As we have now left our family in Branxton after a great 10 days with them thought it best I start this trip’s story. We were able to celebrate our granddaughter Lily’s 4th birthday with her so these past 10 days have been special, as any grandparent would know. She has also started Pre-school and it was fun to walk to school with her and then of course all those special paintings that were done. What a delight it was to be able to share this exciting new adventure with her.
The trip had started with fine weather (no chocolates or roses though) and we decided that we would travel south down the New England Highway this trip. Out along the Cunningham Highway towards Warwick and wow were there some landslides on view as we climbed through the range. These were the result from the recent heavy rains that flooded the S E area of Qld. Huge boulders had been moved off the road and the usual 4 lanes were down to 2 at some places. The call of bellbirds always rings out as you drive through that way and it is always a pleasant sound. They bring back memories of that poem from school called ‘Bellbirds’. Can’t recall who wrote it but some of the lines are still there in those grey cells of mine.
The day stayed quite warm until just before Stanthorpe when the light drizzle started and there was a definite cooling in the air. We bought some fresh fruit from a roadside stall, the apples not long off the tree so good eating ahead.
We decided to stay the night at Uralla just below Armidale and checked in just around 6pm. Daylight saving certainly gave us plenty of light to set up by however the showers were continuing and there was a definite chill in the air. Decision made to rug up tonight. Bit of a change after sleeping on top of the sheets at home and now we were snuggling under blankets and had winter ‘jamas on. Oh well that is the difference between the coast to the top of the tablelands.
Showers had cleared next morning and by mid-morning when we stopped for a cuppa at Wallabadah the jumpers had come off and the shorts were back on. We have stopped here a few times as there is a memorial park to the First Fleet. Each ship is listed along with all those on board including the convicts and details of the length of their sentence. For anyone interested in our first white settlers it is a history lesson worth strolling around.
The countryside looked lush and green as we drove the highway and the cattle were in good condition. The horses of course down around Scone were a delight to see. Paddock after paddock of ‘promising’ racing stock can be admired at Emirates Park as you drive along the highway.
Finally passed through Singleton and into Branxton where our daughter lives. We explored some of the countryside around Maitland and Newcastle during our time there and did an almost a complete circuit of Lake Macquarie on one of our days out. Of course we had to visit Morpeth just east of Maitland in order to visit Miss Lily’s Lollies to stock up on our much loved ‘humbugs’. They are different to all others we have bought so great excuse to revisit this historic town again. Love to wander the main street and see the buildings dating back to the early 1800’s. This is also the home of the original Arnott’s bakery where the Arnott brothers started what has become an Australian biscuit icon. Unfortunately it is now owned by the USA but there is still a bakery in the building in Morpeth.
Saying good bye to Branxton we hit the highway again and drive down to our nation’s capital Canberra where our youngest son Mark lives. This will be our last visit to family for quite some time I would think as when we leave here we are finally off on our ‘journey’.
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