Armidale 12 – 14 December 2008

Woke up to a change in the weather, with rain sheets and the temperatures dropping about 20oc. Stopped at Uralla for morning tea and then onto Armidale. This is a special town for us, as it was here (as young students), that we first met. While the centre of Armidale had changed very little, the rest of it had grown and was hardly recognisable. Had a walk around Armidale Teachers College, which was rather sad. It had been amalgamated with the local uni (UNE) in 1989 and after stripping it of any usable assets, proceeded to neglect it for 20 odd years. Recently a community group started to raise funds to restore it and it is being used as a music centre. Luckily, the famous Hinton Art Collection was rescued and we had the opportunity to see part of it exhibited in the local art gallery. On Saturday night, we went out to hear two local bands, one a folk group and the other a rhythm and blues band. Both very good and reminded us of our student days.