May 2015

Forecast for today was 15 to 23 degrees, and the maximum turned out to be 25 degrees - that's what we came for.

Having arrived fairly late in the day yesterday, we spent most of the day today erecting the annexe and our two porches. We had stopped briefly for lunch and a cold drink, when Frosty turned up on his daily bike ride from Southport. Frosty and Marg are staying at the Broadwater Tourist Park at Southport. We will join them there in August after our trip to Cooktown and back in July.

We are hoping that with more practice we will be able to erect the annexe and porches in about half the time that it took today. Late in the afternoon we sat under our rear porch having a couple of sun-downers, and enjoying a magnificent sunset over Tallebudgera Creek. The following photos were taken at about 5 minute interval over a period of twenty minutes. For Frosty's benefit they did not require touching up in Photoshop.

It was about 5 degrees when we woke this morning with the promise of mainly sunny skies.

We packed up and made a short visit to the dump point, and were on the road by 10.00 am. Our route today took us to Tenterfield on the New England Highway, before turning west on the Bruxner Highway, which would take us east via Casino and Lismore, before joining the Pacific Highway near Ballina, and then heading north to Palm Beach. The Bruxner Highway is very windy, very hilly, very bumpy, and very narrow for most of its length. The van and its contents got a good shake up on the way. After about 2 hours on the road we stopped at a very small town of Tabulan for lunch, before continuing on our way.

Near Byron Bay we took a wrong turn in the middle of extensive road works and took the opportunity to re-fuel before heading back onto the Pacific Highway. Back on the Pacific Highway we continued north through more road works, and took the Tugun Exit and continued on the Gold Coast Highway to Palm Beach.

We eventually arrived at Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park at about 4:00 pm and checked in for 33 nights - we are here until 30 June 2015. Because of our late arrival we only connected hoses, power, and put out the Awning, before relaxing with a couple of sun-downers. We will leave setting up the annexe and porches until tomorrow morning.

No photos today.

Three degrees again overnight with the promise of a clear day.

Last night we decided to have dinner at one of the local eateries. We checked out a couple of the local pubs, but on a Tuesday night they were near deserted. We walked back to the RSL Club were the place was jumping - money wheels and raffles and a near full bar area. We headed for the Crystal Room Restaurant where we had and excellent meal. We were however somewhat amused by the barman - When I selected a Jacobs Creek Reserve Shiraz from the somewhat limited wine list, he returned to say that he could not find any, so I suggested he look on the shelf behind him. It turned out that he had been looking in the fridge, and when I declined an ice bucket, he insisted on a couple of cold glasses from the fridge. Another customer at the bar who nearly died laughing at this performance 'fessed up to being the barman from the local Bowling Club. Still learning I guess!

After lunch we did the local tourist thing, starting with a short drive south of Glen Innes to the Stonehenge recreation reserve. The reserve contains a number of large granite boulders, and nearby is Balancing Rock, a large boulder that defies gravity.

Back in Glen Innes we drove up to the Australian Standing Stones - comprising 40 granite monoliths set out as a circle of 24 standing stones representing 24 hour of the day, three central stones, 4 cardinal stones marking North, East, South and West, and 7 stones marking the summer and winter solstices. The site was conceived in 1988 as a bicentennial project by the Celtic Council of Australia as a National monument to the Celtic pioneers of Australia. The site was officially opened in 1992.

Back on the road we visited the Land of the Beardies History House Museum which is housed in the old Glen Innes District Hospital which was originally built in 1877, and closed in 1956. The museum is essentially a folk museum that showcases the history of Glen Innes and the local district and is spread through 25 rooms as well as a number of exhibits in the grounds. The museum was a fascinating collection of local family and business history.

We completed our day with a walk around the central business district of Glen Innes with its buildings that date from the 1870s and 1880s.

Di at Stonehenge

A wider view of Stonehenge

Another view of Stonehenge

More rocks at Stonehenge

The nearby Balancing Stone defying gravity

Overall view of the Standing Stones

Di's been watching Outlander - she wasn't getting too close to the stones

A close up of some of the stones

Excalibur

The Crofters Cottage

Glen Innes History House Museum on the old District Hospital

Di trying the Whipping Stool for size

Old machinery in the grounds

Old wagons in the Machinery Shed

Old ANZ Bank circa 1879

Westpac Bank circa 1884

Glen Innes Town Hall circa 1887

NAB in the former CBC Bank circa 1890

Grand Central Hotel circa 1874

Cool overnight again - 3 degrees with a forecast maximum of 16 degrees and mostly cloudy.

Today we drove to nearby the mining villages of Emmaville and Torrington which are part of Tour Drive 11, and also take in Stannum and Deepwater. The road was mainly sealed with a few short sections of reasonable gravel.

Emmaville boomed after the discovery of tin in 1872, and in the early 1900s the population swelled to 7,000 with about 2,000 Chinese. The town was originally known as Vegetable Creek because of the scale of Chinese market gardens. The town now boasts about 300 residents and the intriguing Emmaville Mining Museum which has a significant collection of mineral samples as well as an extensive collection of cut and uncut gemstones.

After inspecting the Museum we drove on to Torrington where we stopped for lunch at the at the Nomads Picnic Spot in the Torrington Conservation Area. After lunch we walked the 800 metres to Thunderbolts Lookout. Frederick Wordsworth Ward (aka Captain Thunderbolt) (1835–25 May 1870) was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushranger" and his lengthy survival, being the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history.

The walk to the Lookout, while only 800 metres was mostly uphill with the last 100 metres a climb up steep steps and a steel ladder to the top of a pile of granite boulders. The view was amazing with a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding countryside.

Emmaville Mining Museum

Iron Boat - would it float?

Mine wagons with a load of coal

This is a nail

Di with Grandpa's milk separator

Foley's Store in Emmaville

Boulders on the track to Thunderbolt's Lookout

Track to the top of Thunderbolt's Lookout

Five trees that have taken root on a fallen tree - life goes on!

Entry to the Caves at the base of the Lookout

Looking back down the path to the Lookout

View of a nearby farm from the Lookout

View from Thunderbolt's Lookout

Another view from Thunderbolt's Lookout

While it was a cool three degrees in Glen Innes there was the promise of a nice sunny day.

As it was a nice day we decided to drive to nearby Inverell, a distance of 67 km. Inverell, known as Sapphire City, is about twice the size of Glen Innes with a population of about 16,000 compared to 8,700 in glen Innes. Inverell was first settled in 1835, with a town being established in the 1850s, and is the centre of a rich agricultural district. There are also some mining activities with tin, sapphires, zircons and diamonds (mainly industrial) being found. Inverell is known as the ‘Sapphire City’ because of the sapphires that found throughout the local district, contributing to a major part of Australia's sapphire production.

Inverell from the McIlveen Lookout

Di at the McIlveen Lookout

Inverell Town Hall

Autumn colour in the main street of Inverell

More autumn colour in Inverell