Tamworth

Last week, Adam went to Tamworth for work so I decided to tag along.  Tamworth is about 5 hours away from Sydney to the northwest.  It has a population of 46,000 people.  We stayed there Tuesday-Friday.    I had low expectations about the city and the trip based on what others told us but luckily I was pleasantly surprised! 

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!

 

 

 

 

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

This weekend, Adam and I decided to buy a yearly National Park pass .... therefore, bring on the bush walking!  First on the National Park list was Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.  It is about a 45 minute drive from our apartment.  We decided to do the Aborigine Heritage Walk to learn more about the Aborigine people and their culture.  
 
Once we got to the park, we discovered that there is not a trail named "Aborigine Heritage Walk," as we were lead to believe from the website.  Instead, it is a combination of West Head and Resolute Walking Trails.  Apparently we need to read the fine print about the walk in the future! 

The first taste of Aboriginal artwork we found was "Red Hands Cave." 
 

 

 

 

After viewing the Aboriginal Art, we headed further down the trail to West Head Lookout. 

 

 

 

 

 

The last picture shows Barrenjoey headland and Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse is apparently famous for being in Australia's TV drama "Home and Away." 

 

The Lookout itself was more crowded with people.  There is actually a road which takes you directly to the lookout.  We have slowly begun to realize that a lot of people here take the easy way out ... they tend to drive straight to the attraction instead of the more scenic route (through the trails or bush).  Even though there were several people/groups at the lookout, we saw only 3 other small groups along the entire trail.  Whatever floats your boat I guess but I think they are missing out on all the neat gems along the walk!  This was also true when we were in Kangaroo Valley.  The waterfalls and attractions were only a few steps away from the road.  Most people just saw the attraction instead of continuing down the trails. 

 

Since we did continue down the trail, we were able to see this cool looking tree.  I think it is a type of gum tree.  It looks as if it is bleeding!

 

 

We continued further down the trail to Resolute Beach.  Along the way, we followed a creek that reminded us of Gatlinburg. 

 

 

 

I wanted to jump the rocks down to the beach until I realized the creek lead to this nice cliff (it was bigger than it looks in the picture, about my height) ...

 

 

 I guess we will take the grassy trek instead!

 

 

Here is the beach and a picture of a crow in flight (we disturbed his peace I suppose)...

 

 

 

 
I also thought these rocks along the back of the beach were cool.  Weathering and the ocean have turned parts of the rocks red and created a lot of wavy grooves along each rock. 

 

The creek we were following earlier also came out onto the beach.  I thought it was cool how the water cut a groove into the rock.

 

 

 

After the beach, we walked back up the hill to another Aboriginal Ancient Worksite and artwork.  It was under a cliff or cave-like rock.

 

 

 

Next, the trail came out of the woods and into more bush.  I think this would be incredibly hot in the summer!  There was absolutely no shade along this part of the walk (for roughly a mile).

 

 

Finally, we stumbled upon another site for ancient Aboriginal artwork.  This time, it was work engraved into rock. 

 

 

There were also fantastic views from this rock.  Again, this is the same lighthouse that we saw earlier.

 

 

 

 

Altogether, the walk was about 5km.  It was fairly steep and the trail was narrow with many cliffs off the side.  It was good for Aborigine Artwork and some decent views.  We did get to see a couple kangaroos or wallabies along the path but they jumped away before I could snap a picture. 

 

Of course, on the way home, I had to take a picture of the interesting animal road signs.  I found one for a koala and a bandicoot.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see either animal.

 

 

We also stopped for some snacky snacks.  Adam bought these to eat ....

 

 

Yes, that is chicken flavored potato chips.  You can find some version of these chips everywhere snacks are sold and for those wondering ....it tastes like potato chips dipped in chicken broth.  I am not really a big fan but whatever floats your boat I guess!

Hyams Beach and Kangaroo Valley

On Saturday, Adam and I went to Hyams Beach and Kangaroo Valley.  It was about 2 hours south of Sydney.  Hyams beach is apparently in the Guinness Book of World Records for the whitest sand beach in the world.  Needless to say, although beautiful, we were disappointed in the  supposed claim.  We thought the sand was similar to a beach in Florida, but you be the judge!

After Hyams Beach, we headed to Kangaroo Valley.  The obvious animal we were hoping to see is a kangaroo ...

I know it is a squinter but there is a kangaroo there! 

Also in Kangaroo Valley, we saw Fitzroy Falls.  It was a large waterfall in Morton Park.  It was a large drop to the bottom, not that Adam would know since he wouldn't go near the edge of the viewing platform :)

 

At some point we would like to walk to the bottom of the falls.  All for another trip!

 

On the walk back from the falls we stumbled upon a lyrebird.  A lyrebird is extremely rare.  It mimics sounds of other birds or other noises.  We are fairly certain we heard it mimicking an ambulance. 

 

 

I think the best part of going out in the country is finding different animal road signs!  I managed to capture a kangaroo and wombat crossing signs. 

 

 

 

This is basically what Kangaroo Valley, or Australian countryside, looks like:

 

 

We ended the day with a visit to the boutique winery, Yarrawa Estate and dinner at Bowral Hotel.  Delicious!