Tamworth - Yeeha!
This post has been a long time coming. I am tidying up photos off my phone and realised I'd left off this leg of our trip.
From the Hunter Valley, we headed to Tamworth - we went via the A15 with a stop in Scone for morning tea. Gorgeous sculpture of mare and foal in Elizabeth Park, Scone celebrating thoroughbred breeding in the area.
Mare and foal in Scone.
A stop off for morning tea in Scone. Amazing sculpture of mare and foal in the park to celebrate thoroughbred horse breeding in the area.
We planned to stay at the Tamworth Showgrounds / Paceway but the show was on so there was no room at the Inn, plus we heard the flies were horrendous at the showgrounds. A quick look through the Camps Australia Wide App and we booked into the Austin Tourist Park for four nights. The park was pretty good, amenities were fine although it was pretty hot and dry and we parked under a huge tree for some extra shade. It was only after we'd finally got the camper leveled (not an easy task in my case) that I thought of branches falling on the van if the wind got up. Fortunately, it didn't so we survived another camp site. Another lesson for the book! I am going to need a bigger book. 🤣🤣
I can look at a camp-site and it looks completely flat to me and then when we get the van parked it's not even close to level so out come the leveling thingies and the fun begins! If anybody has any tips or tricks for leveling, please comment!
After entertaining all the other campers with a bit of yelling and door-slamming, we eventually got level and set-up and brought out a bottle of wine from the Hunter Valley to celebrate another successful set-up. Any set-up where we are still talking is considered successful.
And I wonder why we don't get other campers coming over to chat to us! They probably think I am a bit of a 'banshee'! Either that or wondering why the hell we are parking under a huge tree.
A trip to Tamworth is not complete without a visit to the Golden Guitar and we have the photos to prove it. We also took a drive up to Oxley scenic Look-Out with some spectacular views across the region.
Because of the heat in Tamworth, we were looking for air-conditioned activities and, guess what? The Tamworth jockey club had a meet on so we found a spot in the members area with food available and cold beer on tap along with a TAB in air-conditioned comfort. Steve was pretty happy!
Due to the fact we travel in a Jayco Lark, we travel very light so I had to wear my one clean dress to the races (which is more like a flowing beach cover-up). Fortunately, it was a pretty casual race-day.
We had a relaxing time in Tamworth taking time to wander down Peel Street to check out the statues and plaques celebrating country music artists (past and present). The bicentennial park was also worth a visit
Steve's spiritual home.
Steve’s spiritual home - Jockey Club
We weren't in Tamworth during the country music festival but we did find the Longyard Hotel playing some country music with some good food.
I know I spent half a day in Kempsey at the Slim Dusty Centre but I was still pretty excited to see another tribute to the King. I was also pretty excited to see both Kenny and Dolly's guitars in the National guitar museum! Yes, I did have a bit of an "Islands in the Stream" moment.
Maybe we need to go back to Tamworth in January for the Country Music festival to really appreciate Tamworth and country music. Who's camped in Tamworth during the festival? Is it worth going along?
From Tamworth we had to head home so did a fairly quick trip with a stopover in Stanthorpe. In fact, we decided not to put the camper up but stayed in a cabin overnight at Stanthorpe Top of the Town so we could get a really early start the next day.
#traineegreynomads
