6 Day Armidale & New England Discovery
Departs: Tuesday 1st April 2008
TOUR COST: $1150 pp twin share
Here’s your opportunity to enjoy a Special Holiday with your fellow travelling companions. Early April is a special time to visit the New England area. Staying three nights in Armidale allows time to enjoy the many highlights and attractions of the Grand City of Armidale. Of course on the journey to Armidale there’s bonus touring in Stanthorpe, Tenterfield and Glen Innes plus on the journey home travel via the beautiful Waterfall Way to Grafton for more bonus sightseeing. So many interesting and varied attractions are planned during your 6 day discovery tour...read on to discover the wealth of sightseeing in store for you!
DAY 1 MARYBOROUGH - TOOWOOMBA (LD)
Tuesday 1st April: Welcome aboard! An early start for passengers departing Bay Centro, Hervey Bay at 6.00am, the Maryborough Transit Centre at 6.30am and Gympie (Duck Pond rest area) at 7.35am, other pick ups on request. Travel via Goomeri and Murgon to Kingaroy for our morning break at the Visitors Centre. The Centre has a very good video presentation and next door is the Heritage Museum and Peanut Exhibition. A little further on we visit Belvedere Farm Tours. The Schmocker family has been operating as a cropping enterprise since 1927. Enjoy a guided tour, then a delicious farmstyle lunch with further farm inspections after lunch. The Schmocker's roast their own peanuts so stock up on these delectable treats for the remainder of the tour. Travel on through Dalby to Toowoomba for our overnight stay at the James Street Motor Inn in Toowoomba (Ph 07 4639 0200).
DAY 2 TOOWOOMBA - ARMIDALE (BLD)
Wednesday 2nd April: Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we leave Toowoomba and tour south along the New England Highway on our way to Armidale. Pass through Warwick and into the granite belt at Stanthorpe where we turn off the highway to reach Granite Gardens for our morning break. Terry and Christine Rasmussen have developed their ten acre property into a magical garden with two thousand roses, dreamy blossoms and secret pathways. There is time to meander along the paths and relax before tea and scones are served in their teahouse.
Continuing our tour south, cross over the border into New South Wales to arrive in Tenterfield where we call in at the Sir Henry Parkes Museum. It was here that Sir Henry Parkes delivered his Tenterfield oration which revived the Federation movement which led to the creation of the Australian nation. We will hear his speech before a light lunch is served. The afternoon tour brings us to the Celtic town of Glen Innes. Here visit the Standing Stones and then on to Armidale. Our base for the next three nights will be the Country Comfort Motel (Ph 02 6772 8511).
DAY 3 ARMIDALE HIGHLIGHTS (BLD)
Thursday 3rd April: Following a leisurely breakfast we collect our guide for a city tour which highlights the architecture of the cathedrals, schools, National Trust buildings and the University of New England, including a guided tour of Booloominbah. This beautiful building was erected in 1888 by the White Family and given to the University at its foundation. We then visit the New England Regional Art Museum which houses the important Howard Hinton and Coventry Collections including works by Streeton, Lindsay and Whiteley.
From the town centre journey a short distance to Saumarez Homestead, the most extensive country property owned by the National Trust and one of the first settled grazing properties in the New England area. Lunch will be served before we tour the house and garden for an insight into the lifestyles of the owner and station workers of a bygone era. Our day is completed with wine tasting at Petersons, a winery usually associated with Mudgee and the Hunter Valley. Here they have had to design a special trellis to minimise frost damage in this very cool climate wine area. Suitably fortified, we return to our motel and relax before dinner is served.
DAY 4 THUNDERBOLT COUNTRY & MORE! (BLD)
Friday 4th April: This morning tour south to Uralla which for many years was the haunt of Captain Thunderbolt, “the gentleman bushranger” whose statue now looms over the town's main street. However, our first stop today is the New England Brass and Iron Lace Foundry, the oldest operational foundry in Australia, which over the years has produced most of the lacework and iron columns that grace the historic buildings in the New England region. Enjoy a guided tour before morning tea (included) at the Thunderbolt Pie Company in town.
Learn more about the notorious Captain Thunderbolt at McCrossin's Mill, built in 1870 and converted to a unique and vibrant museum with interesting displays about Thunderbolt and New England history. On to a new attraction Banalasta Oil Plantation. Here join a guided tour of the world's largest Eucalyptus Plantation and Distillery. A delicious lunch is also on the menu along with wine tasting. This afternoon we tour to Walcha, perched on the edge of the tablelands. Time to admire the “open-air sculptures” located around the town. We return via Uralla and tour via Gostwyck Chapel, a beautiful little building covered in Virginia creepers at the end of an avenue of 200 elm trees, a photographers delight, although sadly entry is not permitted. Back to Armidale along the scenic back roads enjoying views across the rolling countryside and return to our motel in Armidale.
DAY 5 ARMIDALE - BALLINA (BLD)
Saturday 5th April: Farewelled by our Armidale hosts we follow the Waterfall Way passing Wollomombi before reaching the L.P. Dutton Trout Hatchery on the Point Lookout Road. Feed the fish and learn how the hatchery supplies trout to the local streams. Enjoy morning tea supplied by your coach captain before we continue through Ebor to the Nymboida Coaching Station. It has been recently restored to maintain the historical atmosphere of the 19th century when Cobb & Co stage coaches and bullock teams stopped here on the woolpack road from Armidale to Grafton.
Lunch is served here in the dining room overlooking the river. The afternoon tour then bypasses Grafton before we have a look at the old river port of Ulmarra on the banks of the Clarence River. On to Maclean for our afternoon break and a visit to the Maclean Bicentennial Museum, which features the districts Scottish history and includes the 100 year old stone cottage built from local sandstone. On to Ballina and our comfortable accommodation for our last night on tour. Overnight Ballina Island Motor Inn (Ph 02 6686 8866).
DAY 6 BALLINA - HERVEY BAY (B)
Sunday 6th April: We depart Ballina on the last day of our holiday to cross the border back into Queensland at Tweed Heads. Superbee Honeyworld is our first stop at Currumbin, where we can see the entire process of honey production and watch the live Bee Keeping Show. Our tour bypasses Brisbane and we stop in Caboolture for our lunch break (own cost). The afternoon tour takes us along the scenic route of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, passing through Landsborough, Maleny and Kenilworth before we arrive in Gympie for a break. Home then to Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the end of our holiday.