We took Bluey for a walk around the local area. Nemingha is an outer suburb of Tamworth with a mixture of houses and rural businesses. A couple of houses had big dogs who scared Blue with their barking. After yesterday’s rain we had to avoid mud and puddles. I bought a coffee from the BP where I kept moving away from a man not wearing his mask properly. He was browsing the shelves and closing in on me until I told him I was trying to keep my distance because his mask was not covering his nose.
Anita made breakfast – banana pancakes with fresh berries and yoghurt – while I cleaned our groundsheets that had some mud on them. We spent time talking with our friends and I continued with my knitting projects.
The mornings are pleasant but by afternoon we retreat to our air conditioned vans. At least we could watch the last day of the Ashes.
Tilly continued to be entertaining. She was tied up but I couldn’t see her. I followed her lead and saw a lump under a groundsheet. She had slipped under for a rest.
This morning we were entertained by critter antics. Hugo was in his little chair when his barking attracted attention. Tilly was almost touching his nose, but completely ignored Hugo’s objections to her incursions into his personal space.
A couple of minutes later Tilly was comfortably reclining in Hugo’s chair, while he was lying in the grass under his motorhome. Maybe we should let Tilly loose on Djokovic to quickly eject him from Australia?
We drove 50kms to the historic village of Manilla. I was there two years ago but Anita had not been before. We parked in a shady spot and walked along both sides of the street, stopping for breakfast at Molly May’s Cafe. We sat at a table on the shady footpath, but there were also tables out the back in the garden. Coffee was good and my breakfast roll was large enough to enjoy half at lunchtime. It was pleasing to see people wearing their masks in this small village of about 2,000 people.
The above building is part of the attractive Imperial Hotel which is no longer trading. Only one of the four pubs in town is still trading. The RSL Club seems to dominate the drinking, dining and entertainment options in town.
This Bank of NSW building no longer operates as a bank, but it is still the most attractive building in town.
Back at our caravan park I gave Bluey a bath using our external warm shower and a large storage box. He then had a trim with scissors. I sat with him in the critters’ playpen to stop his loose fur from blowing away.
Tilly antics continued. She loves being out on her lead and seems particularly fond of this utility pole. I took my small chair into the van but before I could sit down Tilly had settled in.
Storms were accurately forecast for this area. Our other friends arrived and managed to get set up late this afternoon before the worst of the weather. A couple of wicked gusts of wind had me worried about our awning, but so far it is OK. We either put the awning up in the simplest way so that can be quickly rolled up, or go to a lot of trouble using screw pegs to hold the awning securely anchored to the ground. The latter option requires a lot of time and effort to pack everything away.
There was a lightning show to the south of us and I took this shot from a video. There has been enough rain to make the ground muddy, but it has stopped for now.
We drove to Tamworth early so we could get some overdue exercise walking beside the Peel River and on top of the flood levee. Our incentive was breakfast at Hopscotch Cafe. Our food was not brilliant but the coffee is good.
Soon after we sat down in the cafe another of our favourite Roadie musicians parked on the road right outside our table. Kelly Brouhaha is staying in Tamworth and will move to our caravan park in a few days. She was catching up with a friend but had time to give Bluey a cuddle.
Anita needed to have her nails done so I took the shopping home. When she was ready to be picked up I took Tilly and Blue for the drive.
After lunch I settled in for more knitting, while Anita watched the Aussie cricket team struggle on the Tasmanian wicket. Fortunately Head and Green saved the day.
I took Blue for his evening walk and spotted this large burnt out tree trunk. The tree must have been very tall.
It has been humid today and storms are forecast for tomorrow. The sunset views reflect the weather
Committed Travellers 