An Unplanned Trip North - Part 1

Late last month we had an unplanned trip up to Toowoomba.  It was for the funeral of my Godmother.  She is my Dad’s baby sister, and at the age of 93, was the last of the nine siblings to go.  My Mum is now the only one remaining of that generation of my family.  It wasn’t a particularly sad occasion, being more of a celebration of a life well lived by someone much loved.  Most of my cousins were in attendance and I wonder if this will be the last time that we gather, as we are rather far flung.

As we weren’t having to rush up and back due to work, we took the caravan and took a few days to get up there, spent a few days there and then a few more days to travel back home. 

We travelled up the New England Highway this time. There were a few rather large items on the road to do with the grain harvest, which is finally trying to take place.  The roads were in better condition than we expected after the massive flooding event in the region.

Our first night was at Uralla, a little town we like to travel through.  While at the local butcher buying some delicious meat, the owners suggested we have a look at the Gostwyck Chapel, a short drive out of town.  After all these years, we were totally unaware of its existence and are so pleased they mentioned it.

You travel down a rather minor road.

Then through an avenue of beautiful trees.

After which this gorgeous building is revealed.  It is privately owned, so you can’t go inside, but it was lovely to see and the weather that morning was perfect.

Right behind it was a pretty river.

We called in briefly to Armidale, as I wanted to pop into the new shop “House of Jackson” and meet Jackson.  He will be attending Scrub Stitchin’ with us next year.  Not only is he a great long arm quilter, he is also an ambassador for Grace quilting machines.  We had a nice chat about quilting before I headed on my way.  It will be good to have him join us next year.

We just drove through the next lot of towns, as we have visited plenty of times.  However, we had to take the obligatory photo of the border.

We had intended to overnight at the Showgrounds at Stanthorpe, but the circus was in town, so that was not an option.  Therefore, we continued on to Warwick for the night.

The following morning we had time to have a nice look around the town.  The park had stunning colourful beds of flowers.

We enjoyed a wander around the town and there were a few murals.  This is just a couple.

For a medium sized rural town it has a couple of beautiful churches.  

The Catholic St Mary’s is a very prominent landmark, built out of local sandstone.  There are quite a few buildings around town built of sandstone.

I was a little surprised that it was open, so we went in to have a little look.  

It certainly is a beautiful building and so very different to the Geraldton Cathedral we recently toured.

Look at that soaring ceiling.

Next door is the hall, which was the original 1865 church, before the current one was opened in 1911.

At the other end of town is the St Mark’s Anglican Church.  It is a simpler building.  We didn’t go inside.

To the side is the unusual bell tower and a gorgeous jacaranda tree. It isn’t on a lean, that is just how the photo turned out.  We are too cold here for them to grow, so it was lovely to be in the warmer areas when they were in flower.  Some towns seemed to have a purple haze, as so many are grown.

We also had time to pop into the local museum.  It is based around “Pringle Cottage”, which was built by a local stone mason in the 1870s.  We didn’t have a lot of time to look around as it was closing shortly.  The committee were having a working bee and it was a hive of activity.  We really enjoyed it.  There are seven buildings showcasing so many interesting things.  We wish we had more time to look around.

The cottage was so well set out with loads of beautiful items, particularly textiles.  This is just a fraction.  I wanted to have a good look at them all.

We both also love vintage toys and the nursery had quite a collection.

There was just far to much to share here.

Back on our way we called in to Allora for lunch in a park.  This is another little town we like to visit.  In the park there was a really long wooden water trough with an interesting story behind it.

Zoom in to read the story.

Once we arrived in Toowoomba we settled in at the caravan park and finished the day with a stunning sunset.

More soon.