Anyway we headed north east to Armidale situated in the New England Tablelands in northern NSW. It is the centre of a lush pastoral area for cattle and sheep. However, it is more than that. It is an university town and it has a big multicultural society. The residents, 22,000, come from 53 different nationalities. There are many art galleries and museums as well as churches and parklands. It is a beautiful town.
We only stopped for morning coffee as we have stayed here a few times before and I wanted to travel along the Waterfall Way from Armidale over the Great Dividing Range towards the coast before nightfall. This drive has been on my bucket list for a few years.
The Great Dividing Range is a string of ranges stretching from northern Queensland all the way down the eastern side of Australia to Victoria.
Beautiful churches and gardens in Armidale
The drive through the mountains was lovely except that it hadn't rained for a long long time and the rivers and waterfalls were dried up or not running very much.
Wollomombi Falls
However, we still explored off the main road to check out where the falls are when it is wet. There should be two waterfalls above and the second highest ones in the state.
When I zoomed in , I could see this miserable pond at the bottom of where the falls should have been tumbling over.
So we drove on winding through the scenic country and pulled into another park and walked to the waterfall viewing area hoping to see water this time.
We were a lucky, there was a little water still running over the upper and lower Ebor Falls.
It was nice walk up to the upper falls. The weather was quite hot so we were pleased to have shade.
I would love to see these falls when the river is full.
There were many more falls to explore. We still had an hour or more to drive to Bellingen where we were staying the night, so we didn't stop again. I must return here in the wet season and spend a week exploring the waterfalls.
What a shame about the water. We too were disappointed at the lack of water at Barron? Falls out from Cairns.
ReplyDeleteClean car - dirty car! Thank your lucky stars when after leaving Armidale, a great city of churches and colleges, and you went down the "Dorrigo Pass" via Ebor, that the road is now at least both ways.
ReplyDeleteIt was the drive of hell for the country people in the 50's to go to the coast! The first sights of Bellingen was a real welcome relief!
The Ebor falls when in the wet season are absolutely spectacular, well worth another trip. At least the road between Armidale and the coast is now OK and not the old "goat track". Also it is a road of magnificent scenery, that's for sure.
I thought you may have gone further up the New England Highway to Tenterfield and then done the 'dash to the coast'. Maybe next trip???
Great photos as always.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
Haha! Bummer about the car - but you can perhaps take comfort in it's momentary cleanliness??!!
ReplyDeleteWhat apity about the waterfalls. It does look like beautiful walking country.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity ... You would think being the end of our Winter/Spring season the rivers would be at capacity. I'm sure it would be beautiful when those water-falls are tumbling with water! maybe you need to put it on your bucket-list re-run list.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were up that way this year I saw the name "Waterfall Way" and also thought that is a road I would like to drive along. I will be adding it to my list.
ReplyDeleteI like Armidale, I did some study at UNE some years ago by distance education and we had to attend live in schools for a week each semester. It was a delight to go there. I notice their courses don't require that so much any more.
Great scenic shots Diane - thanks for sharing these are I have not been to NSW outside of fleeting visits to Sydney a long, long time ago!
ReplyDeleteYou made me chuckle with your description of the car. Tamworth is a lovely town. I remember visiting Tamwoth in the UK years ago. Glad you at least found some waterfalls. Beautiful scenery all around, great walking trails. Lovely post Diane.
ReplyDeleteThe description of the car sounds funny, Diane! It is sad to see waterfalls with no water. I am sure it would have looked beautiful too. I am happy you found some pretty waterfalls along the way. Great shots, thanks for sharing your road trip! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThose mountainous pics look a lot like Arizona. Pretty photos.
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice area with beautiful waterfalls. It is nice to explore your own country.We are sometimes amazed how wonderful nature we have here too and not only abroad.
ReplyDeleteBetsy is exactly who I thought of when I saw this post. So sad to see it so terribly dry so am glad you found one falls. I like that one, wide and steep!
ReplyDeleteYes you are right.... We do love seeing waterfalls.. Many that we see here are 'waterless' during certain seasons also.... OH--how we'd love to be there during your rainy season to see all of the mountains and falls... Awesome...
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
oh no on your poor car, but it was worth the dirt to see all this beauty, even without the full water falling. it is still very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a lot of experience visiting waterless waterfalls, but we keep going in hopes of getting lucky. Ebor Falls is beautiful, even with a low flow of water. I can only imagine what it looks like when there is plenty of water. Australia is a place we would both like to visit, so perhaps we'll be able to see it in person. Unfortunately we've also had experience with a freshly washed car getting dirty, although I don't think we have ever gotten trapped behind a cattle hauler.
ReplyDeleteWhen you go back, try to visit Dangar Falls at Dorrigo - pic here http://jandante43.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/falls.html
ReplyDeleteWe've travelled that area now and again but usually stay on the bitumen...LOL
The scenery, those hills, remind me of the back country of California I've traveled through on occasion. Love the waterfalls! We don't have that much water in our hills however.
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful photos and doesn't it suck when you wash the car and stuff like that happens........I haven't been to Tamworth in years
ReplyDeleteThis also is interesting on this "Waterfall Way".
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_Way.
Seems that when this area was declared as World Heritage Areas by UNESCO in our Bicentennial National Trail year, that this road had a name change.
All very interesting Diane, a good education for we, Aussies, who have done this trip - in some cases when it was the "goats trail" to the coast - The dreaded "Dorrigo Pass"!
Gosh, that's a beautiful place even with the water at low levels. It's kind of a given for us on roadtrips that something similar will happen if we wash the car!
ReplyDeleteHow long is your bucket list? Mine just increased by one. This ride.
ReplyDeleteOh your photos are wonderful. I can see you are still in a drought over there I am sure the falls are stunning with more water.
ReplyDeleteI am still laughing about the cows:) B
You really made me lol ! Washing the car before the trip and then being behind a cattle truck spraying cow wee and pooh ! Just imagine the picture.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful town and landscape !
You always find such nice places !
I too laughed at the description of your car Diane, sort of the equivalent of being 'tarred and feathered'!! Gosh if the falls are just a trickle now at the beginning of summer that's a worry oui!
ReplyDeleteLike you I would love to see that last waterfall when the river had lots of water. The mountain pictures remind me of the Black Canyon in Colorado. It's very difficult to capture the beauty on a two dimensional camera. However , you did a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteSee this for a comparison to the Black Canyon.
ReplyDeleteA shame about the water; your photos are gorgeous, Diane.
ReplyDeletespectacular photos and what a bummer about the car. it sucks when such things happen.
ReplyDeletexx
Just-washed cars attract the max poowee.Law of the universe :)
ReplyDeleteWish you water-falls!
your car washing story had me giggling!
ReplyDeleteArmidale is beautiful and the countryside even more so when not in drought. Shall share of Ebor Falls in a day or two, with more water than when you passed through. Maybe you'll travel that way again one day?
ReplyDelete