Saddlers, Cowboys & Hippies, Nth NSW

We woke yesterday morning, Saturday the 26th of May, in a town called Uralla, we had no idea what it looked like, we had arrived the night before -  in the dark.
On closer inspection, it was a cute little town and the sun was shining, despite it being icy cold. We hung around long enough to get a coffee and headed towards the next major centre, Armidale.
The town is set high in the Northern NSW Tablelands, 980 metres above sea level.  I remember passing through the town as a kid with Mum & Dad and surprisingly my recollections of the town weren't far wrong, in that it was still very pretty.
We drove around before stopping to get a hot drink and continue on our way.
Another 30 kilometers along the New England Highway and we were at the top of the tablelands in Guyra - 1330 metres above sea level... That explained why all of our ears had been popping.

We stopped in Glen Innes to fuel up, when we we told that the road to Tenterfield had been closed to traffic because of a car accident. So we detoured, before finding our way back on the Highway and into Tenterfield...

Home of Peter Allen, the grandson of the Tenterfield Saddler George Woolnough (or so the song goes). It was funny driving past the Peter Allen Motor Inn...

The Peter Allen Motor Inn

 and seeing the life size figure of the man himself and the silver sequinned maracas he donated to the town, no doubt treasured by the local bushmen!

Peter Allen and the maracas he donated to his hometown - Tenterfield

We then continued on to find Tenterfield Saddler headquarters. It was a quaint little shop on a side street filled with Australian made saddlery and stories of George Woolnough and people who knew him...

Home of the Tenterfield Saddler

 We continued on through winding roads, up and down the countryside, passing across the Clarence River overflow, no doubt the inspiration for Banjo Paterson's poem "Clancy Of The Overflow."

The bridge over the Clarence Overflow

We arrived in the town of Casino around 4ish. Casino is renowned for its annual country Beef Week, the motivation behind our visit.  As soon as we set up camp in the 300 acre caravan park (huge) we headed towards the Rodeo.
Although it was cold it was an interesting night... Just watching those men emerge from their shute's, bodies  being thrown in all directions, on a bull that wants to kill anything in scope - was amazing.

The rodeo, Casino

Nina at the rodeo

I do have a greater appreciation for the cowboy and the rodeo star because of it, but after the first round Nina and I had seen enough bull dust and cowboys to last the rest of the trip. We retreated to the car with the heater pumped up, before the boys finally joined us and we headed back to the caravan.

This morning, Sunday the 26th of May, we woke to a sound test... Our caravan park was playing host to Beef Week with a fair. So we ventured into the park to look at the local wares. We then decided to go for a drive to Lismore, where we ended up in Nimbin.

The kids arrive in Nimbin, not quite knowing what to expect

My cousins Phil and Rena, who we have been trying to catch up with us were also heading that way, so we text them to see if they were there and caught up for a cuppa at the local bowls club. It was so nice to see familiar faces. We decided we would catch up again, in the next day or so.  We left Phil and Rena and ventured into the main street of Nimbin..

What can I say

The streets of Nimbin

Richard's explanation of Nimbin to the kids was that "if you ever end up living here, I'll rip your heads off." I don't think they quite got it but I explained that "you might see people that look and act a little different to what you are used to." If that's the case, don't stare and ask me about it later so I can explain.
Well, needless to say - there were quite a few oddities and the kids handled it very well. Richard and I did have a veggie frittata on the streets of Nimbin (recommended by Phil) and we both felt very happy for a little while afterwards. Gotta love a veggie frittata. We then headed back, surrounded by rainbows haha... to Casino.
Richard stopped at every pub in town to see if they were broadcasting the western derby but surprise, surprise... No one gives a damn!  So Richard downloaded the game live on the AFL website where everyone huddled around a tiny iPad to watch the derby...

The boys huddle around the iPad to watch the western derby

At half-time we managed to get to our first caravan park happy hour. Thank goodness we had the excuse of watching the footy, there's only so much you can listen to when it comes to the grey nomads.
A couple more drinks  and it was time for dinner... Marinated ribs, snags and salad, again around the iPad.
Everyone was happy to say goodnight over an Eagles derby win.