Toowoomba to Tamworth

Today, Wednesday 25th of September is the day we travel from Toowoomba, Queensland to Tamworth, New South Wales. 

Morning

The day begins with me waking and getting up at 4am after a restful and enjoyable sleep. I complete a blog post and check emails and do other light admin before Drew wakes at 5.30am and I make us a cup of tea, we are in a Comfort Inn, so it is Lipton Yellow Tea. We shower and dress by 6.30am in time for breakfast to be delivered to our room at 6.45am.

Breakfast had to be ordered the night before, but was delivered right on time, by the same lady who had been on reception last night - she clearly does all the work around here. It is novel to have room service breakfast, but it is very enjoyable.

I start with Fresh Fruit and we both have a cooked breakfast. 

Especially nice was the fact I'd noticed Lamb's Fry on the menu and knew this was a local name for lamb's liver. So today breakfast was Offaly good 😉 [Co-pilot's note: It is, dear readers, the way he tells them 🥴]

On the Road 

After breakfast we packed, checked out and were on the road by 7.50am. This is our route for today:

Toowoomba

We headed first back to the town centre to see the green areas that we had walked past in the dark last night. The Mothers Memorial Garden and Queen's Park form a large central area to the city.

Next we went to fill the car with petrol, more expensive here at $1.679 than in the busier parts of the country where it was as low as $1.479. 

From the petrol station we went directly across the road to St. Patrick's Cathedral. This gothic, quite unornate building was similar in size and shape to St. Joseph's Swansea. 

We next visited the spectacular Picnic Point which provides grand panoramic views of the Great Dividing Range and the Lockyer Valley. It is really very impressive. 

Drew is very amused to see that Toowoomba has a Ramsey Street, though it is the one in Melbourne that makes the name famous, it seemed worth taking a shot of it.

On the road

As you see from the map above we followed a route called the A15 which travels through Warwick and on to Stanthorpe. We still haven't seen any live kangaroos, but we see 6 kangaroos that are roadkill on this piece of road, we see at least 8 more as the day goes on.

After leaving Toowoomba's Picnic Point at 9.20am we drive 145km to Stanthorpe where we stop for a coffee break at a pretty place called Lily's Coffee House.

Stanthorpe has some fascinating buildings for a town with a population of only 5,000 people.

We leave Stanthorpe at 11.45am and cross back into New South Wales at Tenterfield at 12.15pm, the images below give a view of the route on this part of the journey as we travel through miles and miles of apparently empty Australia - so different from the coastal side of the state. 

Did you spot the Welsh place names, often misspelt, as we travelled - a Caenarvon, Seven River and Llangothlin along with some Scottish places too. It is also a surprise to me to see so many well constructed catholic churches in this area.

Drew drove another 245km before we stopped for a loo and coffee break on the outskirts of Armidale at 2.40pm and I drove the last 106km into Tamworth.

Arriving in Tamworth

We arrived at the CH Boutique Hotel, Tamworth at 4.05pm and quickly checked in to the room. This hotel is part of the Choice group, but very different from any of their hotels I have stayed in previously.

Dinner

Drew had spotted a interesting burger place that he thought would be fun called Burger Urge. [Co-pilot;s note: I had, dear readers, an urge. An urge for a burger!!] In line with much else in Tamworth, as you'll see in future days, Country Music was the theme here.

As well as all the old instruments above there are photos of Country heros - Billy Ray Cyrus, Dolly, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson and many more - Drew banned me from standing there taking photos of their photos! So you either have to imagine it or look at this link on Trip Advisor.

We shared a side of Buffalo Tenders, which were two times fried chicken tenders tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce, blue cheese sauce and shallots - It tasted just like the real thing, but without the bones. It was excellent.

Drew opted for an El Diablo which was a Beef patty, cheese, bacon, onion rings, jalapenos, tomato, lettuce, chili sauce, ranch and aioli

Served with chips (or fries as they are called here)

I choose a Cali Stax Double, it included two smashed beef patties, two slices of cheese, tomato, red onion and special sauce - the original has lettuce in it, but I don't like the texture of lettuce in a burger - unlike in the UK it was very easy to get it excluded, evidence that it is all cooked fresh.

I opted for the New Yorker Dirty Fries which had a bed of fries with bacon, pickles, shallots, cheese sauce and smoky BBQ sauce.

A tasty meal breaking all the healthy eating rules, but very enjoyable.

We walked back to the hotel, a few hundred metres away and were in bed by 9pm.