After entering New South Wales through Mungindi I travelled south down to Moree (see Bucket List #33). Moree was a much larger town than I expected with heaps of shops. I had a wander around town before checking into the caravan park for a couple of nights.
After enjoying the thermal pools I headed north to Boggabilla (see Bucket List #34). Boggabilla is just inside the New South Wales border with Goondawindi being its larger Queensland sister town. From here I headed to the village of Yetman where I found an interesting mural on the side of the General Store/Post Office/Cafe. From here I travelled down to Ashford and out to Pindari Dam where I stayed overnight with friends. He looks after the maintenance of that dam and they also have a couple of bush blocks in the vicinity and he took me for a look over both properties as well as around the dam. Due to droughts over the previous few years the dam is currently down to only 15% capacity. The dam provides irrigation and household needs in the Border Rivers Valley. It is also a popular dam for water sports and fishing with large areas for free camping.
After Pindari Dam I headed south to Inverell where I wandered around town looking for the old CBC Bank where I worked for a short period of time in the late ’70’s. From here it was through Glen Innes where I had a look through the National Transport Museum before heading on to Tenterfield (see Bucket List #35) for a few days. The National Transport Museum was very interesting and was worth an hour or so even if cars are not necessarily your thing.
After a few days in Tenterfield I crossed the Great Dividing Range and down into Tabulam where I camped for a few days. This is a very picturesque area and although dry, it is very green. I managed to get a couple of games of golf in and did a bit of bush walking before moving on to Casino and Lismore. Whilst I had lived and worked in Lismore before, I hadn’t really stopped in Casino before so it was good to have a look around the town. It is the regional hub of a very large cattle industry and the town positions itself as the “Beef Capital of Australia”. One of the Wiggles, Jeff Fatt was born in Casino.
While I was in the Lismore area I had Rhonda serviced and a couple of things seen to and caught up with friends in Alstonville and Modanville. I had a trip down to Lake Ainsworth (see Bucket List #36) one evening and after a few days in the Lismore area I then headed down the coast to Ballina where my southbound travels ceased some 9 months ago to have a swim (see Bucket List #37).
rayaroundoz 