ILuka, Uralla and on to Tamworth
We left Yamba passing this confusing section of road I have entitled `what speed?`
What speed?
We then drove to Iluka which is on the other side of the Clarence river. So not too far to drive. Pitched our van at Palmers Island campsite for the day. We planned to walk the Iluka nature reserve trail which has world heritage status. The forest was full of bird song and calls, and we saw several different birds but weren't able to identify them all.
The Australian Magpie is black and white, but the plumage pattern varies across its range. Its nape, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, grey in females. Across most of Australia, the remainder of the body is black. In the south-east, centre, extreme south-west and Tasmania, the back and rump are entirely white. The eye of adult birds is chestnut brown.
Eastern Rosellas are medium-sized colourful parrots with distinctive white cheek patches. It has a red head, neck and breast, with yellowish to greenish upper parts, a yellow underbody and a yellow-green to blue-green rump, with a red undertail. The shoulders are bright blue. Females are usually similar to males, but sometimes duller and young birds are even duller and can be aged by their bill colour, which is yellow or orange, changing to off-white when mature.
This lizard caused us to jump a mile but it was great to see nevertheless! Monitor lizards are large lizards in the genus Varanus. They are native to Africa, Asia and Oceania, but are now found also in the Americas as an invasive species. A total of 79 species are currently recognised. Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. Unfortunately my image is not brilliant to say the least!
The view at the end of the walk were amazing and brought us out at Iluka Bluff where we were able to walk to the look out and see many of the other islands around. Then we returned to the campsite at Palmer's Island.
Going for an evening stroll we stumbled upon a group of seven roos. They seemed to be happy with us around, so a few pictures while the opportunity was there.
A very relaxing day and then we discovered we beat France in the rugby world cup. What a bonus!
Monday 15th October Moving inward and upward today. A prompt start as we have 200km to cover as we head out to Grafton. This was a town lined with jacaranda trees, their purple looks beautiful against the blue sky. Unfortunately no images - cannot remember why?!!
Through here and over the Mann river. We travelled up hill for miles going through part of the Great Dividing Range; it really is hard to imagine how early explorers found their way through the thick vegetation. We stopped at Hills lookout where we heard our first bell birds and we then entered the Gibraltar Range N.P. This would be a great place to be if you wanted to do plenty of walking.
At Danahandra we took pictures of the granite boulders (which this area is full of) and then. onto Glen Innes, our stopping place for the night.
At Glen Innes there are walking tracks in the park we are staying at, so we wandered round those for a while before dark. We took pics of a rock wallaby. (At least we think that is what it is)
We camped at the Big 4 on the outskirts of the town and took the opportunity to explore part of the town and take some pictures.
Glen Innes - Why are the roads so big and deserted? And where is the traffic, or was it just the time of day?
Tuesday 16th October It was a very cold night - good job we had brought our thermals! Our intention today was to travel as far as Tamworth. We passed through Guyra which has the highest campsite in Australia. The land appeared very flat here, but we were driving along the top of the Great Dividing Range.
For our mid morning coffee we stopped at Uralla, a little town established in 1885. Most of the buildings were built between then and 1910. It was a quaint place with the outlaw Thunderbolt being buried here and there is even a statue in his memory! Why do we honour the bad guys? We had passed Thunderbolt rock, once a hiding place of his, apparently.
Here he is - Thunderbolt, in all his glory Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushranger" and his lengthy survival, being the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history.
In the town of Uralla these `quaint` figures outside some of the shops
We finally stopped in Tamworth for lunch (a McDonalds) and took pictures of the big guitar - it is Tamworth after all.
Tamworth is a city in northeast New South Wales known for the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, which draws big-name international acts. The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre on the city’s southern outskirts hosts horse-related events. Nearby is the Big Golden Guitar centre (above) with its giant guitar statue, music store and wax museum
We decided as it was only 12.30 it would pay us to travel on a little further before calling it a day, so we went as far as Scone, a very famous horse town.
The Packer family had their ranch here. Who was Kerry Packer?
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon. Outside Australia, Packer was best known for founding World Series Cricket. At the time of his death, Packer was the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated Packer's net worth at A$6.5 billion Huge by any standard, even today in 2018.
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