Not Before Time

When we were in Melbourne at Christmas, we found out that some very good friends of ours would be in Noosaville early February to visit their daughter and son in law so we arranged to visit the area at the same time so we could catch up with them all. The timing worked out really well with booking the van in at Gympie for some warranty work and we managed 4 nights in Noosa. We’d never been here before so I was looking forward to seeing it. We arrived on Sunday and found the Noosa Rivers Caravan Park which is right on the Noosa River (this sounds very obvious, but it’s not always the case that the name of the park coincides with the actual location of the park!) and it’s a pretty good spot. The park’s really nice and it’s easy walking distance to Gympie Terrace and you could also walk (although it would be a long walk) to Hastings Street, which is the main tourist area of Noosa. We were actually in the middle of getting the van on site when we got a phone call from our friends Graeme and Marie, they were watching us from their daughter’s boat at the park’s boat ramp and wanted us to go out on the boat with them! Good job it only takes 5 minutes to set things up in the van. Another 5 to freshen up and change and we were in the boat with a nice cold drink! There were also 2 other friends from Melbourne visiting the area too so we had a great time catching up with everyone. We were on the boat for a few hours, up and down the river and around Noosa Waters,  then home to freshen up to go out for a (really good) Thai dinner with everyone.

Monday morning we got up early to meet Graeme and Marie for breakfast, then when Dennis and Megan joined us we all caught the bus into Hastings St, where we walked the shopping strip, went to the yacht club for a drink then walked along the boardwalk watching sun worshippers and swimmers . That afternoon we went for a drive into the hills and stopped for a late lunch in Montville, a lovely town with some interesting shops and cafés and the drive getting there is really pretty. A BBQ at Michelle and Gary’s place that night rounded out the day really well. The next couple of days were just as busy as the first day. It was Michelle’s birthday on Tuesday and we had a great seafood dinner at Trio’s on the marina. We also went to North Shore and Rainbow Beach. It was fairly quiet in Noosa while we were there, but I believe in the high season you can’t move it’s so busy. I’m glad we went in the quiet time – don’t think I’d like it when it’s busy. It was great catching up with everyone and we were really pleased we were able to be in the same area when they were here. So if any of you reading this are going somewhere for a holiday, let us know and if we can, then we’d love to catch up with you.

We left Glen Innes to go to Gympie with a detour on the way to visit David’s brother Rick who had a heart attack a couple of weeks ago. It was a bit of a worry when we heard about Rick, but he is doing fine now and is recovering well. We had a nice relaxing couple of days with them and then got back on the road.

What a lovely town, and it’s really green in this part of NSW. Glen Innes is a place we’ve passed through quite a few times and we’ve always said we must spend a couple of days there, so when we decided to leave Tamworth it seemed a good place to go. I’m glad we did, it’s really pretty and the weather is great. We’ve been here for nearly a week now and have caught up on our sleep, enjoyed lovely cool (nearly cold!) nights and seen some beautiful scenery. The temperatures have been around 26 to low 30’s, so the days have been gorgeous. The caravan park we are staying in is small, but really nice. David had a bit of a job getting the van on site, but he got it on without any problems. You get so used to the size of the van you forget how big it really is and you need to remember the height of it too, so you have to look up as well as around the van.

Glen Innes is a town that is very proud of its Celtic heritage and there are lots of references to their Celtic ties. There’s the Australian Standing Stones which were erected about 20 years ago. These came about when the town needed some sort of monument and a group of residents came up with the idea of the standing stones, inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland’s Orkney Isles. The Standing Stones comprise a circle of 24 stones, 4 cardinal stones (representing true north, south, east and west), and 7 stones marking summer and winter solstices. The site is also the venue for the Australian Celtic Festival (being held this year April 27 to May 1) and the winter and summer solstices (taking place June 21 and December 22). It’s an interesting place to have a look at in a nice location and much better than just a pillar or statue as a monument. There is also a café on the site called the Crofter’s Cottage which is based on an 18th century crofter’s cottage in Scotland. They sell Scottish food and do light meals. Glen Innes also has its own tartan which is really nice. It consists of light, royal and dark blues with a bit of red and white, and each of the colours represent connections to Glen Innes, such as, pale blue for the sapphires found in the area, red for the Celtic connection and so on. You can buy a number of items made up in the tartan at the Visitor Information Centre.

Glen Innes is also known for its sapphires, found in the clay in the surrounding areas. Fossicking is a really popular activity here, so of course David and I decided we had to have a go. We found a few small (very, very small!) sapphires, not worth terribly much, but nice to have, and I found a red zircon which is valued at approximately $100 and we had it cut and polished at the sapphire shop. It’s a beautiful stone. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, might just keep it as it is, as a memento of my first find! I think we’ll be doing a lot more fossicking though, it’s fun and can be rewarding and I think (for me anyway) addictive! If you find yourself up this way, one place that is really worth looking at, is the Land of the Beardies History House and Research Centre. This is a great folk museum located in the heritage listed old hospital. There are 26 rooms of displays and the contents really tell the history of the area and the families that settled here. The (mainly volunteer) staff have done a terrific job setting up the displays and every room is interesting. Its easy to spend 2-3 hours here. The museum is open 10am -12 noon, and 1-4pm. We’ve also spent time checking out the surrounding areas – Ben Lomond, Emmaville, Glencoe – good roads and very pretty scenery. Lovely spot, hope to get back again.

We went to Tamworth for the country music festival. This is our first time at the festival although we’ve wanted to come for the last 10 years or so but due to work commitments we were never able to make it. Finally got here. We’ve been staying at the riverside camping area (with a few thousand other vans, buses and motorhomes and tents!) and we’ve been having a great time! The music has been really good and we’ve seen some terrific performers. The first week was the lead up to the festival and it was a lot of fun with not too many people so it was easy to get into venues, pubs etc. The festival started the second week we were there, and the crowds were much bigger with so much going on, so the pubs and venues were much busier and you need to get there early to get a seat. Some of the pubs in town changed their menus for the festival, along with the prices and the quality of the food, and generally this was not good.  One place that kept to its original menu and served really good food was Joe Maguire’s pub – if you are ever in Tamworth, check this pub out.  It really is one of the best food places in town.

We went to 2 concerts while in Tamworth (as in, we paid to go!) – both of them showcasing young people. The first one was the Young Guns Concert which was performances by mainly 16-18 year olds who have attended the country music college, and the second was the Telstra Road to Tamworth grand final featuring the finalists from the Australia wide country music talent search. Both of these were excellent and there are some very talented young singer/songwriters coming up – I think the country music industry is in safe hands. There were heaps of free stuff going on too – all the pubs/clubs had free entertainment with some excellent performers and of course there were buskers everywhere. There were Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton tributes, quite a few doing Johnny Cash, yodellers (a few really great one’s), bush poets, and every type of country music you could think of. There are a lot of talented people out there. Of course there are also some really bad ones who think they are good! 

We left Tamworth on the Friday (Australia Day) as we were a bit Tamworth’d out! Plus we needed some sleep!  Where we stayed was really busy with lots of traffic coming and going and on the Wednesday and Thursday the crowd coming in the for long weekend started arriving so it got even worse! It was also really hot in Tamworth so we decided to leave early and head for Glen Innes, 200km north of Tamworth, which, being at a higher altitude, is a cooler climate.

When we left Dubbo we went to the Warrumbungles National Park for a few nights. The campground we stayed at had powered sites and lots of room. It’s a lovely campground, and there are heaps of kangaroos and wallabies as well as plenty of birds (don’t know what sorts though. I’m trying to learn about the birds and animals we see on our trips). It was nice and quiet and a good chance to recover after all the drinking, eating and late nights with Peter and Irene!