The Road Trips - Yamba to Canberra via the Inland route & Return via the Coast.

From Yamba to Canberra took two days - broken overnight at Coonabarabran. That was about seven hours from Yamba, via the Pacific Highway to Grafton, Armidale Road & Waterfall Way to Armidale, the New England Highway to Tamworth and then the Oxley Highway to Coonabarabran.

The next day saw us drive to Canberra via the Newell Highway to Dubbo & the Mitchell Highway to Wellington and Molong.
From Molong we took the minor roads down through Canowindra to Cowra and thence the Lachlan Valley Way via Boorowa to the Hume Highway south of Yass, then the Barton Highway to Canberra.
That was another seven hours.

The change in the environment is amazing: we left the greenery of the coastal fringe, with its sugar cane and dairy farms, climbed through sub-tropical rain forest to the New England Plateau, then to the open expanses, wheat and sheep of the Central Western Plains.

The return journey was via the "normal" route: Federal Highway to Goulburn, Hume Highway to Sydney and then the Pacific Highway to Yamba.
Video highlights were recorded, edited and uploaded to You Tube. Here are the links and I suggest that, as they are in 1080HD, it would be best to play direct from YT and not through this blog:-

Below are several photos - most of which are included in the videos.
They will enlarge when clicked.

This map - an extract from Google Maps - shows the route we followed from Yamba to Coonabarabran - the extent of the first day's drive.
The Armidale Road, from Grafton to the junction of Waterfall Way, a few kms past Ebor, was the "worst", but only because it was twisty between Nymboida and the top of the range. The surface was fine.
The major highways - Waterfall Way, the New England, the Oxley, the Mitchell and the Newell - were excellent and allowed for fast, safe driving, with sparse traffic. Even the semi's were separated by several kms.

The above shot was taken when we stopped for morning tea and a "behind the bushes" comfort stop!
Somewhere between Nymboida and Ebor.

The reserve at Ebor Falls (above) has picnic facilities, including water on tap and toilets.

It's just a very short walk from the parking area to the Top (or Upper) Falls and then a short walk down an unpaved walking track to the Lower (or Bottom) Falls.
These must be quite spectacular when there has been good rainfall.

The Mathew Flinders Motor Inn at Coonabarabran was very comfortable and has a very nice on-site restaurant.
This made for a comfortable, relaxed evening after a long drive: we were able to unpack the car, have a rest, have a shower and then stroll across to the restaurant for dinner and a few glasses of wine. Most enjoyable....and the staff are lovely.

Decor straight from the 1970s but clean, neat and tidy.
It would be a crying shame if the management/owners ever decided to "modernise". This is heritage stuff and should be kept - Mission Brown, Burnt Orange and all!

The above map shows the route on Day 2, from Coonabarabran down through Dubbo, Wellington, Molong, Cowra and then to Canberra.

Cameron Park, in Wellington, provided a convenient and shady spot to have morning tea.
The temperature on this morning was up in the high 20s so it was nice to sit in the shade in this peaceful spot.
That's the main road in the background.

On the Saturday night in Canberra we had dinner at the Vikings Club, Chisholm, and the last time I saw the sun setting over the Brindabella Mountain range was in May 2014....nearly 18 month's ago.
So I had to snap this shot with my phone.

Finally, my gorgeous grand-daughter Matilda, just turned nine years old earlier this month.
She's grown up a bit since her fifth birthday!

Lismore streetscapes

I paid a regular visit to Lismore the other day to have my car (Honda Jazz) serviced at Ireland Honda for the last time under warranty. Hard to believe that the car is now three years old; boy, have those years flown by!

Anyway, whilst it was under the knife I took the opportunity to wander the commercial & retail central part of the town and captured a few shots..........

I think that the trees are either Moreton Bay Figs or another member of that species.
Lovely shade trees - not that they were needed for that during my visit as it was fairly cool and moist.

Many of the buildings in Lismore hark back to the early years of the 20th. century and most have a Heritage classification.
Above is the very imposing Masonic Temple.
This building became the HQ of the Northern Rivers movement in 2011, when two other lodges closed due to dwindling numbers.
The refurbished Masonic Temple in Lismore was officially opened in February of that year.

I'm unsure what this building is - I forgot to check the placard at the front. It looks as if it has a religious heritage and is presently used as a marketplace for bric-a-brac, old wares and so forth.
The rear of it can be seen in the photo above of the Masonic Temple.

The Uniting Church, Lismore.
Before the Uniting Church was formed by the merging of the Methodist and Presbyterian "branches" of Christian religion, this was the central Methodist church for the region.
A very imposing structure in red brick.

This is a wonderful building that was originally the "Australian Joint Stock Bank".
Like many banks of that era its design simply says "we are solid, strong and here for a very long time"!
It's quite large...extends back a fair bit behind the frontage seen above.

Another bank building......and alongside an equally sold frontage on Richmond Chambers (probably accountants or lawyers back in the day.
The Westpac Bank was originally (when this building was constructed) the first bank in the new colony of New South Wales and that was exactly the name of the bank - the Bank of New South Wales.
They changed their name to Westpac back in the late 1980s.
Looking at the above facade, you can see the image that was being projected - one of strength, massiveness, solidity, longevity - all of which is stating "Your money is safe with us".

This is the tower of the Telegraph Office - which then became the Post Office and which is now defunct, the PO having moved into newer, no doubt rented, premises in the 1980s.
The tree-trunk belongs to a Jacaranda.

Magellan Street.....lots of nice coffee shops, cafes and general retail stores.
Shady trees and traffic-calmers make it pedestrian-friendly.

Still in Magellan Street - the original shire council building.
I think that Terania Shire Council was absorbed back in the late 1970s. It no longer exists, anyway.
A nice pair of legs protruding from beneath the door of the Toyota Hi-lux. :)

The Audio Room....my favourite destination when in Lismore!
Nick specialises in equipment for playing records and also sells old (and new) vinyl LPs.
The graffiti isn't really graffiti and it's nice to see that it hasn't been sprayed with graffiti.

Any building with the word "Chambers" in its name was, more often than not, tenanted by professional people such as lawyers, accountants, doctors, dentists, real-estate agents etc.
Note the modern public phone box.

The final building in this short tour is this magnificent three-story brick structure which is home to the Lismore City Library.
What is was used for in its heyday, I have no idea. It has the look of an institution of some sort.

I hope you enjoyed the tour!