Gold Coast to Armidale

On leaving the Gold Coast, we headed south over the border into country New South Wales. The weather took a dramatic change. Whilst travelling to Casino, we encountered our first rain for 7 weeks. Casino was just an overnight stop so due to the inclement weather we stayed indoors and continued our journey to Tenterfield the following morning. The weather had improved so after setting up camp at the Tenterfield Scout Hall, we toured around the town and discovered some of its history. We also visited a winery to sample some of their fare and purchased a couple of bottles. That night it rained heavily and the temperature dropped. The following morning it was still raining with a temperature of only 8 degrees. We headed off to visit a couple of the national parks and the refreshing rain seems to have brought out the wildlife as we spotted at least 20 wallabies and a mob of eastern grey kangaroos that were at least as tall as me. It was unusual for them to be out-and-about mid morning. How many kangaroos can you see?

Tenterfield should be called “Boulder City” as the countryside is littered with masses of boulders.

We also visited the hideout of the bushranger Thunderbolt who was active in the area 150 years ago. Look closely, you can see Brian inside.

This is called Platypus Lake but we couldn’t find any.

The following morning was fine again with clear blue skies and sunshine so we had a pleasant drive to Armidale where we set up camp at the showgrounds. Just as well we had power because that night the temperature dropped and the rain started again. Today has been wet and windy with a maximum temperature of 6 degrees – Hobart has double this temperature. Anyway, we rugged up and toured the town with its variety of old buildings and many churches. Photo of St Paul’s church.

I must admit I like the look of Armidale as they have kept all their lovely old buildings.  It was so cold that we went to a pub for lunch as it advertised a roaring fire!

Off to Tamworth tomorrow.