Brian and Daphne's Armidale

Although Brian and Daphne travelled quite widely around NSW, they spent most time in around Armidale. Here are a few of their experiences. Armidale has many dams around it supplying water for industrial and domestic purposes, but one of the most attractive is Dumaresq Dam, which is now a recreation reserve no longer used for water supply. It host a lot of wildlife - especially fish and birds like these. The dam wall requires some expensive restoration work to make it safe and, as you can see, the impounded lake is quite full.

Here's a stately old eucalypt and Brian being a little aggressive!

Fortunately, Armidale had its Autumn Festival during Brian and Daphne's visit. The main event was a series of parades on the Saturday morning. We had coffee in one of the many cafes lining the main pedestrian mall before heading out to sample the action. The New England region, with it's considerable Scottish ancestry, has numerous pipe bands dressed in full regalia. We saw some of the bands practising apart from each other before they coalesced for quite a dramatic combined performance in front of a considerable crowd.

Individual bands then participated in a long street parade. One headed a long line of vintage cars

The parade also featured various social organisations, groups of children representing the town's  numerous schools and then groups of people from many different nationalities. The pictures show China, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia - not ethnic groups one would find in Europe or North America!

On another occasion, Brian and I had the opportunity to go star gazing. UNE has an observatory at the Kirby Farm - better known for its world-class smart-farm technology. It's shown here at sunset. The main telescope under the dome shown here was under repair, but the local astronomical society had a variety of instruments we were able to use. We saw Venus and Jupiter - the latter with three of its moons clearly visible. We also saw the main band of the milky way, parts of Orion, the southern cross (Crux Australia), and one of Magallenic Clouds - our nearest galaxies. It was a lovely night out.

B & D were also around in time to visit UNE's series of annual graduation ceremonies. We saw the smallest of the four events from the verandah of the main homestead, Booloominbah where we sipped more coffee just before the commencement of proceedings. Events included the opening academic procession to the open-air dais in Bool's grounds, the conferring of degrees, and the installation of a new Chancellor.

On another day, we took a trip down Uralla way and introduced B & D to a local celebrity - Captain Thunderbolt - otherwise Fred Ward. This 19th century bush-ranger held up stage coaches and was eventually shot by police.

 

Uralla also has the best 'real-ale' brewery in the region and I took a quick look inside the crowded facility before we headed off for a meal in the nearby 'Top Pub'

Uralla was also holding a farmer's market on the day we were there - very much like Armidale's equivalent, with lots of stalls selling not only fruit and veggies, but also local craft products like these cosmetics - all to the sound of an accomplished band.

Finally, for this post, we visited the nearby sheep station at Gostwyck -  a very large and famous property. Gostwyck had so many employees at one stage that the owners constructed the beautiful little church shown here against whose walls the three dudes - me, Brian and Daphne posed for an elegant picture.

AS