It was off to an early start leaving our great little camp at Spring Ridge by 8.30am. We had 385km to do. The distant hilltops were rising above a layer of fog.

It is a large cotton growing area around Spring Ridge and Caroona. Cotton had recently been harvested and many paddocks still had the huge bales waiting to be collected and taken to the cotton gin. Fluffy white cotton lined the sides of the road.

We just had to stop in Tamworth to check out another of Australia’s ‘big Things’, the Golden Guitar.

The big Golden Guitar is a replica of the original golden guitar which was designed as the trophy for the Australasian Country Music Awards when they began in 1973. It stands 12m tall and, just like the smaller original, has no strings. The originals were cast in bronze however this one is made from fibreglass. The big thing was unveiled by many times award winner Slim Dusty in 1988.

Next to the Golden Guitar is the Tamworth Visitors Centre and Cafe. I picked up some brochures for the areas would be going to over the next few weeks.

After a stop for a photo at the Golden Guitar we got back on the road and headed northwards. The New England Highway from Tamworth was very rough and full of pot holes. The rough road continued all the way to Guyra. It also started to drizzle down rain making the day rather gloomy.

We passed through Guyra, a little town between Armidale and Glen Innes, at 1330m above sea level and it really looked like it might snow. It was 6 degrees and drizzling. We were glad to be travelling along in our nice warm moho!

We arrived in the historic town of Glen Innes around 1pm and headed directly to the Australian Standing Stones. We’d been there before but this was a first for Katie and the kids. They went off to explore the stones while I got busy making toasties for everyone’s lunch.

The Stones celebrate the Celtic nations whose descendants came to Australia and many settled in the area. The first white settlers came to Glen Innes in 1838. Those from Scotland and Ireland developed grazing, dairy and mixed farming whilst those from Wales and Cornwall were often gold or tin miners. The Australian Standing Stones were officially dedicated in 1992.

Glen Innes is home to the Annual Celtic Festival held the first weekend in May each year at the Standing Stones and other venues around town. The Festival celebrates Celtic art, music and culture with a focus on a particular area each year. 2026 will be Scotland and 2027 will be Ireland and The Isle of Man. I think it would be a very fun festival to attend.

We had a bit of drama when Katie discovered a tick burying itself into Ben’s neck. How he picked up the tick we’ll never know but Katie was able to remove the offending insect. Ben seemed no worse for wear!

Back on the road northwards and after another 90km we made it to our final destination for the day, Tenterfield, where we’d booked a couple of powered sites at the Showground Campground. I’m glad we’d booked as they had saved two great drive-through sites for us. We were able to drive in opposite ways so our doors and awnings were facing each other. It was good to have power and water hookup and Katie quickly got her little washing machine working.

Katie had school work to do so after setting up the TV for Pa in our motorhome I set off with the kids to go for a walk. It was great to stretch the legs after being in the car since 8am. We wandered through the Showground and found a playground so the kids just had to have a play on that. Then we walked up to the town’s Main Street and along the footpath under the covered verandahs. Maddie and I thought many of the shops looked very interesting and worth a look tomorrow!

We wandered all the way to the Tenterfield Saddlery made famous by the Peter Allen song which he wrote about his grandfather who had been the saddler in Tenterfield for many years. Peter is a local lad who went on to have an international song and dance career. His most famous song would have to be ‘I Still Call Australia Home’.

On our walk we found a skate park and bike track that the kids were eager to try out the next day. We also found the Coles supermarket so we know where to go to get supplies before we head out to Bald Rock National Park. It drizzled rain the whole time we walked and when we arrived back an hour later is was still drizzling.

The boys have asked if they could sleep inside the motorhome due to the rain so Riley got the bed in the Luton and Ben got the blow up mattress on the table, which can be lowered to make a bed. It was cozy and warm inside as our new AC was working beautifully and is so quiet compared to our old clunky compressor one. There was plenty of room for all of us while the rain pattered down. The forecast is for clearing weather the next day and we had our fingers crossed the rain would stop.