We are up in Inverell visiting Graeme’s parents, Ian and Jackie. They have a lovely home on 6 acres of land and there are wonderful birds all over the property. I have been getting an education on galahs, eastern rosella, crimson rosella, musk lorakeet and rainbow lorakeet as well as cocatoos and I have yet to see a king parrot, they are all big colorful birds.
Yesterday we drove over 300 km up through the mountains on the coast to this flat pastureland. There were numerous national par
ks on the road which was named Waterfall Way. I convinced Barry that we should stop in a few parks and were rewarded with stunning views of the Great Dividing Range. They parks were all well maintained with boardwalks along the sides of the waterfalls and gorges. Today Ian and Jackie drove us to a state park where there was a large damn that was built to supply water to the area as well as the cotton plantations which have been established here. We were thrilled to see our first wild kangaroos, they would be lying about and when we drove slowly by they would stir and stare at the car to make sure there was no threat and then they would go back to lolling about in the shade.
We spent some time this morning exclaiming over pictures of our soon to be son-in-l
aw, and daughter-in-law in their formative years. The kids having grown up in separate continents experienced the same world conditions, but surf boards figure prominently in Graeme’s childhood, while skiing and other snow sports were a main stay in Trish’s life.
Tomorrow we are off to Yamba, where their wedding will take place and then we have to reluctantly return the rental car. It does not make sense to purchase a vehicle like we did in NZ because we don’t plan to stay in one place that long. I could do with a bicycle though, I may see if I can rustle one up for the remainder of our stay in Coffs Harbour.
Yesterday we drove over 300 km up through the mountains on the coast to this flat pastureland. There were numerous national par
ks on the road which was named Waterfall Way. I convinced Barry that we should stop in a few parks and were rewarded with stunning views of the Great Dividing Range. They parks were all well maintained with boardwalks along the sides of the waterfalls and gorges. Today Ian and Jackie drove us to a state park where there was a large damn that was built to supply water to the area as well as the cotton plantations which have been established here. We were thrilled to see our first wild kangaroos, they would be lying about and when we drove slowly by they would stir and stare at the car to make sure there was no threat and then they would go back to lolling about in the shade.We spent some time this morning exclaiming over pictures of our soon to be son-in-l
aw, and daughter-in-law in their formative years. The kids having grown up in separate continents experienced the same world conditions, but surf boards figure prominently in Graeme’s childhood, while skiing and other snow sports were a main stay in Trish’s life.Tomorrow we are off to Yamba, where their wedding will take place and then we have to reluctantly return the rental car. It does not make sense to purchase a vehicle like we did in NZ because we don’t plan to stay in one place that long. I could do with a bicycle though, I may see if I can rustle one up for the remainder of our stay in Coffs Harbour.
