19 to 24 May 2016 - The Road to Tamworth

I returned to Gordon & Edith's place for a night's stay after my very enjoyable outing to Byron.  Yet again I enjoyed a lovely meal and their company before getting my act together to head West.

I thought I might spend a night in Stanthorpe, an area where grapes are grown & wine made (amongst many other things) in Southern Queensland, but it didn't happen in the end.  Had a very scenic drive up over the Dividing Range and thought it was pretty steep, but a good road & basically just up rather than many of the more torturous ups and downs of the crossings further South in NSW.

I followed the Cunningham Highway to Warwick, then turned South to the New England Highway towards Stanthorpe and NSW.  Had a few stops along the way and decided to free camp at a small place called Dalveen not that far outside Stanthorpe.  First test of the batteries in the van, which held out well overnight.  Plenty of grunt to run the lights, TV, diesel heater and power my dreaded CPAP machine overnight.  Such a pain having obstructive sleep apnoea, but at least there is a way of dealing with it. 

Next day I towed the van to Armidale in NSW where I spent a night and had a good look around.  Lovely New England town with a University and most of the facilities that go with the larger inland rural cities.  Starting to get very cold at night in stark contrast to the very warm weather I experienced on the coast.  Winter is definitely on the way....

Then on to Tamworth, where I had the Toyota booked in for a 60k km service.  Spent a few days looking around the area and really enjoyed the City & surrounds.

Slim Dusty & Joy McKean statues in Tamworth.

Great view from the Oxley Scenic Lookout above Tamworth.  Very nice area for picnic.

The Big Golden Guitar and Information Centre - Interesting collection with a Waxworks and Bradman collection.  I nearly didn't go in as they had a speaker on a pole outside spruiking about how good it was.  Wished I had a gun to shoot it down.

Now that is a horse arena! (a small part of the AELEC - Australian Equine & Livestock Events Centre facility).  Massive facility.

Finally, a picture of the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, where the larger events are held during the annual Country Music Festival.  Also bigger than Ben Hur for a regional City.