Jacaranda Festival Tour

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Jacaranda Festival Tour
Friday06 November - Sunday 08 November, 2009

The world-renowned Jacaranda Festival is held yearly in Grafton, Northern Rivers New South Wales. It was inaugurated in 1935 and was the first of Australia's folk festivals. It is based upon the magnificent spectacle of the hundreds of lilac-blossomed trees which grow in Grafton's broad tree lined avenues and it expresses the people's thanksgiving for the generosity with which nature has blessed this part of Australia.

Day 01: Friday 06 November, 2009
Today we departed Gympie early morning and travelled to Yamba to commence our 3 Day tour to beautiful Grafton. Our accommodation in Yamba, not far from Grafton, was the perfect base for us to explore the area. After collecting all our passengers we made a stop at the Sharks Leagues Club for lunch. This turned out to be a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other or in some cases to renew friendships from the past. We had one more lady to collect and she had come all the way from Tasmania to join us at Robina. For me its wonderful to see everyone chatting and the excitment of having 25 passengers on board a touring coach is conteagous. Our afternoon touring included a visit to the Macadamia Castle where many took to the opportunity to sample some of the locally grown products. From here we make our way to the Oyster Shores Motel, Yamba which was where we based oursleves for the next 2 Nights


Day 02: Saturday 07 November 2009
Our first stop today was in a little place called Tucabia to visit Squatters Rest - a private museum. Surrounded by vintage tractors, engines and farm machinery there are 16 old style buildings including a replica 1880 cookhouse. Whilst here we were provided with a tour of the old house and marvelled at the fascinating range of rural memorabilia. We were treated to morning tea here today as well as some great yarns and bush poetry recited by Ray Essery - also known affectionaly as "The Mullumbinby Bloke". Ray was hillarious with his yarns and everyone enjoyed our time spent at Squatters Rest. It was then time to make our way to Grafton, the highlight of our short trip. Grafton is a city of tree lined streets and graceful old buildings overlooking the Clarence River. As early as 1866 Grafton council resolved to consider by-laws for the planting and preserving of trees and shrubs in the streets and recreation grounds. There are now some 7000 trees in Grafton and many beautiful parks. The most famous of the trees is of course the Jacaranda which flower each year in October/November. Our first stop was at the Clarence River Visitor Information Centre where iwe watched a spectacular audio-visual film on show that gave a great overview of the district. We were very lucky to be here on the last Saturday of the festival as today was Parade Day. From here we made our way into the town centre and visited some of the award winning gardens. We were in awe of the fantastic display that many of the homes had established. Many long hours and a love of gardening was evident and appreciated by our group. Our last stop before finding a comfortable stop to view the Grand Parade from was to find a very large Jacaranda Tree so that we could have our photo taken as a group. Amid much laughter this was establised and we then returned to the town centre to watch the Grand Float Procession. Unfortunately this turned out to be a bit of a let down as very few floats had the "Jacaranda theme" It was more a promotion of local clubs rather than a Grand Parade but the few that did take the time and effort are to be commended. We should also mention there were several "Scottish" bands, so there was music so long as you like bagpipes! It was a great day exploring the area and we returned to our motel for a late dinner.

Day 03: Sunday 08 November 2009
This morning we said farewell to our hosts and rejoined Highway One for our morning touring towards Ballina - about 100ks to the north. We had an interesting morning stop at the Summerland House with no Steps at Alstonville. The house was originally set up in 1962 in Sydney by Mr Lionel Watts, with the aim of training people with disabilities to work and live independently - and to break down the barriers between people with disabilities and the rest of the community. Summerland House with No Steps is now situated at Alsonville, on 69 hectares of fertile farmland. Summerland House training. Programmes, conducted on this farm, are essential and have resulted in many workers taking their rightful places in society. On the farm they grow avocados, macadamias, citrus fruit, lychees and other sub tropical fruits. They also have a retail nursery. Much to our delight the stone fruits had just been picked and we were able to buy fresh fruit to bring home with us. We enjoyed morning tea there in their coffee shop, and much to our delight we were served by one of the disabled ladies. She was an absolute delight and chatted away with everyone whist she served us. It was on the road again and we make our way back over the Queensland border to complete a fantastic 3 day holiday. We had a farewell lunch at the Beenleigh Taven before we each had to say farewell. It was a great short holiday and I look forward to our next tour out and about somewhere in Australia!

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Photos

Group Photo
The Macadamia Castle

Yamba Foreshore
Sunrise at Yamba