As we left behind the lush greenery of the many trees, bushes, flora whose botanical names escape us, the ocean, rivers, lagoons and lakes of the the coast and the hinterlands behind the Coffs Coast, we were greeted by a profusion of colour of different sorts as we drove into dense rain forest along the Gwyder Highway lined with tall palms, huge orange gums, bright yellow and silver wattle and stringybark trees, all followed by the alpine grasses of the farming country around the New England region. Today saw us travel from sea level to 1068mtres above at the highest point over the Gibaltar Range National Park with its very deep, beautiful valleys and giant granite boulders. We passed through the Mann Valley which was absolutely wonderful but because of the the steep, winding road were unable to capture any good photographs. On cruising into the New England farming countryside we were again greeted with colour though with a winter-tinge still quite evident, something we really noticed because there was such a Spring-feel on the coast. The small selection of photos below don't really do the day justice but you may get some idea of our experiences.
We're camped the night in the Fossickers' Rest Tourist Park, in Inverell. It is a small town, with a population of 10,000, on the picturesque Macintyre River and we have just discovered that Inverell is called the 'Sapphire City' because of the prevalence of the gems and minerals to be found in the district. (In the office at the caravan park there are 10kg bags of 'sapphire' gravel for sale - and T. is sooooo....... tempted! It'd be good for a giggle anyway, and you never know your luck do you!!)
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