Day 266
Thursday
21 September 2017
Grafton – Ebor – Armidale - Uralla
Moving day here upon us again and we were both ready for it,
having felt like we have sat still for too long. We read our books, hearing
Cheryl and Glenn leave for work and then Dylan and Sarah a short time after.
Just after 8am, we went for a shower and then it was into
our moving routine. Paul moved the van to the street where it would be easier
to load the car and a short time later we were ready to begin the next part of
our journey.
The GPS was set for Nymboida and this time we were taken the
back roads from Rushforth. As expected, the roads were bumpy and we were shaken
around a fair bit as we jumped over patched potholes.
Once through Nymboida, we set the destination as Armidale
another 125km on. Glenn had warned us last night that the road would be
picturesque, but that it did lead through the mountains. Paul was required to
be quite active with the driving as we travelled the “s’s” of the road and
marvelled at some of the cambers. Nothing is flat here.
The forest we were carving a path through was very pretty.
Tall stands of gum trees lining the road and the occasional tropical fern
interspersed. Everything was reaching up and beyond and every now and then a
break in the thick cover gave us a view over the valleys beyond.
We eventually arrived in Ebor, a small mountain village, and
stopped at a roadside rest to check on the car. As expected, the wheel tie
downs were all over the place and we had to remove the car from the trailer
before replacing them. I took the opportunity to read the local information
board finding out that we were 1350m above sea level and the Round Mountain 8km
away is the highest point of the Great Dividing Range outside of the southern
alpine areas at 1538m. There was also info on the local Ebor Falls formed
through volcanic lava flows.
We decided to take in the falls, driving to the viewing area
and walking along the short trail to check out the water flowing over the organ
pipe like stones. We completed the viewing at the two vantage points, before returning
to the van and continuing on to Armidale.
Just after 12, we arrived in town, put fuel in the van and
then stopped in at the showgrounds, where we organised to stay the night for
$25. Paul found a spot to park, set up the outside stuff and I organised lunch.
Following our brief sit down, we bundled ourselves in to the
car and drove 20min further along the New England Highway to the small town of
Uralla. The town is known for the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt and is only
100km from Tamworth.
We however, were here to check out the New England Brewery.
Once parked, we entered the large tin shed where we were overpowered by the
smell of fermenting barley and the sound and sights of green cans being pushed
along the canning line.
Paul grabbed a tasting paddle and sat down to drink while I
wandered taking photos and checking out the other things on show. We chatted to
the brewer Ben before Paul picked up some beer to take with him and we were
off.
We did a walk down the main street, checked out the statue
of Captain Thunderbolt and wandered back, noticing that many of the shops were
not open even though there seemed to be plenty of locals about.
We retuned to Armidale, stopping to do a shop before
returning to the van. We loaded the car back on the trailer, unloaded the
shopping and then proceeded to take it easy for the late afternoon.
Before it got dark, we did a few laps of the showgrounds to
put a few extra steps in. There were quite a few vans in now and many were from
WA. Once satisfied with our wander, we returned to the van to get on with
dinner and then it was quiet time, both of us still feeling tired from our day
of driving.
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