Day 9 Toowoomba to Woolgoolga

Our trip today took us from Toowoomba through Warwick, Stanthorpe, Wallangarra, Tenterfield and stopping at Deepwater for lunch.  This is a walk down memory lane for Philip as his father grew up at Tenterfield and most of his relations still live in the area.  Bolivia in particular holds fond memories of his fathers Aunty Kitty who ran the Post Office.  I remember visiting Aunty Kitty  before we were married and I marvelled at how Aunty Kitty's footsteps had worn down the sandstone floor from where she had walked backward and forward from the house to the post office counter.  She lived to a ripe old age but unfortunately her husband, Uncle Harold, succumbed to emphysema after being gassed during World War 2.

This is Bluff Rock and Philips father had a block of land on the opposite side of the road

Follow the yellow brick (daisy) road

Philip say his earliest memory of this area is the poplar trees that line the road 

Sheep Country

If only buildings could talk. I bet this old theatre would have some stories to tell.

We turned off the main highway before Glen Innes and pointed the car towards Grafton.  Unfortunately for us we came up behind two cattle trucks as we reached the Gibraltar Range and had to follow along behind them for over almost two hours.  Now, you will have to forgive me as I  have a whinge.  It was not a problem following the trucks down the range because there was nowhere for them pull over to let us pass but once we got to the bottom of the range there were numerous places that they could have pulled over to let the stream of traffic pass.  The truck we were following gave truckies a bad name as he would NOT let anyone pass him.  We even stopped at road works on a red light.  The truck was first in line.  We politely asked him via UHF if we could pass him on the green and the arrogant man wouldn't even answer our call and needless to stay would not let anyone pass. We (and about another 5) ended up leaving him at Grafton after travelling behind him for over 100km.

I guess the plus to this was that the scenery through Gibraltar State Forest, Washpool  and Nymboida National Parks was quite spectacular and as we travelled at no more than 40kmh we got to see it in detail 😂

View from the top of the Gibraltar Range

The "cowboy" truck driver that we followed.

The rest of the journey down the A1 was uneventful and it was a relief to finally reach our destination of Woolgoolga.  As soon as we settled into the Woolgoolga Tourist Park we decided to take a long walk along the beach to blow off some tension.  It was wonderful to walk barefoot in the sand and we are already looking forward to doing the same thing tomorrow.

Woolgoolga Beach