WARIALDA - INVERELL - GLEN INNES 21.8.14

We drove to Warialda and wandered the streets of the lovely town looking at the wonderful old buildings. The lady in the information centre loaded us up with local attractions as well as local pecans. They were available in tasty varieties like honey and ginger, chilli and several others.

From there we went to Cranky Rock, so called because of a cranky Chinaman who supposedly jumped off and drowned in the creek below in an effort to escape police. He was wanted for attacking a woman. The walk crossed the creek on a suspended bridge.

Then it was an easy walk to the lookout at the top of the rock where the view was wonderful. We sat for a long time and internalised the stillness and sense of timelessness of the place.

Our reptilian local.

Inverell was a delightful town with beautiful old buildings and a welcoming feel to it. We had lunch in the bakery, had some retail therapy in a wonderful gift shop and St Vinnies and then walked the streets in the sunshine. At the information centre the woman told us about Fraser Creek fossicking area and how to find it and we found a beautiful spot above the creek where we dug again for the elusive sapphires!

At Glen INNES, the lady at the tourist office was a fund of information and steered us to the Railway Hotel where the counter lunch was delicious. We ate in front of an open fire in a restaurant which was full of people. Obviously, the place to be!

We did some fossicking on the creek at Glencoe without success. It was bitterly cold as well, so we packed up and went into town.

The publican of the Red Lion offered us space in his yard beside the pub with showers and toilets which was generous of him. We had a few drinks, a very good dinner, and watched Parramatta beat the pants off Manly! We met some of the locals too, including a young guy who does fossicking tours. He showed us a lot of gem stones he'd found and gave us his card for future reference. It's too cold here to be fossicking at this time of the year and you need sunshine as well.

Walcha was our next town. There were a lot of wonderful woodcarvings around the town, particularly totem pole sculptures. Also, a home on the Uralla side of town with wood-shingled roofing which is a rare sight.

The countryside is lovely with areas of lush green, and many small creeks. The skies are leaden and heavy with rain but it is mostly dry.

Our last night before reaching home was spent beside the Manning River at Bretti Reserve, about 40 Kms north of Gloucester. Nanette and I walked along the river bank where a few others were camped. It was an ideal place, with green grass, flat ground and fresh water suitable for swimming. We cooked a pot roast lamb dinner on the fire despite light rain.

The following day we drove through the magnificent Hunter Valley to Dungog, lunched with friends Dorothy and Barry, collected my textiles which had been on exhibition in Dungog, and headed for home after another great Aussie trip with family members for company. How lucky are we!