Wednesday 12 May 2021: Brisbane to Warwick 195 km
For our 4th Apollo campervan trip in the year of Coronavirus we are travelling south and west to NSW and Victoria, returning along the coast and hoping that the borders remain open. Here is the map.
Harrisville


Warwick
After a stop in Boonah (previous photos) to pick up some traditional award winning sausages and in-house smoked bacon from the Elite butcher we continued to Warwick to stay the night at the 1917 Criterion Hotel. There are 32 Heritage listed buildings in Warwick, many constructed from local sandstone.








Unfortunately as we arrived at Warwick the van displayed ABS and ESP warnings meaning the anti-skid and stability control had failed. RACQ determined the vehicle was not safe to drive so next day a replacement was trucked up from Brisbane and at 2pm away we went.

Thursday 13 May 2021: Warwick to Greenup 95 km
To get to Inverell on Friday for Saturday’s parkrun we had to reroute, missing our planned visits to Stanthorpe and Tenterfield. Instead we spent the night at Greenup on the banks of the Bracker Creek, full after recent rain. What a beautiful spot.

Never seen roos swimming before, by the time I grabbed the camera they were gone


Friday 14 May 2021: Greenup to Inverell 180 km

Texas
When Texas was first settled it took its name from the Texas pastoral station. Texas station had been the subject of a land dispute and it was named “Texas” because of the famous 1845 land dispute between Mexico and the USA. Or so it is said.

The town then moved 2 km north to higher ground

Ashford
Ashford is a small rural town about 70 km south of Texas. Most of the shops are now closed.


Inverell
Inverell is a large country town, population about 12,000, in northern NSW. At an elevation of 500m it can get cold, -2°C is on the forecast for parkrun tomorrow but the days are clear and warm.


We didn’t go in for a beer as it is now permanently closed


Saturday 15 May 2021: Inverell to Barraba 155 km

There were 80 starters in spite of the -2°C temperature
Bingara
Bingara is a small, historic, gold and diamond-mining town set in the Gwydir River Valley 70 km west of Inverell. It’s a neat town, the main street lined with old shops dating from the 1880s and 1890s.


Barraba
Barraba is a town with a population of 1,400 in the New England region of NSW. Many buildings, dating from the turn of the 20th century, still have awnings to protect from the heat of the day.


In 2019, with NSW in the grip of one of the worst droughts Australia has ever faced, Sydney artist Fintan Magee was commissioned to paint the town silos. He chose a local water diviner searching for groundwater, using forked sticks. It took him 4 weeks and 280 litres of paint.


The endangered Regent Honeyeater is painted almost out of sight and like the real bird hard to spot