F&F Tour, Day 3 - Jackadgery

The main mall in Armidale.

 After coffee at Michael's Cafe in Uralla, we set off north and an hour or so in Armidale.

Armidale will always have a special place in our hearts. It was here we met in Jessie's - a wine bar of reasonable reputation for all things except clientele. On the occasion of our meeting, it was full of musicians, students and high schoolers who were kicking up their heels after finishing their HSC trial exams. I sang, she complimented me and the reast, as they say, is mystery.

It was here my other most significant love affair began, that with Waratahs Cricket Club.

It was also here we returned and spent six years raising our children from nappies to school uniforms. 

Literally, many of our lifelong friendships had their origins in Armidale and we never tire of returning. On this particular day, it was mostly coffee and comparisons with changes and shopping for a selfie stick.

Pressing further north to Glen Innes, again over well-trodden ground and lunch at the Australian Standing Stones.

We had intended staying the night at Border Falls on the Gibraltar Range but a combination of better evening temperatures further down the Gwydir Highway and the commitment to stay at new places, took us down the mountains and to the Mann River Caravan & Canoe Park at Jackadgery. Perched beside the highway and immediately above the the Mann River where the high concrete bridge provides safe passage. Completed in 1959 by Theiss Bros, it is surprisingly current in its design. The caravan park was fairly empty and relatively cheap and although the amenities weren't new, they were clean and tidy and the showers hotter even than the afternoon.

Dry and dusty and unfortunately situated under Plain Trees, who offered wonderful shade except for the low, hot afternoon sun of mid Spring, their carpet of dropped pollen played havoc with my sinuses. Still, small price to pay for such a picturesque spot beside the river and had we chosen to traverse the dirt track down to the river's edge, swimming, fishing and lounging about were freely available.

The following morning, I caught the sunrise. Early in trips, while I adjust to the slight differences in bedding and light and noise, I usually wake early and this particular morning, the rising sun and low mist over the valley were definite compensation for a little lost sleep. A long snake skin at the very edge of the mown area of the caravan park, on the top of the steep decent to the Mann, was a good reminder to not let my wits be totally absorbed by the scenery. 

It felt good to be on the road again and an active participant in the view.

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Warwick

Australian Standing Stones, Glen Innes

Changes of plan are nothing new to those who spend time on the road. Adjustments need to be made to cater for a whole variety of things.

One of those things in, our case is temperature. I'm unable to rest easy in temperatures below 10 degrees and although we now run with air con in the Avan which allows us to be away through winter, it also means we need a connection to power. We've never entertained a generator and besides, national parks aren't that keen on them, so we have to be content to only stay in NPs when the night time thermometer is ten or more.

As a result, with the weather suddenly under the influence of a slow moving cold pressure system, our plan to stay for three nights at Main Range NP near Cunningham's Gap, had to be changed.

Two nights and a full day in Warwick was the result of the start of this changed plan.

The drive north to Warwick was uneventful, which is just the way I prefer drives with the Avan to be! We stopped at Armidale for fuel, bypassing the city and on to Glen Innes for morning tea at the Australian Standing Stones at Glen Innes. This open plain with all of its tall granite stones purpose hewn and placed strategically to display from above, both the Southern Cross and the Celtic Cross, is a memorial to Celtic peoples in Australia. It is arranged as a calendar and is based on the Ring of Brodgar.

We have been calling in here for more than twenty years. At first it was to toss the kids out for some fresh air and exercise on the way to somewhere but in recent years, it has provided a nice spot among the trees for the caravan and a cuppa. This visit coincided with two ladies with wild flowing hair and similarly flowing skirts engaging in some bathing ceremony of a child in the middle of the ring. Everyone seemed happy.

On to Tenterfield for lunch by the weather rock and then Warwick by mid afternoon.

O'Mara's Pub

Our full day in Warwick on the following day, started with a walking tour of the town centre to look at the more spectacular buildings. Many of them were constructed with sandstone quarried at Yangan, Emu Vale and Tannymore to the east of Warwick. The town hall, post office, police station and court house stood out but other buildings, such as the hundred year old Criterion Hotel were also impressive. We followed with a driving tour of Warwick for the same purpose and saw many a fine Queenslander, which have been well preserved as homes and more impressive hotels. The huge Abbey of the Roses, built over 21 years from 1883 and home to the Sisters of Mercy until 1987, is another sandstone monster. Its serves as a function centre now, hosting everything from weddings to murder mystery nights.

After lunch, we drove a circuit out to Killarney, in order to view the three falls and have a coffee at a renowned cafe. It was beautiful countryside and the drive there included a diversion on a road which became dirt, then narrow, then crossed cattle grids and continued on without us in deep and heavy ruts down a very steep slope. It was too much adventure for us.

Dagg Falls

A quick backtrack got us to Killarney and quickly out the other side into rain, which started as spots and ended in a solid wall not far beyond Queen Mary Falls. Less than five kilometres from our goal, we again left adventure for others as the road became a sneaky river and the descent a nerve jangling ten minutes.

Back in Killarney, we looked for some time for supposedly the best cafe. We eventually developed the ability of reading script on signs designed to be read from a metre away and vanishing into the background. By the time we reached the open front door, the machines were off and the till being collated. My enquiry informed me that the proprietor would be happy to start up the coffee machine again, but it would take 15 minutes and we would have to sit outside to wait. It was pissing down outside. We left.

The last acts of the afternoon were grocery shopping for Sue and a few noisy beers at the Criterion Hotel, where I recited three poems to a background of ACDC, John Cougar and Meatloaf. Its a long story but when a 140kg woman insists, you don't argue, but it is sufficient to say that next time I am a stranger in a country pub, I will sing along to the music rather than write ideas on my iPad.

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