I think I may have been channeling Clark
Griswold from the original National Lampoon Vacation as we headed northward in
DeDe Halcyon, our Tales of the City associated Subaru Outback. I had my list of 'must see' and 'must do' so
we both saw and did!
Armidale
First stop was Armidale, home of my alma mater,
the University of New England, where I discovered my beloved Drummond College has
been overrun by rugger buggers from Robb.
It appears that after generations of unbridled sheep-shagging in the
aforementioned Country Party stronghold, Robb College has finally been
condemned. That came as quite a shock to
the old boys who include amongst their number Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce so the
university, in all of its political wisdom, cleared out Drummond and moved Robb
in there.
Barnaby, before this you were just an
inarticulate cane toad and all-round national embarrassment but now you've made
it personal, you bastard!
 |
| Booloominbah - University of New England |
All that aside it was lovely to catch up with
Shara and Tom share a meal with them. People make a place and we always enjoy our
time with old friends. In fact, most of
this trip is about family and friends as well as the odd place. Armidale is one such place and it holds many
happy memories for me. I find that I
need to return every few years.
Accommodation Tip #1
We stayed at Lindsay House which was a very
impressive doctor's residence when first built during the early 20th century. It later became a women's residence of Armidale
Teachers' College which has been long absorbed into the university. Now restored to its true Edwardian glory if’s
become a boutique hotel. We had one of
the two huge upstairs rooms that overlook the gardens and the park across the
street. I'm giving Lindsay House a great
big thumbs up!
 |
| Lindsay House - Armidale |
Tucker Tip #1
I'm repeating a recommendation from our last
visit to Armidale because it's just so damned good! Check out PJ Thai on Marsh Street. Just look for the big red and white KFC then
ignore it completely and go next door but best book because it's popular and
you'll see why. Their extraordinary fish
cakes are 90% air and 100% flavor - my best yet and I'm a total tod mun tragic.
En Route
This is where the Clark Griswold part of the
trip really kicks in. We motored on up
the New England Highway with the intention of dropping in on an old school
friend who owned the lolly shop in Tenterfield but the new owner told me that
she'd joined the ranks of the megafauna before having a tummy tuck, selling the
business and moving to Tamworth. He
assured me that she was now quite diminutive which is exactly how I remember
her from 45 years ago.
Ergo:
Don't buy a lolly shop and eat the profits.
From there it was on down the escarpment and off
to firstly Bonalbo and then Old Bonalbo for no other reason than a neighbor in
Drummond College made sure that everyone understood she came from Old Bonalbo,
not Bonalbo. Well now that I've been to
both I have to tell you that had I been Leanne I wouldn't have insisted on
setting the record quite so straight!
The best thing about Old Bonalbo is leaving it
and heading north towards Woodenbong.
You drive through the most magnificent patch of remnant rainforest where
straight white gums tower over turpentines and Bangalow palms, all of them
dripping with more epiphytes than you can imagine.
Woodenbong was where my father's family lived
and ran the local newsagency after moving on from Nimbin which was our
destination for the next couple of nights.
As I understand it, Uncle Noel left Woodenbong first then Dad went to
live with his grandparents in the Sydney suburb of Wahoonga so he could finish
high school which was something you couldn't do at Woodenbong back in those
days. Grandma and Pop followed a few
years later which I consider an excellent move.
Spectacular views of Mt Warning and the Border Rangers aside, Woodenbong
has little going for it. I am, however, the
proud holder of both the family nulla nulla and boomerang which were made for
Grandma and Pop by some of the local Aboriginal folk with whom they were
friendly. In fact Pop employed a number
of them.
Nimbin
The old family home in Nimbin was in the throes
of conversion to a B&B last time I passed through town about 25 years ago
so I booked a night on the way back and was their very first guest. The place has changed hands a few times since
but it's still a B&B which in Nimbin these last 45 years is just as likely
to mean Bed & Bong as Bed & Breakfast.
 |
| The old Cawthorne family home - now Blue Gum Lodge |
It was nice to stay in the old place once
again. I visited twice as a kid and the
people who lived there then showed us through but I really only remember the
outside and the front steps. It must have
been quite the grand old Queenslander in its day but now only the front veranda
remains, the others have been closed in to accommodate ensuite bathrooms.
We stayed two nights which gave us a full day out and about and we had
a wonderful time. The Nimbin Markets
were a bit ordinary - the dreadlocks, Jesus and recorder player aside (I do
enjoy a good recorder tune) - but the Thai lunch we had there was so
extraordinary we bought dinner as well and had it on the front veranda of the
house overlooking a slice of Northern NSW paradise.
 |
| Nimbin Rocks |
We bought objet at the local gallery - a lovely
piece of engraved glass which will be a perfect table centrepiece with a candle
inside and the most amazing bird bath which is concrete but looks ceramic. Both are local, both are handmade and they
were both cheap as chips.
We hit the road after that and I have to tell
you the reason the Universe gave DeDe a sunroof is so we can drive through
rainforests with it open. Oh what a joy! It was dripping with epiphytes and there were
the lyrebirds and wallabies galore - we had a wonderful day. Even the mad pink polyester nighty wearing
woman who lives in a shed with her pit bull near the farm of old family friends
was eventually personable - and really quite informative. You just have to go with the flow and put
yourself in the space but not the nighty.
En Route
We drove north from Nimbin through more of the
massive caldera of the long extinct volcano that is responsible for the
uplifts, plugs, ranges and peaks around these parts. The back road over the Border Ranges lays it
all out before you. We hiked down into a
valley to Natural Bridge where a creek goes through a cave and out the other
side. Last time I did that was in 1976
and it's amazing just how much steeper the climb has become in 40 years - it must
be due to erosion!
 |
| On the borderline |
The best thing about having a bad back is having
to stop from time to time and take in the rainforest and its birds. There was a tiny little species of wren no
bigger than a small finch which I found quite fascinating.
Surfers Paradise
Of course the worst thing about having a bad
back was when we got settled in our apartment in Surfers Paradise and took a
short walk down town it seized up after all the climbing. Fortunately there are a lot of benches and
seats in Surfers so we limped our way back in 50m burst. A few vodkas helped ease the pain and relax
nerves and muscles alike.
Accommodation Tip #2
Surfers Paradise is Miami meets Manhattan. Part of our view looked out at Q1 which was
the world's tallest residential building until something in Dubai overtook it
as things in Dubai do. We stayed at the
Imperial Surf again but in a different apartment. This one was on the 18th floor but we
preferred the 12th where we looked straight out at the ocean. Mind you, this year’s digs weren’t shabby. We had a 180' view of ocean, high rise and
the canal developments behind which provided lots to look at and was very
sparkly at night.
You can book direct but I use Stayz which is
where you'll find apartment 12C - my pick.
 |
| Our view in Surfers Paradise |
Tucker Tip #2
As with my ArmidaleTucker Tip, this one is an
echo from last visit that's worthy of another mention. No visit to Surfers will ever be complete for
me without a vegan buffet lunch at Govindas smack in the middle of town on
Surfers Paradise Boulevard. I'm not so
sure about Krishna Consciousness but the food is good. Try the pakoras and kofta with sweet spicy
tomato sauce and mango pickle.
Next time you hear me complain about Sydney’s uncoordinated
traffic lights please remind me about the Gold Coast. We hit every red light between Surfers and
Coolangatta when we went down to have dinner with the two Annies, my good
friends and old colleagues who independently drifted northwards in search of
new directions. Annie Green came about
15 years and is loving it. Anne Anstee
(Gillian to most) is a more recent arrival who is also enjoying the move but
does miss her coffee catch ups in Sydney as is evidenced by her growing
frequent flier points balance.
 |
| Anstee (Gillian), Glenn & Annie |
It was lovely to see them both. There is something very special about shared
histories - I like to think of it as cerebral comfort food. And the Thai food at the restaurant Anstee
took us to wasn't half bad either - once I recovered from the forced march! We had the best night.
Next day was the point of the whole trip, a
visit with Peter’s lovely Aunty Joan who lives on Hope Island with her poodle
Honey who is a most amazingly well behaved little dog - smart too as poodles
generally are. Honey was looking forward
to a ride in the car and didn't care where so wasn't surprised by the excesses
of the Sovereign Islands like I was. The
boats are bigger than houses and the houses are the size of small apartment
building! The “islands” must have been sand banks and
mangroves at one time but no mangrove is safe in Queensland - no reef either!
 |
| Aunty Joan, Peter & Honey |
Tucker Tip #3
Lunch at
George’s at Sanctuary Cove set things right.
It’s worth driving to Queensland just for their creamy garlic prawns on
rice!
I'm pathetic!
Anstee was talking about all the amazing new shops at the revamped Pacific
Fair (like I would care) so we ended up at a nursery nowhere near there where
we bought a burnt orange dwarf bougainvillea and a black-leafed frangipani with
deep red flowers. Something from Versace
or Gucci would have been much easier to carry home.
En Route
After a déjà vu experience with Gold Coast
traffic lights I finally hit the Pacific Motorway and we flew all the way to Ballina
where the dream run changes. That’s where the roadwork starts and continues on
and off down the coast between already completed segments but I must say I’m
very impressed by the progress being made.
We had a couple of stops; the most celebrated
being the iconic Big Banana, the original ‘Big Thing’ where we enjoyed our now
traditional ‘Dick-on-a-Stick’ with nuts of course. It wouldn’t be a ‘Dick-on-a-Stick’ without
nuts!
 |
| Glenn enjoying a Dick on a Stick - with nuts, of course |
Port Macquarie
It took eight and a half hours but we finally
pulled into Port Macquarie, ever so glad to be there and too tired to even contemplate
either of the two restaurants I was keen to try so we hit one of the local
noodle shops for a completely acceptable take away.
Accommodation Tip #3
There are
flasher places in Port but we really enjoyed our River View room at the Water’s
Edge right near the bridge on Buller Street and it’s really not too shabby. The big plus is it’s just a couple of minutes’
walk to a dozen or more restaurants and the outlook is lovely provided you don’t
mind watching the Lycra brigade jogging by on the riverside path each
morning. I don’t know why they can’t
keep their perversions locked up inside a gym where they belong but there you
go!
The reason for stopping in Port Macquarie was to
visit the mum of my old university mate Dave Bailey who is now about 30 years
gone. My how time flies - that’s half my
lifetime or all of poor Dave’s. Our
catch up with Noelene was good as always.
I have happy memories of long weekends with Dave’s family when we’d
drive down from Armidale for some surf, sun and sand. Noelene always welcomed me and I love
catching up with her all these years later.
Tucker Tip #4
The
Oriental Spoon by the bridge on William Street, just a short stroll from the
Water’s Edge, isn’t a half bad Korean restaurant. If you’re thinking of going on a weekend best
book, it’s very popular.
En Route
The final stop in our catch up tour of Northern
NSW and Southern Queensland was in Taree to visit Peter’s cousin Warren and his
wife Lorna who I’ve not previously had the pleasure of meeting. After the truly horrible experience we’ve had
at the hands of Peter’s cousins from the other side of the family, I was delighted to meet Warren and
Lorna.
As a result of that reunion, coupled with time spent visiting lovely
Aunty Joan, I declare Tales of the Subaru
– Northbound 2016 to be a great big Tritton assisted success!
 |
| Peter, Lorna & Warren |
Footnote
We’re still lovin’ DeDe Halcyon, the Subaru
Outback who performed flawlessly and ran on the smell of an oily rag. Our fuel bill has literally halved and she
outperforms faithful old Ali the Nissan Pathfinder in every way. Ali was a real workhorse but very thirsty and
while he could haul a load not too much happened when you put your foot
down. By contrast, DeDe goes, she just
goes!
No comments :
Post a Comment