Over the next two weeks, hordes of Easter school holidaymakers will descend on coastal retreats. That’s why after leaving Byron Bay, we pointed our camper trailer in a quieter, westerly direction.
Casino was our first stop. This town of 11,000 is a buoyant service town with some fabulous architecture ranging from Victorian to art deco.
Will never stop being in awe of the magnificent bank buildings in NSWVictorian and Georgian styles in Casino’s post office which was built in 1879This camp kitchen has an ice machine for hubby’s robust rums http://casinoholidaypark.com.au
From Casino, we headed to Tenterfield. Henry Parkes, Premier of NSW gave his famous speech here in 1889, calling on the 6 individual states to lend support for a federal government. The states did just that on January 1 1901. Can well imagine what Parkes would think of the shitstorm that is Federal parliament at the moment.
We really should have stayed in Tenterfield – at least for a couple of days. There’s plenty to see and do as we learnt when we caught up with tree change friends. https://www.visittenterfield.com.au
Glenn Innes was our next port of call. A most attractive town dotted with 30 heritage listed buildings, we had no trouble staying for two nights. The landscape resembles the Scottish Highlands, so little wonder Scots settled here in the 1800s.
Captivated by Glen Innes’s heritage main street Imposing Town Hall built 1887Club Hotel built 1906. Unfortunately it has ceased tradingKwong Sing’s grand store built in 1886 catering for Chinese tin minersSo glad I visited this well stocked second hand book shop. Manned by a well read gentleman, he has titles both current and limited edition. These popular children’s books are from a generation or two ago. Could’ve purchased a zillion books but settled for one; a biography of Milosevic.Celtic Festival on May 1 will see 20 clans and the 6 Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man and Brittany represented. The festival is held at the Australian Standing Stones just outside Glen Innes. More details here http://gleninneshighlands.comDinner at Glen Rest Tourist Park Glen Innes – the camp kitchen comes with a fireplace, so very welcome on a freezing night.
Between Glen Innes and Armidale is the small town of Gyra, home to the excellent Burgess Garage Museum.
1960 Rolls Royce and 1948 Ford
Further on is Armidale which lives up to its name as a busy town with a youthful university vibe. We didn’t do justice to this town, just quickly stopping for coffee in town and a brief walk.
Between Armidale and Tamworth is a town that caters well to tourists. Uralla has the lot – cafes, shops, a pub and a brewery.
Eighty eight kilometres from Uralla is Tamworth, population 42,000, and country music capital of Australia. Each year in January, the well known music festival welcomes 300,000 visitors over 10 days.
No visit to Tamworth would be complete without a photo of the Golden GuitarA deluge of Australian country music greatness lies behind these doors.Gracious post office in Tamworth’s main streetTamworth – first town in Australia to have electric street lighting in 1888Art deco pubPowerhouse Motorcycle Museum bills itself as one of the best private motor cycle collections in Australia. It was impressive. Moonbie Lookout – when the scenery is so good, it’s greatChaffey Dam – almost full after all the recent rain. Raising the wall in 2016 gave the dam an extra 25 kms of shoreline.The Peel Inn in the very picturesque tiny town of Nundle, just outside Tamworth. My Aussie steak and New Zealand red were perfect!Enjoying good coffee with this good bloke.
Fuelled by travel 
All interesting towns and all seeing a resurgence. Great photos once again 🙂
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Lots of little towns along the way make the trip really interesting… and the weather is warm and sunny
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