Day 100...to Wallangarra

The trees up on the tablelands look lovely with their new leaves after winter.

The map is looking pretty ragged now.

 On arrival at Wallangarra, the pink line joined up to where we began.

We travelled 20,916 km!!

Rosie around Australia in 100 days!

On our way we stopped at our favourite pie shop for lunch!

The avenue of trees at the edge of Tenterfield look lovely with the sun shining through them.

This galah was in the tree in the driveway when we arrived.

We haven't seen this bird around here before...it's a red-browed fig bird.

Day 99...Walcha

This cute echidna was feeding along the side of the road.

Today we went for a drive to Armidale. Dave had a nostalgic look around New England Uni....had a bit of a look around the shops, then had a picnic lunch in a beautiful park.

These poppies were growing around a war memorial in the park...very nice and very appropriate.

We saw this old house on our way back to Walcha.

 It's part of Irishtown, from early settlers in the area.

Days 97 and 98...Walcha

Today we went for a drive. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Kentucky, and were joined by this cute goat. He walked out from behind his fence, ate a few crusts he was given, then calmly walked back behind the fence!

After lunch we visited the Pioneer House Museum. There are several buildings on the block, each with a different pioneering theme....home, woolshed, blacksmith.

This plane was in a big shed at the museum. It's the first bi-plane in Australia to do crop spraying.

This anglican church was built in the 1800s. It has beautiful stained glass windows. Unfortunately, it can't be used as it's considered unsafe...a shame, as it would be a great wedding venue.

This is the current anglican church....the old one is at the back to the right.

 We attended this one..a very friendly and welcoming group. 

There were visiting missionaries from Namibia who spoke about life in Namibia.

Days 95 to 96...Walcha

We went and had lunch with some good friends in Walcha...this is some of his healthy cattle!

John took Dave for a drive around his farm to see the sheep and cattle.

Gael and I stayed home and chatted about family, books, etc.

The next day we went for a drive down to Wauchope to see Dave's aunty.

I love the old photo above....the woman standing in the middle is her mother...Dave's grandmother.

Days 93 to 94....Walcha

Walcha is a beautiful town, nestled in the hills on the New England tablelands.

There are lots of interesting statues around town.

We went for a visit to Apsley Falls, on the Oxley Highway,

 20 kms out of Walcha....quite spectacular!

This is a view of the gorge, near the waterfalls.

The predominant bird in the Walcha area is the crimson rosella, or mountain lowrey.

Day 92...to Walcha

We left Blaxlands Ridge, went up the Putty Road to Singleton, where we had morning tea.

We then went out through Gresford and Dungog up to Gloucester. The countryside is beautiful...lovely rolling hills.

Things got a bit tricky when we were heading up from Gloucester to Walcha. I had no idea before we set out how steep the road would be. I thought it would be all rolling hills to Walcha....no such luck!

One particular stretch of road just seemed to go on forever upwards. The car did not like it one bit! The temperature went up and the red sign on the dash said STOP! We pulled to the side asap and left the engine running to let it cool. Then came the hill start towing the van...not a happy clutch! However, we prayed mightily about the situation, and made it to the top...what a relief!

The views were spectacular...

 

The countryside coming across to Walcha was great...rolling hills again...mainly sheep and cattle.

It's much greener with good pastures.

This is in Walcha...a very pretty town.

There are lots of sculptures around the town. This one is at the main roundabout.

We're staying in a great little caravan park. It has the best amenities of anywhere we've been!

Days 90 to 91....Blaxland Ridge

We spent the weekend with Dave's brother and family at Blaxlands Ridge. Bryan  has been building a big shed down the back...it's looking great!

Kathy made these amazing slices, plus a huge batch of scones with jam and cream,

 for morning tea at church on Sunday....delicious!

We went out for dinner with friends to a Thai restaurant at Pennant Hills, The Seat...

the food and company were great!

Day 89...to Blaxland Ridge

We left Holbrook this morning and headed up the Hume Highway.

This huge sheep is in Goulburn, where we went for lunch with Aunty Gwlad and cousin Val.

Day 88...Holbrook

Today we left Torquay and headed north. This metal pelican sculpture is on the way to Geelong.

The countryside going up through Victoria was mainly agricultural..

lots of wheat, some canola, sheep and cattle.

Up towards the NSW border, there were lots of fruit trees.

 They used irrigation from the Murray River.

Tonight we arrived at Holbrook. It was a nice little caravan park, but very noisy. The Hume Highway goes straight through the town. The trucks sounded like they were bumper to bumper till after midnight. The view of the sunset shows the new piece of highway being constructed, just behind the caravan park. I hope they have a fence or something to keep the noise down in the town.

Days 84 - 87....Torquay

Tessa and John have Ben and Chester very well trained....notice the treats on their feet...uneaten until they are given permission!!!

Tessa cooked a delicious dinner, plus a lovely chocolate cake for Dave's birthday.

These sculptures are along the bay at Geelong...very cute!

Tessa and I spent quite some time talking about wedding plans...very exciting!

The ring is beautiful...so is the new manicure!

Their nephew Charlie is growing out his fringe...he looks so cute lifting his head to see.

Today we had a picnic lunch on the beach at Point Impossible. We drove along this dirt road towards the beach, looking for a nice spot for lunch. When we arrived, it turned out to be a nudist beach!!!

 

Day 83...to Torquay

Before leaving Horsham this morning, we went to the botanic gardens. The herb garden was particularly good. It was divided off into sections with about a dozen different kinds of herbs.

As we went south towards Hamilton, The Grampians were visible most of the way.

 The countryside was pretty lush with lots of sheep in the paddocks.

The further south we went the worse the weather became....very wet and windy.

There were areas between the farms with lots of tall thin trees.

It was great to arrive at Torquay....lots of hugs!

I rather liked the way this bird happened to fly past just as I clicked the camera!

More hugs!!!