New South Wales North-West Armidale
Population 22,000
Armidale is situated in the New England Tablelands, part of the Great Dividing
Range which stretches from around Newcastle to the Queensland Border. The
city is surrounded by National Parks - Oxley Wild Rivers National Park,
New England National Park, Cathedral Rock National Park and Beautiful Gorge
Country. Distance from Sydney 563km (35 miles), Melbourne 1268km (788
miles), Brisbane 464km (288 miles), Adelaide 1636km (1017 miles).
Climate
Average temperatures: January max 26C (79F) - min 14C (57F); June max 14C
(57F) - min 2C (36F). Average annual rainfall is 795mm (31 ins). Situated
1000m (3281 ft) above sea level. Armidale has definite seasons, and occasional
snowfalls in winter.
Characteristics
The principal town of the area, it is an education centre with over 8 high
schools and other institutions, and it is the site of New England University.
The surrounding district produces fine merino wool, wheat and fruit.
How to Get There By Bus
Border Coaches, Bus Australia, Trans City and McCaffertys have services
to Armidale from Sydney and Brisbane.
By Rail
There is a daily Countrylink service from Sydney to Tamworth, with a connecting
coach to Armidale.
By Road
From Sydney, via the New England Highway from Newcastle.
From Melbourne, via the Princes or Hume Highways to Sydney; or via the
Newell Highway to Tamworth and then the New England Highway.
From Brisbane, via the Pacific Highway and then either Route 78 from Coffs
Harbour; the Gwydir Highway from Grafton; the Oxley Highway from Port Macquarie;
or the Bruxner Highway from Ballina via the New England Highway through
Tenterfield.
Tourist Information
Armidale Visitor Information Centre is at 82 Marsh Street, (02) 6772 4655
or email armvisit@ northnet.com.au Opening hours are 9am-5pm Mon to Fri,
9am-4pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun. It is closed on public holidays.
Accommodation
Here is a selection with prices for a double room per night, which should
be used as a guide only. The telephone area code is (02).
Armidale Recency Hallmark Inn, 208 Dangar Street, 6772 9800. 40 units,
licensed restaurant, swimming pool, spa, sauna - $110-120.
Deer Park Motor Inn, 72-74 Glen Innes Road, 6772 9999. 24 units, licensed
restaurant (closed Sun), swimming pool, spa, sauna- $100-130.
Alluna Motel, 180 Dangar Street, 6772 6226. 20 units, licensed restaurant,
swimming pool - $65-75.
Acacia Motor Inn, 192 Miller Street, 6772 7733. 15 units, spa, barbecue,
undercover parking - $60-75.
Armidale Rose Villa Motel, New England Highway, 6772 3872. 10 units, undercover
parking, barbecue - $50-75.
Armidale Acres Motel, New England Highway, 6771 1281. 11 units (some with
private facilities), pool, tennis, barbecue - $55-60.
Caravan Parks
Pembroke Tourist and Leisure Park, 39 Waterfall Way, 6772 6470. (Pets allowed
on leash) pool, barbecue, tennis, excellent facilities - powered sites
$20-25 for two, on-site vans $30-40 for two.
Highlander Van Village, 76 Glen Innes Road, 6772 4768. (Dogs allowed on
leash) pool, barbecue, playground - powered sites $16-18 for two, on-site
vans $35 for two.
Eating Out
As usual there are many places to eat in the main street, and the licensed
clubs welcome visitors
.
Armidale Cattleman's Motor Inn, 31 Marsh Street, 6772 7788, has an a la
carte menu, and you can select your wine from the public wine racks.
Moore Park Motor Inn, New England Highway, 6772 2358, also has a licensed
restaurant and cocktail bar which is open seven days.
Ming Court Restaurant, 11 Beardy St, 6772 9363.
Squires Cottage Restaurant, 86 Barney St, 6772 8511
Minio's Restaurant, 201a Brown St (Cnr Markham St), 6771 4555.
Lizabeth's, 208 Dangar St, 6772 9800.
Mandarin Restaurant, 213 Beardy St, 6772 6535.
Points of Interest Central Park is attractive in all seasons, and contains a tourist
directory, rotunda, a memorial fountain and picnic facilities. There
is a signposted Tourist Drive which takes in the main attractions.
University of New England, off Queen Elizabeth Drive,
5km north of town, west of centre, 6773 3333, has 5 faculties
and is hopen for inspection daily 9am-5pm. Booloominbah,
an historic house, is the Administrative Centre. It also
has a deer and kangaroo park.
The Folk Museum, cnr Rusden & Faulkner Streets, 6770 3536, is
classified by the National Trust and has displays of early transport, lighting,
handicrafts, and more, open daily 1-4pm.
The New England Regional Art Museum, Kentucky Street, 6772 5255,
houses the famous Hinton, Armidale City and Coventry Collections, open
Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm.
Other museums include the CB Newling Campus Educational
Museum in Kentucky Street, the Museum of Printery, also in
Kentucky Street, and the Museum of Antiquities in Queen Elizabeath & Madgwick
Drive.
The Berry Best Cafe & Bakehouse on the New England Highway towards
the airport, is the largest hydroponic berry farm in Australia, 6772 5974.
They specialise in pies and strudels, and are open daily 8.30am-6pm.
From Apex Lookout you can obtain a view of the whole city.
St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Dangar Street near Central Park,
is built in Gothic Revival style and has a fine spire, marble sanctuary
and Flemish bondwork, hopen 7am-6pm daily. Nearby is St Peter's Anglican
Cathedral (cnr Dangar & Rusden Streets), which has an Ecclesiastical
Museum with exhibits relating not only to the church itself, but also
to Armidale in general.
Festivals
Woolexpo is held annual in March, and the Arts Festival, lasting about
a week, is held biennially in October.
Facilities
Lawn bowls, trout fishing, golf, squash, swimming pool and tennis.
Outlying Attractions Dangar's Falls
The Falls and Lagoon, 22km (14 miles) south of Armidale, feature a large
rock pool and many species of birds.
Dumaresq Dam, 8km from town, has a boat ramp (only non-powered boats
permitted) and swimming.
Ebor Falls
These are 74km (46 miles) to the east, and it is a delightful picnic spot.
The falls are divided into two with a total drop of 115m (377 ft).
Hillgrove
An old ghost town about 27km (17 miles) east of Armidale, Hillgrove has
been carefully restored to serve as an uncanny reminder of its vibrant
and colourful past.
Wollomombi Falls
The highest falls in Australia, Wollomombi Falls have a drop of 460m (1509
ft).
For rockhounds and gem fossickers: The area has numerous little pockets
which contain sapphires, zircons, topaz, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, jelly
beans, quartz, smokey quartz, grass stone, agate, rhodorite, tourmaline,
petrified wood, and almost anything else you can think of. Inverell, to
the north-west, is one of the more popular fossicking towns.
New South Wales North-West Lightning Ridge
Population 6,000 (est.)
Lightning Ridge is situated 770km (478 miles) north-west of Sydney and
about 60km (37 miles) from the Queensland border.
Climate
The area has long hot summers and short cold winters, with summer temperatures
dropping as much as 20C (68F) degrees at night.
Characteristics
An old fashioned, carefree, 'tomorrow will do if it can't be done today'
atmosphere, which is treasured and preserved by local residents as a
valuable way of life. The only place in the world where a wet pudding
can be seen (the operation which is used to separate opal nobbies from
the clay in which they are found). This area is world famous for its
black and blue opals and that is why it has merited inclusion in this
guide. It attracts many tourists.
How to Get There By Rail & Coach
Trains and buses run from Sydney via Dubbo every day.
By Car
From Sydney travel along the Mitchell Highway to Gilgandra, and then north
along the Castlereagh Highway. The road is bitumen sealed right into
the town itself.
Tourist Information
The Lightning Ridge Tourist Information Centre is in Fred Reece Way 6829
0565. At 51 Morilla Street you will find the Opal Cave Tourist Centre,
6829 0333.
Accommodation
The standard of accommodation is comfortable. Prices included here are
for a double room per night, which should be used as a guide only. The
telephone area code is 02.
Caravan Parks
Crocodile Caravan & Camping Park, Morilla St, 6829 0437. (Pets allowed
on a leash) 30 sites, barbecue, pool - powered sites $14 for two, cabins
$45-55 for two.
Lightning Ridge Caravan Park, Harlequin Street, 6829 0532. (Pets allowed
on leash) 84 sites, barbecue, basic facilities - powered sites $14 for
two, on-site vans $35 for two.
Lightning Ridge Motel Hotel, Onyx Street, 6829 0304. (Pets allowed on a
leash) 47 sites, licensed restaurant, barbecue, pool - powered sites $11
for two, cabins $40-50.
Eating Out
Take-aways or eat-in:
Miners Mate, Lot 4 Opal St, 6829 2725 - Chinese & Thai, open 7 days,
licensed.
Nobby's Restaurant, Onyx St, 6829 0611.
Wong's Restaurant, 14 Opal St, 6829 2330.
Diggers Rest Bistro & Takeaway, Opal St, 6829 2410.
Points of Interest
Visitors can explore the mining fields and fossick for opal. At the Big
Opal Bazaar, 3 Mile Road, you can see opals being cut, and at Spectrum
Mines, Bald Hill Road, 6829 0581, there is a daily film show and an underground
display.
At the Bush Museum, Hatters Flat, 6829 0016, there is memorabilia
from the early mining days. At the Drive-in Mine, 13 Gem Street, old and
new techniques used in mining for opals are displayed and the Walk-in Mine,
1 Bald Hill Field, has underground tours.
Other attractions include Kangaroo Hill Wildlife Park,
6829 0155, the Bottle House Mining Museum, 6829 0618, the
Bird of Paradise Art Gallery, 6829 0538, and the Lightning
Ridge Bore Baths in Pandora Street, 6829 0429.
Festivals
The Great Goat Race is held during Easter and the Opal Festival during
the NSW September school holidays.
Facilities
The town has artesian baths, a children's park with a BMX track, a drive-in
theatre, horse riding facilities, tennis courts, bowling club, golf course
and a pistol club.
Outlying Attractions Walgett
This town is near the junction of the Namoi and Barwon rivers and a little
over 100km (62 miles) from Lightning Ridge. It is surrounded by pastoral
properties stretching far in each direction. Irrigation has opened up large
new areas to cotton, sorghum, maize and other crops. There is good fishing in
the area.
Bourke
A town with its own folklore, Bourke is approximately 300km (186 miles)
south-west of Lightning Ridge, 946km (588 miles) south-west of Brisbane,
and 781km (485 miles) north-west of Sydney. It has been included in this
section as it is even further from anywhere else. Its population varies
but is generally in excess of 5,000 people with a large proportion being
Aboriginal.
The town is 110m (361 ft) above sea level and has an annual rainfall of
325mm (13 ins). The area produces wool and beef, and in recent years cotton
and other irrigated crops have been grown. A cotton gin operates in the
area.
Bourke is situated on the upper banks of the Darling River, and its Post
Office still flies the pennant indicating it is a port, from the days when
boats would travel up and down the Darling transporting goods and produce.
Now the wharves are broken up and hang in mid-air, a symbol of another
era, whilst over the years the river has silted up making such transport
impossible.
The town is considered to be the last before the vast empty centre. Just
about everyone uses the expression "out the back of Bourke" when they want
to describe the loneliness and emptiness of the centre of Australia.
The Bourke Visitor Information Centre is in Anson Street, 6872 2280 or
email tourinfo@lisp. com.au Opening hours are daily 9am-5pm.
