Copeton Dam
From Bingara we drove towards the Copeton State Recreation Area at the Copeton Dam at the Gwydir River in the New England region. It has a hydro-electric power generator and is also used for irrigation and water supply. The water levels were at 22% when we came so there's hardly any water in there. Luckily, there were also hardly any visitors because we were told in holiday times the camping area can accommodate for 10,000 people... It was peaceful and quiet, had a jumping cushion, a playground and a water park. So we decided to stay for the night and had a great, relaxed day playing.
After getting wet again on the water playground next morning we drove the 35 km to Inverell to have lunch. Its a small city with a beautiful Christmas tree. After a stroll through the main street and something to eat we ran back to the car to avoid getting wet. Big, dark storm clouds were rolling in and further down the road to Glen Innes we stopped to let the rain pass...
Due to the rain we didn't stop in the celtic capital of the New England region, Glen Innes and missed out on the standing stones. But we stopped for the night on a rest stop and took a picture of the this one instead. We also stopped at the Bluff Lookout, where someone had built a picnic shelter right in line with the view. Unfortunately there's no hike there. 2 km down the road was a sign for cherries and we pulled in. Beautiful, big, red cherries and we could even pick a couple straight from the tree. We stuffed 2.4kg cherries in the fridge and continued to Tenterfield, where we filled up water and had morning tea. It's a fairly big town but we wanted to drive on to Girraween National Park to go for a hike. A quick visit in the Information Centre provided us with a map of the Granit Belt region and Sarah with a new colouring in book. Little girls in pink dresses often get presents on the way...
Girraween National Park
Girraween National Park is a beautiful rock hopping area and we decided to stay one night at the castle rock campground. It was so hot when we arrived that we spend some time relaxing and playing before going on a little hike to the Granite Arch (1.6km). Sarah needed a bit of time to get used to walking again but had fun than climbing around. Martin and I remembered that also at our first time here in 2010 the crickets had be that loud! At that time we measured 85-90 db, today it was only 70db :-)
In the evening dark clouds started coming in again and there was a bit of thunder and lightning. Next morning it was still raining a little bit, just a sprinkle so we walked up to 'The Pyramid'. It was a good little hike but with the rain the granite stones of the pyramid were too slippery and it was too dangerous to walk up since the slope is about 40degree with not a lot to hold on to...
