The Australian Country Way

When we arrived in Sydney last night, I was too tired to really tell the full story of two days on the Aussie road, but some of it needs more detail, so here goes:

Both Andre and I were really ennamoured with Toowoomba - it is a really pretty little town with extremely well kept gardens. Our spirits were high and we were enthusiastic and eager. The little towns in Queensland on the themed hiway, "The Australian Country Way" were well kept and attractive, and the locals were really friendly. Our Slim Dusty CD crooned out Australian Country music, and the mood was very jubilient.

We had no idea where we were going to spend the night, and that was part of the romance of the trip. Both of us yearned to find a wonderful farm at nightfall, and wake up at the crack of dawn to feed the calves and muster cattle in the "Outback".

Ha! It didn't quite happen that way. We had been told that we should make our way to the lovely university town of Armidale, in New South Wales, which we would find gorgeous and attractive. We arrived in Armidale at dusk, and it was bizarrely quiet. Andre and I started humming the Twin Peaks theme song as we made our way to the pub to enquire about accomodation. The waitress was on auto pilot (Andre said Sheila the GPS sounded warmer) and couldn't help us in any way whatsoever. No to accomodation. No to horse riding. No clue to nearby farms.

We grabbed a take away from the Noodle Box (terriyake with Yudon noodles) and set off into the night, optimistic that we would find the perfect place shortly. By 23:00 we were running a little low on blind optimism, and Andre was getting dizzy from driving down the mountain towards Port Mc Quarrie. As we rounded another hairpin bend, we both said, "theres a light..." and started singing the Rocky Horror theme song. Just then the mist rolled in around us and we laughed until the tears ran - mostly from nerves, I think!

We stayed at Jasper's Creek that night - it was totally empty except for us, and marketed as a yoga retreat. Frankenstein did not put in an appearance!

In the morning, I got up early and went outside with my camera. I saw and heard lots of Kookaburras laughing, and even spotted a wild kangaroo. I was quite keen to show Andre how great it looked in the wild, as he had been a bit traumitised by the very tame roo's in the sanctuary that we visited on the Gold Coast, but it hopped away smartly. (Britt, this one had way more oooom-chi than the others!)

I drove us into Port McQuarrie for breakfast and much needed coffee.

Day 2 coming up in the next installment.