Freezing in Inverell and Glen Innes

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We headed out of town towards Glen Innes, our next place to stay along the route to the coast. One small town, Warialda, had a sign outside the Tourist Info Centre advertising their gem collection, and as we were ready for a short break, we had a look. It was mostly some nice pieces of fossilised wood and a lot of agate. They had a small historical display, too, which had one surprising item in it – the Queen Mary Chocolate Box, a gift from 1925. The box looks more like a sewing box, padded and made of brocade. Fancy putting chocolates in something like that!

Sufficiently rested, we set off for Inverell, the next main town. We stopped there at the Lions Park for a picnic, but it was sunny but freezing with a strong chilling wind. The only sheltered seats were occupied so we braved the open area. We had fun watching the antics of some birds, which took our minds off the temperature. One Willy Wagtail came right under the table looking for scraps – they don’t normally get that close. A Magpie took exception to one of the Magpie Larks and kept loudly snapping his beak at it (funnily, he didn’t mind a second one that was standing right near him. Don’t know what the first had done to upset him!) Later, up in a tree, we saw the two larks dive bombing the Magpie but he totally ignored them.
We then went into the town for a quick look about. The Tourist Info Centre had more gems, including an amazingly colourful display of agate and some petrie dishes with rough sapphires in them. This is sapphire country and I’d love to see if I can find one. The Centre also had a display of some jewellery using the polished local sapphires. I fell in love with a pendant worth $6,855 but Barry wouldn’t let me buy it (don’t know why!) so I took a photo instead (ah well – I can dream it’s mine).

The CBD of Inverell has some lovely Federation and Art Deco buildings which are all beautifully painted and look lovely together. The standout was the pink 1886 Court House, just not sure about the colour.

We then set off on the final leg to Glen Innes. We had been very lucky to have a tail wind helping us along, especially as it started to get quite hilly as we approached the town. We arrived at the Showground at 3.45pm and nearly froze to death getting the van set up. It was even colder and windier than Inverell – 6 degrees but felt like 4 degrees and they were expecting an overnight low of 2 degrees. And I was worried that heading north I would get too hot! Needless to say we kept the heater on overnight.

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Photos

Warialda Tourist Information Centre
This was my favourite piece in their historical collection. It is the Queen Mary Chocolate Box, from 1925. Who would put chocolate into such a rich fabric?

Best Employment, Inverell
How about this for recycling old water towers!

Inverell Tourist Information Centre
An amazing display of Agate. I had no idea it could come in so many colours or look so pretty when polished.

Inverell Tourist Information Centre
Rough Blue Sapphires (unpolished) found in the area. This is what we hope to find.

Inverell Court House
Built in 1886, this was one of the best buildings in the town. Can't decide if I like the colour, though, but it did stand out!