After leaving Byron Bay we made the steep climb up The Great Dividing Range to Armidale, finally leaving behind the warmth of the north and the constant blue of the ocean. We took a picturesque back road from Grafton through the Dorrigo hinterland and when we stepped out of Big Red at Armidale, only six hours after leaving sunny Byron Bay, we were properly cold for the first time in ten months. During the night the temperature dropped so low that camper was covered in frost in the morning and the dishcloths were frozen to the bench.
We stocked up on provisions and headed into a place called Teralba. Teralba is 600 acres of bush, old farming land, creeks and cliffs in the heart of the Namoi Ranges. Em's dad bought the property in the 1970s with his brother and three friends. There was nothing on the property at the time except an old woodcutter's hut. Over the following years they built a couple of stone huts, a timber house and a mud brick cottage. There was no power, and still isn't so they were all built with hand tools only, which required a lot of time, effort and love. The houses have weathered somewhat over the years and additional caravans and tents accommodate the expanding families. However, the owners and their families (including Em and later Rob) have visited and some have even lived in the isolated peace of Teralba over the years. It is one of our favourite places in the world so it seemed like a good idea to spend some time there as a last stop before heading back to Sydney.
There had been a fair amount of rain over the last year (as those of you living on the east coast would know) so the access road was a little worse for wear, in fact even after travelling over 50,000km around the country, it was probably one of the most challenging roads we've been on. But we made it in to Teralba in one piece and we had no intention to leave any day soon so there was no need to worry about the road for a few weeks yet.
We spent two weeks kicking back Teralba style. We panned for gold in the washed out dam, explored the ruins of the old tin mine, rob built a teepee for Jarvis and a new table for the rest of us, we cooked in the camp oven, ate dinner under the stars on the warmer nights and kept warm in Kim's house on the cold nights. We even had dinner, bonfire and fireworks one night. We toasted marsh mellows, rode motor bikes, played archery, read, painted and enjoyed the company of Em's parents, Kim, Steve, Gretta, Todd and brand new baby Atticus (that's the baby on Todd's front on the quad bike).
We had planned to stay on for a few more weeks. However, Big Red needed a new battery and the weather was turning windy and colder (if that was possible). So we decided to leave with Kate and Mark in case we needed a jump start or other assistance. Suddenly two weeks sooner than we expected we had packed the camper up for the last time and headed the car for Sydney.
