Heading north and outback

The sun was shining this morning when we stepped outside - the rain last night fell all night and we hope it will clear up today. Before heading off we walked around the cute little Mother of Ducks Lagoon, with its lagoon set beside a golf course.

We drove south to Armidale and, after driving around the town Centre, we drove to the University of New England, established in 1938, which has the honour of being the first Australian university established outside a capital city. We drove around and then entered the grounds (towing our little home on wheels behind us) to try to find Booloominbah, the original heritage homestead (plus 75 acres and other buildings) which was donated for the establishment of a regional university, originally as a regional campus to the University of Sydney before it became a university in its own right. The heritage-listed building is currently used as the administrative Centre of the University and for functions. We drove straight to the lovely old homestead but got into a bit of strife trying to turn around in a small parking lot. Let’s just stay we got a lot of weird stares as our dust-covered little home pulled up alongside the beautiful, stately heritage building.

After this excitement we drove back into town to the New England Regional Art Gallery to see the ‘Hinton: Treasures of Australian Art’ exhibition. Howard Hinton, an avid art collector, donated over 1,000 artworks to the then Armidale Teacher’s College. This current exhibition includes 132 artworks that were chosen to be an overview and show the breadth and quality of the full collection. Works include artists Arthur Streeton, Norman Lindsay, Nora Heyson, Tom Roberts and my favourite of the collection, Ernest Buckmaster - in particular his portrait of his mother.

After the museum and filling the car with fuel, we headed out on what is known as the Waterfall Way, a 185km scenic route that connects Armidale in the Northern Tablelands to Coffs Harbour on the coast. The road passes through five national parks and takes in some of the most beautiful waterfalls and views, framed by winding roads through rolling green hills, recently voted as one of the best scenic drives in NSW.

Our first stop was at Baker’s Creek Falls, and although there was no water flowing, the view out across the mountains was spectacular - despite the hazy weather.

Next we stopped at the historic village of Hillgrove, once a thriving gold and antimony metal mining town. Today it is home to only 95 people. Many of the buildings no longer stand but driving down what was once the Main Street, we found signs along the fences indicating what was there before, such as the general store, beauty parlour, post office, police station. We took photos of some dilapidated buildings in the late afternoon light (so lucky we now have daylight savings!). Time for one more waterfall before it got too dark. We drove a little further to Wollomombi Falls, the second highest falls in Australia. Again, no water. We didn’t get much view out across the mountains because of the dust and the late afternoon sun. But it still felt magic to be in such pristine surroundings.

Time to find a place to sleep for the night. We chose to stay nearby in Wollomombi next to the general store - as they allow campers to stay in their empty field. We ordered a burger and fish and chips and sat in the attached warm barn with a big TV showing kids movies, with the caretaker’s children and little dog playing inside.

After dinner it was time to head next door to our little home on wheels - no cooking for me tonight!

Night night from the Waterfall Way in NSW xxLes mer