Homeward bound

We rolled into Moree, visited the Visitor Information Centre for the obligatory local information, then checked into the caravan park to drop off the camper. After a very perfunctory check-in (bordering on rude), we found our site and were surprised at how tight it was. The park was certainly cramming us in. We had chosen this place because it had on-site artesian pools. Upon reflection (and reading reviews), we should have been more discerning! We explored Moree, which is a pretty town with quite a few Art Deco buildings. Several fires in the 1920s resulted in some lovely examples, along side some earlier turn-of-the-century buildings that survived the 1910s floods. Several soaks in the hot pool were welcome muscle relaxants but the crowdedness did not equate to calming vibes.

Having experienced the artesian pools and driven and walked a lot of the town’s streets, we decided not to stay a second night in the very unsatisfactory and unpleasant caravan park (think ridiculously bright lights [putting 7.7 volts into the batteries over night!], cheek-by-jowl sites and frequent road noise), we headed east to Warialda (pretty country town) and its Cranky Rock Recreation Reserve. The nearby ‘cranky’ rocks were fun to explore and the chickens wandering around the campground added a humorous touch. A lovely quiet night, sitting by a warming fire and looking up at the stars, was the panacea we needed. A stop at the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial Site, drives through the attractive towns of Bingara, Barraba and Manilla took us to Tamworth. A very welcome overnight stop at Traci and Marty’s place in Tamworth was the finishing touch to our Queensland adventures of 11 weeks on the road and over 12,000km driven. To round off the trip, on our way home we received stone to the windscreen from a passing cattle truck, scoring a decent chip this time. Will it grow to another crack we wonder? At least we won’t have to drive several hundred kilometres for a fix.