Currabubula - Merriwa (Werris Creek)

The next leg of our trip was to drive to Merriwa.  We thought this would be a rather straight forward, short drive, but no, we found lots to see along the way, as we usually do, when we take the time to have a look around.

Werris Creek was our first stop.  It is a railway town with a museum at the train station.  Sadly, it was closed when we were there.  That was the case last time we were through as well.

Just as we were walking over to the station a train was pulling in.  This wasn’t one of the many freight trains, or the XPT.  This was the Vintage Rail Journeys train pulled by vintage engines.  We could only see the engine at one end of the train, but it was nice to see.

The passengers were disembarking to go on a bus trip before meeting the train at Quirindi later in the day.  The old sleeper carriages and dining car really evoked a previous mode of travel.  The train travels during the day, primarily on freight train lines that you normally cannot access by train and then parks up in towns to sleep overnight.

Beside the museum is a monument to railway workers.  It was nice to have a wander around.

There are sculptures of the various types of roles that made up the railway in time gone by.  The ones above represent The Gatekeeper, The Fireman/Driver, The Flag Lady and The Station Master/Signalman. When you see Mick standing beside one it gives an idea of the scale.

The station building is quite impressive.  I love all the detail they went to back in the day.  Not just a utilitarian structure.

There is a platform on each side of the station and the other side had constant coal trains going back and forth to Newcastle from the mines further west.

Once back out on the street we found the final sculpture.  You can’t overlook The Fettlers.

Even some of the street signs have a nod to the railway heritage of the town.

While walking along we noticed that the old advertising mural on the end of the a building had been revamped in 2023.  It now look nice and vibrant.

Down the back of a block was a rickety old shed with a fun mural about the cinema, complete with a bucket of popcorn on the side.

We had to pop into the little supermarket and were surprised at the detail still evident in the old building.  So nice to see that it hadn’t been hidden by modern ceilings.

To finish off, here are some other random shots of Werris Creek.

More soon.

Baradine to Currabubula

Where’s Currabubula you ask?  We wondered that too, until we looked it up on the map and thought we had better visit.  However, it took us a couple of days to get there.

We packed up at Baradine on the Monday and got away at a reasonable hour.  Our destination for the day was Gunnedah, all of about 150kms away.  A huge day.  Our Queensland friends headed in the same direction, but turned off at Mullaley to head north.  It was nice to have spent some time with them, not that I was there very much.

It’s always nice to see the vast expanse of the Liverpool Plains.

Once we had set up in the Showground it was time to have a bit of a wander around town and most importantly go shopping for short sleeved tops.  Neither of us had packed enough summer clothes, as the weather was predicted to reach the mid to high 20s C later in the week.  Not what you expect this early in the year.

We loved the bright, happy mural just off the main street.

The painted silo, featuring Mary Gilmour, is one of Mick’s favourites.

We thought it would be nice to go up to the Pensioner’s Hill Lookout to watch the sun set.  However, it turns out that the sun sets further around from where you see.  Not to worry, we still had a lovely wander around.

A new feature since our last visit is a painted water tank.  This was an uncovered tank to provide water to the steam trains.  The proximity to this water was one of the main reasons that the unemployed set up their shanty town on the hill during the 1930s depression.  The mural features some of the residents and an image of the last hut to be demolished in the 1970s.

We loved the eagle sculpture, soaring high over the town.

Then we enjoyed seeing the colours change as the sun set.  We were the only people there, so very peaceful.

Finally, the eagle once more.

The distance we travelled the next day was even shorter, being just over 100kms.

Our first place to visit was Tamworth, which we reached mid morning.  Firstly, we went for a wander up and down Peel Street.

Then a wander through the Bicentennial Park.

Before long, it was time to go over to a cafe to have lunch with Jennifer and Kevin. 

It was lovely to catch up with them.

And to see Jennifer’s Arboretum quilt up close.  It really is a beauty.

From there it was time to head to Currabubula.  We first heard of the village when Jennifer mentioned going to lunch at the pub there.  We then looked it up, to discover it is half way between Tamworth and Werris Creek.  You can camp at the Recreation Grounds for a donation and the Pub only has Coopers Beer on tap.  Mick happens to like Coopers.  That all looked like a good reason to visit.

We had a lazy afternoon and then walked up to the pub, just before dark.  I loved the font of the signage on the local hall.

The pub is by far the biggest building in the village.  The area was a bit larger than we expected.  Next to the pub is the Post Office/General Store/Takeaway Shop/Service Station - all in one.  There is also a school and a nice park.

Mick was happy to see all that Coopers on tap.

He partook in a Dark Ale, which he enjoyed very much.

As it was a Tuesday, we thought it would be very quiet and probably close fairly early.  How wrong we were.  It turns out that on the first Tuesday of the month, which it was, they have a Trivia Night.  Excellent, we could join in on that.  We had never been to Pub Trivia before, but would give it a whirl.  We had a lot of fun and came 4th.  Not too shabby, when we were the only team of just two.  It ended up being a night to remember, and the pizza we had was tasty too.

All in all, a nice start to the next leg of our travels.