Tamworth happens to be the country music capital of Australia and since I enjoy country music, I thought it would be fun to explore this aspect of the city. Unfortunately for me, Australian country music is not the same as American country music and I had never heard of any of the country music stars that appeared idolized in this city. Yes, that includes no Keith Urban (which, for the record, I never hear about nor do I hear his music). Ironic enough, I never heard a single country music song the entire 4 days I was in Tamworth! So much for being the country music capital of Australia ...
For the majority of the drive to Tamworth, it was dark outside so we could not see any of the landscape. Australia does not have the highway systems that we are accustomed to in the U.S. so basically the majority of the drive was along 2 lane country roads that drove you through the heart of every little town along the way. This makes it nice to see all the little towns and the Australian countryside but does not make for a quick ride.
We stayed at the Edward Perry Motel which was a little motel about 1 km outside the CBD of Tamworth (basically downtown Tamworth). It was surprisingly very clean, comfortable, and modern inside.
The first day, Adam had to work in the morning so I decided to take a walk around the town. I walked through Bicentennial Park and then down Peel Street which is their central business district. Here is basically what Bicentennial Park looked like (with the mountains in the background):
The Bicentennial Park left a lot to be desired, but Peel st. was nice. There were a lot of shops and cafes along this strip. Apparently they have FSW shoe warehouse instead of DSW ...
Sadly, in my 1.5-2 hour walk, I saw the majority of what Tamworth has to offer. Once Adam finished working, we went out to lunch (also on Peel St.) and then headed to Tamworth Marsupial Park. This was a free park right outside town. We were basically the only people inside this little park. Here are some of the many indigenous birds we saw at the Free Flight Aviary.
The best part about the park were the Eastern Grey Kangaroos which were allowed to roam around the park for free. They were accustomed to being around people so they did not hop away when we walked past them. This allowed us to get the closest I have ever been to a kangaroo and actually snap some decent pix!
The best part were the videos I was able to capture of the kangaroos ...
I basically realized kangaroos are a lot like deer. They are also very lazy and like to lay around all day.
After seeing the kangaroos and birds, we walked to Oxley Lookout.
We continued along the trail to the Regional Botanic Gardens. The only picture I snapped in the gardens were these fish ... there honestly was not much to see and was rather disappointing :(
From the Botanic gardens, we walked back to Marsupial Park. Along the trail we were able to see an echidna (which Adam has never even seen!). They apparently are bashful so this little one refused to show his head. They reminded me of a porcupine.
The last stop in the park were the Emus.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the little park. I would definitely return to see what other animals we come across!
The second day, we went for a little run in the morning. I have realized through walking/running through the city that Tamworth is not the most athletic city. The two days out, we only saw a few people walking through the park and zero runners. At one point, we passed a few women and their kids in the park and they commented "Look, energetic people!"
While running, we stopped along the way for pictures of some of the monuments that I passed the previously morning.
In the first picture, I am sitting next to Smokey Dawson. The second statue seriously did not have a name attached to it at all. They had several statues of other country music stars throughout Bicentennial Park. They also had a "Country Music Hands of Fame" where famous country music stars basically get their hands printed in concrete. Again, all of people I never heard of ....
After our run, we went to see one of the main attractions of Tamworth ...
A giant golden guitar!
That evening, we went to Safari Club for dinner. It was based on a recommendation Adam received at the hospital which ended up being a great recommendation. It was a really nice steakhouse in Tamworth CBD. It ended up being the best meal Adam said he has had since coming back to Australia. Go figure, in a little town of Tamworth there was such a gem!
We left Tamworth on Friday morning. It was nice to finally see all the countryside in the daylight. On the way home we stopped in Hunter Valley. This is one of Australia's main wine areas. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of wineries we found (I think I read over 160 wineries and the majority were within a few miles of each other). We ended up going to Brokenwood winery based on recommendations. Here is our loot!
We finished out Hunter Valley experience with lunch and then cheese tasting! I will definitely be spending some more time in Hunter Valley!
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