Armidale

More rain overnight and we heard on the local radio that Pacific Highway flooded further south.  We had intended to go to Port Macquarie but had to detour.  Crossed over the Great Divide, back into New South Wales, and onto the New England Highway going south to Sydney.  Stopped at Armidale for a few days.  Signed up for free heritage tour which lasted about 3.5 hours.  Great because you got to see buildings whose functions you wouldn’t have realised without the tour.  These are old one room school houses, which have been transported to site. 

Not sure you can make it out but this building is the ‘all weather building’ which was built at every school.  Shelter from the sun and the rain when you ate your lunch.

Armidale is University town in the New England Ranges, or the New England Tableland or the Northern Tableland region of the Great Dividing Range in NSW.  They call it the highest city in Australia – at 950 m !  They say it hasn’t flooded here for years – fingers crossed.  This is Booloominbah, a former 45 room private mansion that now belongs to the University.  Some lovely stained glass windows.  This one depicts the major events of General Gordon, from boy in naval college in bottom pictures to his death in Sudan at the top.

Back of the house.

One of few working railways passes through the town or rather a train still comes here.  Although there is track from Sydney to Brisbane through Armidale (originally called the Northern Tablelands Railway), this is where the Sydney train stops.  One goes to Sydney and another comes from, seven days a week.  Takes about 8 hours, you can drive it in six.  The bridges haven’t been replaced and are a bit delicate, so the train has to slow down when it crosses them.  I imagine the only reason still got a railway is that University town, so lots of kids using it – or maybe not.  Anyway, this was the main route between Sydney and Brisbane at one time.  Apparently is was easier to build a railway through the mountains than along the coast because of the number and the largeness of the rivers that would have to be crossed on the coastal route.  Rhu on a railway trike:

Stock pen.  You see these all over the countryside.