Returning Home Part 2

At one of the parks we stopped for a comfort break on Wednesday I was captivated by this amazing sculpture.  It stood about 8 ft tall I guess,, and very imposing.  The second photo shows what it is all about and I think it performs its function well.

 This rear view was very difficult to take because of the angle of the sun. I had noticed that the head of the figure was looking backwards and when I had a good look, there is actually a sort of face with a nose even though it is not easy to see.  The left arm is truncated at the elbow, but also points to the rear.


Notice though that although the figure looks back to the past paying tribute to those who came before, it is moving forward into today's world.  Or that's the way I see it anyway.

Some of the gardens in the same park

After lunch we headed towards Toowoomba, familiar ground to us all after our oldest daughter having lived there for a while.  Sheep could now be seen in the paddocks as well as cattle.  As we steadily made our way up the side of the Toowoomba plateau the temperature dropped and at 500metres it was down to 18 deg.

I found the name 'Goombungee' interesting, but the origin is unknown. Passing through the outskirts of Toowoomba we added Cabahla  to the 'must see one day' list after seeing the Cuckoo Clock Centre.  And immediately after that was Highfields, which had a place advertising Danish Flower Art.

There was lots of autumn colour in Toowoomba, where deciduous trees do well due to the high elevation and cold winters.

We were very weary and the roads had been windy.  I'm not sure whether going the back way (New England Highway) to miss all the roadworks on the Pacific Highway was actually any faster, because of the climbing up and down and the curvy road.  It definitely is if you are just driving a car but towing a caravan we're not convinced with the caravan as far as saving time goes.  Plus we did actually come across road works anyway.

We finally arrived at Warwick at 5.45, weary and glad to stop for the evening.  We hadn't made as much distance as we would have liked but I think our plans were somewhat ambitious.  I loved this cartoon in the ladies' amenities block:

An early night and a good sleep, and we woke to a chilly morning.  The scenery continued to change as we made our way south.  After Stanthorpe we passed vineyards and wineries.  There were also quite a few 'arty' places, selling crafts, soaps etc.  The 'Bramble Patch' looked enticing wiht its giant raspberries on the sign.

The Carriage Stop Accommodation and the Coach Inn Cafe - really good names for miniature projects, and tempting to stop and visit but of course Peter wasn't interested and I wanted to see our family.  Up a laneway a sign pointed to Honeysuckle Cottages Accommodation, which is always a picturesque name.

Girraween - it seems strange to see an eco lodge with the same name as a suburb of Sydney . I happen to know that this word means the place of flowers, and I've noticed several places with the name in our travels.

We saw lots of caravans and mobile homes today - all heading north of course, to warmer parts.  Much more sensible than we were, heading south!

At Tenterfield there were lots of lovely autumn colours, brilliant against the green of the native vegetation.

We had lunch at Guyra, doing a u-turn to go back to the restaurant and I had a mental image of Iris (our gps) gritting her teeth as she kept insisting that we do another u-turn to go back the way we'd been going; or to turn right then left to bring us back on course.  Was it our imagination or was that voice becoming just that bit shriller vbg? In the end Peter turned her off until we had finished lunch and we were on our way again.  I think he wishes he do that with me at times too!

And after Guyra we ran once more into roadworks.  Mid afternoon we reached Tamworth, Country Music Capital of Australia.  You are greeted with this huge golden guitar just to remind you if you haven't seen all the other reminders!

We were on Goonoo Goonoo Rd, and Iris had a very quaint way of pronouncing it even though she has an Australian voice.  Goonoo Goonoo means 'place of good water'.  We changed drivers, with me taking the wheel for a while.  Iris is rather unobservant and hadn't noticed the change-over.  She kept reminding us that we'd been driving for more than 2 hours.  

I handed the wheel back just outside Murrurundi - meaning 'five fingers', a representation of the rock formation visible at the northern end of the township.  The day had become more and more overcast since late morning and then, the sky thickly blanketed in clouds,  it had started to rain just after Tamworth.  By 3pm the light was so poor it felt more like 6pm.  So by 5pm when we swapped it was quite misty and dim.

We finally arrived in Muswellbrook at 5.50pm.  It was dark and raining and at first Peter insisted that the caravan park in the middle of town was the only one.  I rang Kirsten to confirm the instructions she had given me and we went to that one but it was full so we returned to the first one.  At first they too said they were full but when the manager checked out their last remaining site it wasn't as muddy as he thought it would be with the rain and let us have that space.  We unhitched and went to visit our family.  Kirstie had prepared a delicious 'belated Mothers' Day dinner' for us and it was wonderful to see everyone again.  Each time we see the children they have grown and matured.  We are looking forward to seeing more of them now they are closer to us.

Next morning it was back to their place then off to Maitland, an hour further towards Sydney, where there was a caravan, camping and boating exhibition.  Kirsten and Jason want to buy a larger tent and a boat, and we wanted to look at caravans.  We saw a couple of designs we liked - now all we have to do is work out how to pay for one lol!  

Then it was time for loving 'goodbyes' again, promises to see them soon and we completed the last kilometres to home, arriving there around 6pm. 

And so our little break came to an end.  Not a long holiday, and only covering a bit over 3,500 kms but we have packed a lot into that time and distance. Thank you for sharing this time with me! It's truly great to have had your company and interest.  So - until next holiday

Blessings,

Sandie