For those heading back to QLD, I'd be inclined to go via the New England Highway and then cut to the coast on the Bruxner from Tenterfield or continue into Stanthorpe and that way.
At the moment, around Armidale the following roads to the coast are closed:
-Armidale Road (Armidale to Grafton)
-Oxley Highway (Walcha to Port Macquarie)
-Kemspey Road (Armidale to Kempsey (Goat track of dirt road)
The New England Highway is smoke affected at Bendemeer and between Deepwater and Tenterfield. and I suspect that Thunderbolts Way will have some smoke around Bretti.
Because the Pacific Highway is closed and there's a few diversions in place at a local level, I suspect that some extra traffic is coming up to the New England via Waterfall as it's the last (major) turn off that's open before the fires down there.
