Last week we did a road trip to Armidale in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. It is 1000m above sea level. This area is called New England because it has the four distinct seasons and Autumn leaves. This is why we went there, to see the Autumn leaves. Unfortunately, we were too late, most leaves had fallen.
On the way we stopped at Glen Innes and visited the Australian Standing Stones. The Standing Stones began as an idea of a small group of people who wanted to mark Glen Innes' Celtic heritage, where the first settlers mainly Scots arrived in 1838. In our bi-centenial year 1988, the Celtic Council of Australia developed the idea of erecting a national monument to honour all Celtic peoples who helped pioneer Australia. The Standing Stones was inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland. See more detail on a previous post here.
We arrived at our motel in the evening. It was cold about 3°C but the host had turned on the heat for us. The next day we took a small bus tour of the heritage sites and attractions in the city. There are only 24,000 people living in Armidale but it's called a city because it has two cathedrals.
We stopped at the Aboriginal Cultural Centre. It wasn't long before the old boys found a seat in the sun, while Val and I looked at the exhibition.
We called into the New England Regional Art Gallery where we saw the Hinton Treasures of Australian Art. Howard Hinton OBE donated over 1000 artworks between 1929-48 including works by leading artists of the time. Now it is one of the most significant collections of Australian art. I liked the old masters but I fell in love with the rhino made from old clothing stuck onto a wire frame.
Booloominbah Homestead |
That evening we went to the recently renovated Tattersals Hotel for dinner. We are with our travel companions, Val and Peter.
That was an interesting tour. Good to see you are both well again and able to travel.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great trip and sorry you missed the autumn leaves. Love those standing stones and great that you know the history of them. So many in the UK they are still trying to discover the mysteries of the stoned. Have a good day, t'other Diane
ReplyDeleteThe Standing Stones at Glen Innes are wonderful to see Diane, superbly shown here, enjoyed seeing the plaque showing the various points of importance. The homestead also an impressive piece of architecture, it's a shame the cafe was closed. An all round excellent trip ✨
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry you missed the leaves but your other photos are super. The first one with the sun setting behind one of the stones is breathtaking. It is a beautiful monument and very interesting to see the explanation marker. This must have been a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed your photos, and loved the photo of you with the rhino and the one of the ‘old boys’. Also a very nice photo of you with Val and Peter. The food looks yummy! Thanks for another great post Diane :)
ReplyDeleteall of your photos are really, really good today. awesome in fact. I feel like I have visited Austrailia in the 3rd photo and looking at the standing stones wonder if any of my relatives from Scotland ended up over there and not just here in florida... the photo of the stones is gorgeous. my favorite of all the photos, and I consider it a work or ART is the two Old Boys sitting on that bench. Priceless
ReplyDeleteCompared to your life, travelling seeing a kind of "Stonehenge" going to restaurant etc, I live like a 100 year old ! Tired, stressed, and on top of all that, a lousy weather ! Ric is not well, they have increased his medication and now I can't understand anything anymore when he tries to speak ! I hope it will get better, they will do another scan. I have to go on like a robot !
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice getaway. I like the view of the Standing Stones, Art gallery and the Homestead! The dinner looks delicious! Have a great day!
Interesting to see the Tatts Hotel - it has been there almost for the entire existence of settlement in the New England area, however it has certainly got a more modern facade since my youthful days of living in freezing Guyra just up the highway between Armidale and Glen Innes.
ReplyDeleteThe two cathedrals are most impressive and their dioceses go right out to Moree and beyond. I had the joy of being an altar boy for the Catholic Bishop of the area, Bishop Doody, in the 1950's.
Armidale has quite a few prestigious colleges for secondary school pupils and boarders from that region.
I was initially booked into De La Salle College there but thankfully was not subjected to the winter freezes
and ended up at Joeys in Sydney.
There certainly is much to see and enjoy in this region of Australia.
A very good report, Diane.
Bill looks as fit as a fiddle.
Cheers
Colin
Autumn leaves you were chasing but also they had fallen...you just never know with the leaves, sometimes early, sometimes late.
ReplyDeleteThe stones look wonderful and haven't seen them as we have only passed through there as in Armidale and Glen Innes just stopping for a quick look.
You meals looks nice.
Maybe you can catch the autumn leaves next year - something I'd like to see too. The Standing Stones and cultural bus tour look to be worthwhile. Isn't Boooominbah beautiful! I've been there twice in the summer months when the gardens were beautiful too. It was designed by the same architect as the Grafton Anglican Cathedral.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you missed the autumn colour but it seems you had a great visit anyway. I visited there once in winter and can't remember much about it except how cold I was. Terrific shot of the standing stones and their shadows.
ReplyDeleteBeen years since I have been to Armidale
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful event to get out with friends and no longer worry about illness.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a marvelous adventure. I really like the homestead.
ReplyDeleteShame you missed the autumnal colours but you made up for it with the rest of your trip. Glad to hear you are continuing with your travels.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to have a fun get away and see some new sights.
ReplyDeleteI like the Rhino too.
Nice photos.
Sue
So good to read about your "back to normmal" travel and Armidale looks like a super interesting place to visit, even without the Autumn leaves (always a gamble to catch seasonal beauty at the exact right time). I always enjoy the history bits you include in your travel posts. Must look up "pastoralist", not a term in my vocabulary. My guess is what we would call a sheep rancher. We will see.
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to see you are able to get out and enjoy travel again. I do love that rhino and the interesting architecture of the Booloominbah Homestead.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a very nice trip. Too bad you missed out on the autumn colours but you got in some beautiful sites anyway. In addition you got in some pretty scenery, some great food and good visit with friends. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice getaway with friends, Diane, as it's great to be able to get away as we well know. I had lots of favorite pics in this post, but the one with the sun behind the standing stones was my top one. We will have to wait quite a few more months to see autumn leaves here as summer has just begun. And, I smiled when I read about the heat being turned on because here it's the A/C. Nice to see the 2 ladies both in bright red at dinner which did look good...what was it?
ReplyDeleteYour dinner looks delicious!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the mini Stonehenge. Looks like you're having fun with good friends even if the leaves have mostly fallen.
ReplyDelete