TRIP TO ARMIDALE (day 1 and 2)

 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.

It was great to be out of Brisbane City and in the countryside.

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.

Most leaves had fallen.

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

Next stop was in the grounds of the University of New England. Armidale is famous for its University and Churches. New England University was the first university established outside a capital city. The original property was presented by TR Forster. It comprised of the Booloominbah Homestead, other buildings and 74 hectares of land. It now comprises of 260 hectares. The homestead was designed by John Horbury Hunt in the Federation Arts and Crafts style in 1884-88. Originally the private home of the rich pastoralists, the White family. White's granddaughter, Sarah, lived there for many years. She was married to TR Forster, who donated it to the university. It is now used for administration, functions and cafe (closed due to Covid).

That evening we went to the recently renovated Tattersals Hotel for dinner.  We are with our travel companions, Val and Peter.

It was delicious!