Heading Home From Baradine

Continuing on with our recent trip north…

We didn’t leave Baradine until the Monday morning, as a few of us stayed over, to allow a full day of driving without having to find accommodation on the way home.

Rather than head back south, we headed north to Pilliga.  This goes right up through the Pilliga Scrub, through the tiny settlements of Kenebri and Gwabegar.  Some of this continues to follow the defunct railway track.  

From Gwabegar to Pilliga is a gravel road, going for 30kms.  Some was good, some was rather corrugated, which shook us around a bit.

Charley Bilby took it all in her stride, looking out the front window.

Pilliga is famous for its bore baths and there were quite a few people camped there.  It wasn’t on our agenda this trip, so we kept going.  There is very little else at Pilliga.

As we travelled east from Pilliga we were entering the area that had recently suffered some pretty serious flooding.  There wasn’t too much evidence of it, but there were a couple of causeways with water over them.

The next town we went through was Wee Waa, which advertises itself as the Cotton Capital.  Compared to some of the little towns we have visited, it is quite vibrant.  I’m pretty sure it is due to the large cotton industry in the area.  We noticed one large, very modern building and discovered it was the brand new high school.  We drove past a big demolition taking place on the way out of town and it was the old school.

There is a war memorial clock tower in the middle of one intersection.

We noticed the clock face had “LEST WE FORGET” on it.  The town of Boorowa had “ANZAC” on their clock.

Back on our way, our lunch stop was at Narrabri.  We had a wander up and down the street, but we had been here in May, so no need to explore too much.  There was a yarn bombed tree at the park where we stopped.  It was for dementia awareness.

We continued heading east after Narrabri, back onto nice quiet roads.  The scenery was stunning as we headed towards the hillier country. 

The crops were looking fabulous.

And loads more wattle.

Our plan was to stay at a National Park camp ground near some rocky water holes.  However, when we got there we decided that the ground was too uneven and it would be too awkward to park, so we just walked down for a look.  Apparently, this area was formed by an ancient glacier.

As we had decided not to camp at the waterholes, we continued on to Bingara to stay for the night.  The drive from Narrabri to Bingara, much of it through a rich, fertile valley is really enjoyable.

The following morning we had a good look around Bingara.  We have been through here a few times before and love the area down by the river.  A feature was always two ginormous river red gums with hollows that you could stand in.  Sadly, one of the floods this year was so bad that it took out one of them and the other was deemed too unsafe, so it was removed as well.  Very sad.

Let’s go for a walk.

There was even a rather nice little sewing/quilt shop.

We had visited the Roxy Theatre on a previous trip, but the adjoining “Peter’s” cafe was closed.  This time it was open.  However, as we had only recently had breakfast we didn’t dine in. It is a heritage building and rather stunning.

We had noticed a large building works going on near where we had parked.  When we got around the front  we saw the facade of the Soldiers Memorial Hall and assumed the hall was being expanded.  However, the new building is the new Council Administration Centre.  They are retaining the facade, due to the public outcry about it being lost.  A great win, win.

The next town was Barraba.  A quick walk up and down the street.  The yarn bombed bench was outside a craft shop.

Of course we had to stop at the painted silo for the obligatory photo with the van.  Last time we were here we still had the ute, rather than Frank Truck.

The third of the small towns in this area is Manilla.  We had heard that there is a good butcher’s here, so we bought some meat for our tea that night.

As we walked back to the truck, we noticed a nice bright mural and then noticed that it was still in the process of being painted.  It is rather lovely.

As the day was getting away on us, we drove straight through Tamworth and onto that night’s destination of Nundle, stopping briefly at Chaffey dam for a look.

It had been an enjoyable day and we were looking forward to visiting Nundle again.

More soon.

Tambo to Barcaldine

Our first port of call on the next morning was the dump point in Tambo.  You have to do the domestics as you go along.  Anyway, fairly close by there is Tambo Lake Park, which is a lovely peaceful spot.  It would be nice to have a picnic here, but we were way too early in the day for that. 

After Tambo we continued to head further north, visiting the township of Blackall along the way.

The sign on the entrance to town is very clever.

Remember I showed the WWI nurse’s uniform in the museum in Tambo. Well in 2023, they erected a statue of Sister Greta Norman Towner in Blackall, which was her home town.

In the same park there is a second statue honouring her brother, Lieutenant ET Towner, who was a VC recipient.  Note that his statue was erected in 2009 and it took many years for his sister to be honoured in the same manner.

Another famous Blackall legend was the shearer Jackie Howe.  He was a gun shearer in the late 1800s, setting world records for shearing the most sheep in a day, all with blade shears.  His record wasn’t beaten until 1950, and that was with mechanical shears.  His statue is in front of a replica of the hotel he once owned.

Let’s have a bit of a wander around town.

We do enjoy wandering around these old country towns.

Back on the road, Charley Bilby was enjoying watching the world go by.

Our destination for the day was the next town, Barcaldine.  We have been through a couple of times, but not stayed here.  We didn’t realise it lies on the Tropic of Capricorn.

One place I really wanted to visit was “The Silver Thimble” quilt shop.  Sandy, the owner, pops into our Zoom sessions occasionally.  The shop used to be in the main street, but is now housed in her home.  I had visited the shop on a previous visit, but didn’t know Sandy at that stage.  It was nice to meet her in person.  Of course I forgot to take a photo of us.  Duh!

Sandy was wearing a nice, colourful blouse and I commented on the fabric.  She said it was a patchwork fabric and I guessed it was a Jen Kingwell.  She happened to have some in stock, as well as several other Jen Kingwell ones.  I purchased three fat quarters to add to my collection that will be made into something fun….one day.  Her blouse was in the top floral fabric.

After our visit, it was time to have a good wander around town.  Another town with lots of history and plenty of old buildings. 

The Masonic Lodge is rather spectacular, with its weatherboard front painted to look like stonework, and the sides built from corrugated iron.  It was in beautiful condition.

There were lots of large old hotels, but several don’t seem to be trading any more. There really does seem to be a decline in country hotels.

Let’s see some more of the town.

Barcaldine’s main claim to fame is the meeting held under the “Tree of Knowledge”, which was the start of the Australian Labor Party.  

The tree has now died, but the dead tree still stands with a sculpture built around it.

Just on dark, we decided to go and have another look at the Tree of Knowledge.  It was really worth it.  With the lighting, you can see the ghostly shape of the tree.

Seeing the street in the evening light was a fitting way to end another enjoyable day.

Meet Sheepy and Charley

Back when we visited Charleville in 2019, we found a little craft shop in the main street.  It was a treasure trove of all sorts of arts and crafts and Mick found an orange crocheted sheep, of all things.  

Surprisingly, he decided to buy it, because it is orange, and Sheepy has lived on our caravan bed ever since.

Of course, we had to visit that shop again on this trip.  It is called “Made in Murwah”.  Murwah is the name of the local shire council.  It is still a treasure trove of wonderful art and crafts, all of a high quality.

This year, the thing that caught our eye was a crocheted bilby.  There were plush bilbies for sale at the Bilby Centre, but they didn’t interest us at all.  This little one was so much cuter, and we are pretty sure made by the same lady as Sheepy.

We had to give this little bilby a name.  Now, was it a boy or a girl?  Boy bilbies have a bit of a boof head, as they do a bit of head butting, while girls have a more fine head shape.  We think she is a girl.  What to call her?  Well, she came from Charleville, so “Charley” it is.  She sat up like Jackie (well Charley) in the truck with us as we travelled along.  She was very well behaved and has requested that she comes along on all our future travels.