a count on the number of gear-changes made!

BTW... that was my first time on the Putty Road and I'm very glad I took the opportunity to use it mid week. Very light traffic, although I did have a couple of delays due to roadworks which I've come to expect on week days.

I set off at 07:00 from Kent St, Sydney and arrived at Coffs Harbour about 17:30. I was thinking about doing the remaining 300 klicks that evening, but common-sense prevailed and I decided on a motel instead.

Did the waterfall way on the 18th and 19th. Was raining today (19th) but pretty good, a lot of roadworks right now, but it spaced the traffic out so I could have a pretty good go at the twisties
Saw a couple of MX-5s too

Quite an old topic so thought I'd give an update from the weekend's trip.
The Oxley is simply amazing. Much of the road has been resurfaced with fresh blacktop which is ridiculously smooth.
The thing I liked the most was the lack of surprises. No nasty off-camber or decreasing radius corners, and only a few caravans to deal with.
I never got around to it in my bike days which was regrettable, but the mx5 was more than enough fun.
If you haven't been yet it's definitely worth the trip.

I'm cruising down this weekend from Brissie. Staying at Coffs Saturday, then Gloucester Sunday. Monday Gloucester to Walcha then back down the Oxley Highway to Port Macquarie. Been wanting to do this for years. I drove the Oxley once in a Forester full of teenagers and camping gear, this time it'll be in my bone stock NB8B.