Biggish travel day today, 330 kms from Darlington Beach to Tamworth via the Waterfall Way to Armidale. I took us over 5 hours plus stops. I wasn't all that impressed with the Waterfall Way. It was very narrow, bumpy and slow especially that part of the Way east of Dorrigo, although the surface of the section that actually climbs the Dorrigo Mountain, all 800 metres of it, was not all that bad. It was a real relief to turn on to the New Engand Highway on the other side of Armidale.
Speaking of waterfalls, we saw just one on our way up the mountain in a place where we could not stop. I don't know why this road is such a big attraction for the caravanning community.
After we turned off the Pacific Highway onto the Waterfall Way, the first village we came to was Bellingen on the Bellinger River. This is a quaint little place with that olde worlde charm. It would be a good place for a day trip from Coffs Harbour.
We then climbed up to Dorrigo. Apart from what I have said in the first paragraph, this is much like climbing Brown Mountain. The Santa Fe had no trouble at all in pulling the van around tight corners and steep climbs. Dorrigo itself seemed unremarkable to us, except for the Dorrigo Hotel which is a pub built in the grand style of the early 20th century. All verandahs and wrought iron lace work (or am I thinking of one of the Uralla pubs).
When we got to Dorrigo, we were brought back to reality with a vengeance; 11 degrees of vengeance. It was freezing, or it felt like it to us anyway. This was the first time we had experienced temperatures below the low twenties in weeks. And it got worse. When we stopped for lunch at Uralla, the car thermometer was telling us that it was 9 degrees.
Thankfully, by the time we got down to Tamworth's lower altitude it had warmed up to 15 degrees. It was warm enough to go for a walk into the shopping centre in search of an ice cream, which we found. Although we have visited Tamworth before, this was the first time we had walked the length of the main street. As far as Australian country town main streets go, this one has a lot of appeal. It is broad and tree lined and many of the original old buildings still survive. It is a street with character.
We are only here overnight, so the good people of the Big 4 Paradise caravan park have given us a drive-through site on which we can stay coupled up. So that should allow us to make a quick get away tomorrow for Gilgandra. We haven't had a good look at this park. However, we can say that the amenities block in that part of the park in which we are staying, while old, is in very good condition. The only adverse thing that I could find to say was that although the shower stalls are large and have separate spot for clothes and towels, this part is not separated by a shower screen or curtain.
Well, I think that is about it from Tamworth. As I have said, it's Gilgandra tomorrow. After that it is Cowra and then home sometime on Saturday. Looking forward to that very much.
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