Tamworth (Country Music Festival)

We enjoyed Barry Ferguson’s 60^th birthday party at Yamba Golf Club.  It was good to catch up with several people we know including Jim, John, Barry’s 3 boys, their mate Tom (a good electrician who did some work for us in the Forestdale house), and Mick Brennan (a very capable manager from our Namoi Cotton days). We had given Baz a nice clock on a large piece of eucalypt we bought at Timbertown.  We oiled it and added a new clock mechanism and it looked good and will last many more years (just like him, hopefully).  

 Natan,Baz,Kaltin,Blake

The coast was great; even the last day when the rains arrived.  Yamba is a relaxed seaside town with all the facilities but not so big that it looks great for families on Xmas holidays.  The Clarence River is hundreds of metres wide from Yamba back 30 or so km’s, to past Maclean, and fishing trawlers operate along the river and out to sea.  The seafood is therefore plentiful and fresh.

A short drive south along the coast leads to Angourie which is an even smaller quieter seaside village.  There a good swimming and surfing beaches with a little peninsula jutting a few hundred metres off shore providing waves on one side or the other.  There is a nice restaurant and a good little café which served great fish and chips at very reasonable prices for table service.

 Peninsular at Angourie

 A few waves for the surfers

As I mentioned, it poured rain all day Sunday which was no problem for us cricket watchers except the test finished early on that day.  Next morning between showers we hit the road again heading back through Grafton and then west through the ranges to Glen Innes.  The Mann River flows beside the road for several kilometres and it first crosses the road at Jackadgery.  The Mann River Caravan Park on the western bank looks like a great spot to spend a few days next time through.  I have since been told that it is a great spot and the park has large sites, good amenities and friendly managers.  It is also a good spot to rest before or after visiting Washpool or Gibraltar Range Nat Parks a little way west at the top of the range.   The drive up the hill into the clouds was very pretty.  The rainforest is beautiful with tree ferns growing everywhere like weeds and regular views of large white water rivers. 

 Mann River

 On top of the range at 11am in the middle of summer!!

 Raspberry Lookout revisited - previous photo from the same spot you could see for miles.

 Forest & Fog (cloud)

The road was steep with two huge switch backs near the top but we were impressed with how easy the vehicle and van went up there – only 2 courtesy pullovers to allow cars to pass.  We made such good time into Glen Innes that we (Garry) decided to head on to Armidale and spend 2 nites in the one place.  Those 2 days gave a chance to do a big shop and also give the van a good spring clean.  Carol did a great job on the inside even found on her knees at one stage scrubbing the floor!!! 

Armidale to Tamworth was uneventful, even though it included another trip down Dead Man’s Hill – a 6 km downhill run.   It made me look at the heights in the towns. From sea level at Yamba we rose to a maximum of 1,350m in Guyra and dropped back down to 350m above sea level at Tamworth.  No wonder the rivers on the east side of the range were white; they drop over 1,000m in 200 kms while the Peel River in Tamworth drops only 350m in over 2,000 kms when it flows into the sea in South Australia.  Anyway back to Tamworth.  It has dried out a lot since we came through before Xmas and heated up to mid 30’s.  The town sure does fill up with Country Music activities and people.  We were booked into the Showgrounds along with several hundred others and we have found everyone very friendly.  It is the first time we have regularly joined in with Happy Hour each afternoon and there is always someone willing to pull out the guitar and sing a few songs.  It is very pleasant and we are enjoying it a lot.  We are amazed at the line of vans coming in each day but we all seem to be fitting in so far. 

 Carol has arrived at the big guitar.

A short drive through the countryside took us to Manila, Sommerton and back.  The country has dried out noticeably in the last few weeks and the paddocks with sheep are already looking bare.  Manila is a very typical western NSW town and is situated on the Namoi River.  They have a nice picnic area on the river bank below the weir with plenty of picnic tables and huge river gums for shade.  The town has a pleasant main street with many buildings over 100 years old.  We posted some postcards to the Grandkids in Manila so it will be interesting to see how long they take to arrive.

 Manila Weir on the Namoi River - This photo will make David & Shaneen sooo homesick.

 Manila

 3 old buildings preserved with new modern businesses inside -?, 1899, 1900

We have done our recce of our concert sites in Tamworth and are off to town with 10,000 others for the Official Opening Concert in Bi-Centennial Park this evening (Fri). 

More about Tamworth next week if we are not all country music’d out by then.