Uralla Aug 20

We visited the township of Uralla on our way to Armidale from Tamworth... a quaint town which is famous for its association with Captain Thunderbolt.  

A bushranger whose career spanned from 1865 till his death in 1870. There were 2 rules that he lived by and he stayed true to......

1. He only poached high-quality horses

2. No one was killed on his watch!

His career did come to an abrupt end when he was shot dead not far from Uralla and you can see his grave at the local Cemetery.

As you enter the town you can visit the Information centre where you pick up really well-printed booklet that takes you through a heritage walking tour of the town.  Each of the buildings are numbered and correspond with the booklet.  

There is also an app from Soundtrails.com.au, where you can add a bit of a commentary to your walk.

From the info centre, we also picked up a guide for a scenic drive between Uralla and Armidale which was our next stop.  

Scenic Drive 19 takes you along the picturesque backroads. We stopped at the gorgeous little Gostwyck Chapel. 

Adjacent is the avenue of 200 elm trees, that were planted by a man brought out of England specifically for that job.  During drought, these trees were hand-watered with buckets from the nearby Salisbury Waters to ensure their survival.

A little further along we passed Deeargee Station with its famous Octangle woolshed... All this land used to be part of the original Gostwyck Station.

Over this whole drive, there is about 20km of dirt road, which the trusty Mazda coped with fairly well.

This included the detour off to find Dangars Gorge. At first, we thought we not on the right track as we seem to be driving someone's property, but we were right according to the map... but we weren't convinced until we came to the National parks sign. 

The views into the Gorge are spectacular and we also did part of the walk that took us around to where the waterfall tumbles over the rock ledge.

We decided to have lunch here in order to make the most of the view and although cool, it was lovely sitting in the warming sun.  

What marked the end of our dirt road journey was the Dangarsleigh War Memorial, a beautiful privately build tribute to those in the area who died during World War 1.

Back onto the tarred road, and it was smooth cruising straight to Armidale.

Tamworth Aug 2020

 We had a quick overnight stop in Tamworth.  When you hear the word Tamworth, you think country and western and when you think country and western you think "big guitar".  January is the month that Tamworth turns into the Country Music mecca of Australia.... and when the normally sleepy town becomes a boot scooting extravaganza... 

After our obligatory "Big Guitar" photo we head up to the Oxley Lookout for a panoramic view of the whole town. Then down to Bicentennial Park for a walk around the grounds, but with time still to kill we visited the Botanical Gardens.

Oxley Lookout

On a sunny day the park up at the lookout would have been lovely for a picnic..

Bicentennial Gardens

Bicentennial Gardens

The Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens

We stayed at the Tamworth Motor in and were very happy with our room ...

For dinner, we had one of the best Thais at the Buk Choy Thai Lao Eatery.... and it was cheap!!

The Black Stump

 On our way from Dubbo to Tamworth not only did we come across our first mural but "The Black Stump".... thinking it was just the name of steak chain restaurant.... We now know it is a real thing,,,, or so legend has it!!

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo Aug 2020

 On the outskirts of Dubbo, you will find the Taronga Western Plains Zoo.  It is a 300-hectare open range sanctuary, so well design that you can hardly tell there are any barriers between you and the animals, they can look so close but yet are so far away...

Plan to spend the whole day .....   You can travel around the zoo by hiring a bike or a cart, walk it by foot, or just drive your car around... once you park in one of the strategically placed parking areas you can explore each section by foot, jump back in the car and move onto the next. You can follow the flow of the park in one direction only!

With memories of our African safari, we saw lots of rhino's, hippos, giraffes and zebra's .. though everyone's favourites are always those cute little meerkats.

Within the grounds, you can camp, sleep in a lodge or stay in one of the glamping tents... but of course at a price.... which we would have paid if it was not booked out.... well it was during covid, so we could splurge a little.

Because of covid, none of the interactive or safari experiences were available to us. 

If you have your car you could easily take a picnic or you could stop at the Waterhole which is the cafe and takeaway food stall.   

We really enjoyed our experience here 

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo | Taronga Conservation Society Australia

This fellow came bolting down his paddock when he saw lunch was ready

so how do the meerkats keep so warm, when it is so cold here is Dubbo....

Ahh now I get it!!

Pacing, Pacing