12 day trip to Macksville for the Rusty Iron Rally
Then Waterfall Way and New England
1-9-2017
Friday NSW Rusty Iron Rally trip
We left home mid morning in Casa and drove 330kms south to the town of Grafton
(NSW) and the Showgrounds for 1 night. It was a lovely sunny day and
a pleasant drive.
2-9-2017 Saturday
We left our stopover and drove to the Tourist Office in Grafton for information
on the town. We then did part of the Heritage Walk around the town. One
interesting icon of the town is the Grafton Bridge, built c1932, an
amazing long rusted metal structure over the very wide Clarence River. We
crossed back and forth over this bridge in Casa about 4 times and it is a bit
narrow by today's standards and vehicles. It was built in the horse and buggy
days. Two big trucks passing each other at the same time, especially on one of
the two corners, would be a bit scary. Underneath the road part of the bridge is
another level, that holds rails for a train. Along each side of this level is a
walking/cycling path. A new bridge is being built not far away and is expected
to be finished by the end of 2019.
Some of the buildings on the Heritage Walk were the Christ Church Cathedral,
Convent of Mercy, St Mary's College c1829, Courthouse
c1862, Post Office c1877, and 3 hotels the Post Office Hotel
c1860, Crown Hotel c1930 and Roches Family Hotel c1870. The Crown
Hotel is located right on the river where there seemed to be speed boat and
skiers getting ready for a competition, but we didn't have time to watch.
We drove 146kms south first to the town of Macksville, (NSW) and then
5kms further to Congarinni on the land of some friends, Brian and Wilma,
for 3 nights. It's about 80 acres and used to be a dairy farm as well as having
many fruit trees. Only a small number of trees are left, a few bush lemon,
guava, lime, persimmon and plum. Some of the land is cleared and kept mowed and
some is bush with many trees, through which Brian has carved a track big enough
for his small Suzuki car, so he can go around and check the property. He took us
for a 'bush bashing' drive through this bush, quite a ride! We enjoyed the
afternoon on the verandah with drinks and nibblies and watched the birds in the
trees and the wallabies feeding in the distance. One intriguing bird was the
Catbird - aptly named as it really does make a noise like a cat, sometimes one
that was being strangled! Unless you'd heard of it you wouldn't have known it
was a bird.
3-9-2017 Sunday Fathers' Day and The Rusty Iron Rally
Brian was displaying his phones at the The Rusty Iron Rally so he and
Wilma went early. Dave and I rode Harley the 5kms to the showgrounds late
morning. This rally is similar to the one we go to at Pimpama at the end of July
each year but this one is so much bigger, with many, many, trucks, tractors and
other vehicles including earthmoving ones, motorbikes and fancy cars. The parade
took over an hour and there was a guy on a microphone giving a very informative
run down on every vehicle that passed by. There were many small steam engine
displays and lots of tents/stalls selling all sorts of items, second hand and
new, clothing, books, jewelry, and tools, etc. At the end of the day we helped
Brian pack up his display which was quite quick with 4 lots of hands, and then
went back to their place for another afternoon of drinks and nibblies while
viewing the wildlife from the verandah.
4-9-2017 Monday
Brian and Wilma took us sightseeing this morning, to a few places - Yarrahapinni
Lookout a wonderful view out over the coastline and South West Rocks; The
Pines Picnic Area where we did a 3-400 metre walk through some magnificent
tall trees in Yarrahappini State Forest; a drive on The Promised Land
loop road through beautiful dairy farming country; lunch overlooking the ocean
at the surf club in the town of Sawtell; and then afternoon tea at the
delightful town of Bellingen.
Back home again and our usual afternoon past time on the verandah.
5-9-2017 Tuesday
We left Brian and Wilma this morning and drove about 50kms north and west to the
town of Bellingen (NSW) and the Showgrounds for 2 nights. Firstly,
we stopped in Macksville and took a short walk around and along the river
walkway near the bridge. Then we stopped at Nambucca Heads and the
information centre for information on this area. We drove along the esplanade
and parked alongside the water and then went for a short walk on the boardwalk.
The water was a beautiful turquoise colour with nice white sand around and yet
nearby were lots of mangroves. I associate mangroves with mud, not white sand,
like along our foreshore at Wynnum so it was unusual to see these 2 things
together. There were also oysters on the rocks along the boardwalk and attached
to the breather stalks of the mangroves. We had lunch in Casa alongside the
water and then drove to some lookouts - Headland Drive Lookout, Rotary
Lookout and Captain Cook Lookout.
6-9-2017 Wednesday
We had a lazy start to the day today as we felt we'd been on the go for the past
5 days. After a sleep in and leisurely breakfast we went out on Harley to the
nearby town of Bellingen to do the Heritage Walk. Most of the buildings
on the brochure were not there anymore but there were still some old buildings
left with the olden day facades. There were some interesting shops, and some
with the hippy style decor and clothing. Bellingen is home and birthplace to
David Helfgott (world famous concert pianist), and birthplace to Adam Gilchrist
(cricketer). It's also home to the journalist George Negus but not sure if he
was born here.
Early this morning Dave went out on Harley to take some photos and he happened
to see a calf not long after it'd been born. He watched as it struggled to stand
up for the first time and he felt very privileged.
7-9-2017 Thursday
We drove about 30kms north-west to the small town of Dorrigo (NSW) and
the Showgrounds for 2 nights. On the way we drove a 4km diversion to
Griffiths Lookout, a lovely spot for a picnic with a great view. Next we went to
Dorrigo Rainforest Centre to go on the Skywalk high up in the
canopy of the trees with a view of the mountains. The centre also had a good
video about rainforests and the residential wildlife and there was also a small
information area about some of the local wildlife. Next we drove to the Glade
Picnic Area which was a perfect place to make and have lunch in Casa.
After lunch we started on a walk from the picnic area. It is part of the Wonga
Walk and we did the short version to Crystal Shower Falls which is a
steep 3.5kms return. That was enough for us as even though the path was a sealed
one, it was quite steep in parts - going there was downhill so uphill coming
back and we were very happy when we got back. The track is shaded all the way by
the tall, lush forest. There were magnificent 300 year old trees and spectacular
strangler figs, and there were amazing vines worthy for Tarzan to swing on.
These vines seemed to grow from the ground up and become very thick and wind
themselves around the trees. Some were wound around on the ground like a big
rope. At the Falls a suspension bridge carries walkers across the valley
in front of the waterfall to a water-worn cavern, where you can look through the
veil of falling water.
8-9-2017
Friday
This morning we drove Harley along the 2 roads (near the showgrounds) that
border the property privately owned by the Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum
but could only view the many locomotives and carriages from the fence. This is
because they are not allowed to open to the public until they first meet the
requirements of the local council, relative to car parks, toilets, street
widening and road intersections, totaling $1and a half million! The Museum
group is non-profit, a registered charity and is a 100% volunteer organisation.
We could see many engines and carriages from the street but apparently these are
only a small part of the total collection. The collection in the Museum's care,
currently 75 Locomotives, 280 Passenger Carriages and Freight Wagons, 19
Railmotors/Trailers, a Silver City Comet set, 5 Breakdown Cranes, Sydney
Suburban and Interurban Electric trains plus thousands of smaller items, is the
largest in the world! The Museum owns 35kms of the Dorrigo Branch Line. Steam
locomotive hauled tourist trains will operate from Dorrigo to several points on
the picturesque line and return, giving a choice of trips.
After that we rode just a few kms to the impressive Dangar Falls in a
very picturesque setting. We looked at the falls from a viewing platform and
then took a 20 mins walk down to the bottom to have a different view - at least
it wasn't as steep or as long as the walk we did yesterday. On the way back we
stopped for a nice lunch at the Dorrigo Heritage Hotel before heading back to
Casa - a nice short day.
9-9-2017 Saturday
This morning we left our stopover and drove 125kms west to the town of Armidale
(NSW) and the Showgrounds for 2 nights. The highway we travelled on
is aptly called the Waterfall Way as it is the way to see a few waterfalls. The
first we saw was the Ebor Falls, in the Guy Fawkes River Nature Reserve,
just a little way past the town of Ebor, and they were the nicest we saw today.
There were 2 tiers of waterfalls, upper falls and lower falls, ending in a pool.
The upper ones had many spots where the water fell over the edge onto rocks,
making the appearance of many individual little waterfalls - quite impressive.
The next was the Wollomombi Falls, a little way past the town of
Wollomombi. The falls are in the impressive Wollomombi Gorge in Oxley
Wild Rivers National Park but the falls themselves, weren't impressive, due to
not much rainfall occurring recently - in fact they were hard to detect. Another
apparently good lookout was Point Lookout in the New England National Park, but
it was at the end of 15kms of unsealed road so we didn't bother with that one.
10-9-2017 Sunday
We rode Harley this morning firstly, to the Apex and Drummond Lookout,
which commands a panoramic view of the city. Next we rode to the Armidale
Railway Station, a high Victorian building built in 1882, and still a
working railway station. Repainted in 1994 in mustard yellow, maroon and white,
it looks very impressive. It's fine cast iron work, ornamental chimneys and
mouldings are typical of buildings of this period. At the entrance to the
carpark is a 2 storey station master's residence, also painted in the
same colours. There was also a railway museum on the grounds but it wasn't open
Sunday.
Across the road is a restored Georgian cottage, 307 Beardy St, painted in
heritage colours and is typical of a West Armidale timber residence built at the
turn of the century - 1900 that is. We then drove to the town's centre to do the
Heritage Walk. Some of the sites include - St Mary and Joseph Catholic
Cathedral c1912; St Peter's Anglican Cathedral c1875; Town Hall
c1883; Folk Museum c1863; Diocesan Registry c1824; Masonic
Centre c1924; Post Office c1880; Lands Office c1887; Court
House c1860; and the most impressive Imperial Hotel c1843. After that we had a nice lunch
at the New England Hotel (the Newie) c1897, rebuilt on the same site 40
years after the original one of 1857.
11-9-2017 Monday
We left the showgrounds this morning and drove 237kms, crossing the border back
into Qld, to the town of Glen Aplin (QLD) and the Country Style
Accommodation Park for 1 night. The park is on a river that has had a weir
built so there's a lovely little lake for the ducks.
On the way we stopped at Glen Innes (NSW) to buy fuel and stopped in at the
tourist info place. It looks like there's a bit to see here so will have to come
back some time. They guy told us about The Australian Standing Stones
about 1km away so we drove there. They have been constructed in 1992 in
recognition of the involvement of the Celtic races in the building of the
Australian nation. They look like Stonehenge with the stones in a circle and
stones strategically placed for the Summer and Winter Solstice (the longest and
shortest days of the year). They have a Celtic Festival here every year (I
assume - didn't see that written anywhere). The large stones are stone (not
concrete as we thought originally) and you can see some of them have marks where
they've been split from bigger ones. It would've taken a bit of work to get them
all into their places.
We stopped at Tenterfield (NSW) today for a pie for lunch and we reckon they
were probably the best pies we've ever had - although we haven't had one from
Yatala Pies for a while so will have to go and make a comparison - soon. We'll
have to remember to stop again next time we're coming through Tenterfield.
12-9-2017 Tuesday HOME
Drove 245kms north to home!
