Friday 12 Oct 2012 Tamworth and Nundle

It was a tad cold here this morning, 6C, but it could have been a lot colder, it was snowing in the Blue Mountains  300km south of here.  Needless to say we didn’t hurry out of bed.

Once we got up and about we went into town for a bit of a look around.   We took a walk down Peel St, the main street through Tamworth and made our way to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We were greeted by a very enthusiastic woman who gave us a very good (much better than the visitors centre) run down on what there was to do in town, before explaining a bit about the Country Music Hall of Fame then letting us loose in the small but impressive history of Country Musicians in Australia.

A short stroll down the hill from there we soon came to the Hands of Fame Park on the corner of Kable and Brisbane.  The hand prints of over 300 country music artists are preserved in cement, we recognised a few names, Slim and Dusty, among others. In the Joe Magire’s Hotel there is also a Monument called the Noses of Fame, featuring impressions of noses of Country Music Artists, and I am sure I read somewhere that you are encouraged to see whose honker yours will match, a bit bizarre by any standard! (We didn’t bother with that one).

We then took a walk along Peel St to have a look at the Golden Guitar Winners Plaques in the footpath. It is Tamworth’s version of the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Stars. We recognised a lot of the winners and were interested to see the progression of country singers such as Keith Urban as Best New Talent in 1991, and Casey Chambers’ numerous records.  Half way along the street I stopped and had a photo sitting on a park bench with Smokey Dawson.

Further down Peel St we went to the Regional Art Gallery, where they had a feature hands on display of 1950-60’s amusement machines, very kitschy but fun. They also had a small but interesting display of works by local artists, including a couple of very impressive dot paintings by local aboriginals.

Back in the car  we headed to Nundle, 60km out of town.  It is a small, historic former gold mining town with lots of character.  Our first stop was at the Odgers and McClelland Exchange Store, it was full of everything an old gold miner could want, from fine tea to straw brooms and everything in between.  Deb walked out with an armful of gear, before you ask, yes she did pay for it all.

Lunch time saw us find the local pub, The Peel Inn, which we did.   We found a table in front of a well lit log fire and had a very relaxing late lunch.

After lunch we went to the Nundle Woollen Mill, the last fully operational woollen mill in Australia. It was an amazing experience, we were given a guided tour through the whole process, from taking in raw washed wool through all the many machines that spread the wool out in a web like state across a series of rollers, and eventually formed into a crude thread called cheeses.  The cheeses are then processed through two spinning machines before being dyed and eventually being put through the ball winding machine.  The tour was run by the owner of the mill, he had such passion for the process, machines (the main machines are 98 years old) and the final products.  Deb had a great time in the Mill shop and got some great ideas , and good amount of wool.

If you’d like to see the mill operating have a look here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32802403/Nundle%20Mill.wmv

We left Nundle around 3:30 and were back at the van a bit after 4. After settling back in and having a cuppa, we spent some time winding wool from skeins into balls ready for knitting.  I think this will keep Deb busy in her spare time while we are away, and beyond. 🙂

The last little surprise we had this afternoon was when a guy called at the van door selling fruit and honey.  We got a few apples from him and he gave us a bit of a run down on the history of the river just behind our van, and the impact of various floods over the years.  It always amazes me the quality of the people you meet along the way on your travels.  You get amazing, interesting insights and history from the most unexpected sources.

Port Stephens tomorrow.