Coonabarrabran - Armidale via rain and Tamworth

Had a nice breackfast at a place in the main street of Coona. Rain started at about 8am. Before heading out, got petrol (eventually, once the caravan moved out of everyone's way), then visited a gem shop / museum. This was quite remarkable. An exraordiarily professional display of the geological history of the area, and hundreds (if not thousands) of different fossils, minerals, crystals and gems, all beautifully presented with labels and descriptions, and interpretive texts. Admission is free, and no pressure to buy any of the fossils, gems or jewellery that was on sale in the shop.
The dinosaur out the front belied what lay within.

There's lots of evidence of the volcanic history of the area.

Morning tea in Gunnadah.

It's apparently OK to let your herd of cows wander along the road around here.

Lunch in the main street of Tamworth, at Cafe Vivaldi. Very nice.

While in Tamworth, you cant really leave without visiting the Big Golden Guitar. As you might expect, terribly kitsch with a major focus on the selling of tourist trinkets, some rather better (or worse) than others. Also there is a wax museum of a variety of Country singers, but not being into the genre we chose to keep the $20 in our pockets and give it a miss. However, you'll see we had to take the obligatory photo in front of the guitar.

Looking across the way from the guitar, you can see the sort of weather we're having

Continuing on in the sometimes torrential rain, we finally arrived in Armidale. Our hotel was booked via the very efficient information centre. On arrival, it was still bucketing down, so a mad dash to get the key. The rooms are reccently renovated, and what might be classed as "cosy". It's a bit up the hill from the centre of town, so we drove back down and ate at the Wicklow Hotel. This was the best meal so far on the trip, rounded out by a fantastic Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscoth Sauce.

We're expecting 1 degree overnight. Brrr.

Tomorrow, I expect we'll be in Dorrigo.