Armidale

I arrived in Armidale, New South Wales on the evening of the 16th and was picked up by Sue Muir, a friend of Doug Holly and Jane Horton of Helena. She gave me a place to stay for as long as I wished to stay in town.

Armidale, NSW is in a region called New England. It is so called because it experiences four distinct seasons during the year, and the hilliness of the region imparts scenery similar to the British countryside. Some of these hills really are like small mountains. I don't think I have ever been more pleased to see little mountains and dry grass, as they both reminded me of Montana.

The first full day I was in Armidale was St Paddy's day. I asked the tourist info office and a music shop if they knew where I could find some music. Both places weren't very sure, but suspected that a couple of the town's pubs might have something. It was only about 10am, so none of the pubs were open yet. Sadly, I didn't go looking for music anyway. Sue would have given me a ride into town at the beginning of the night, I would have had to walk an hour in the rain to get back afterwards. This didn't seem like a worthwhile bet since I had no certainty of a session anyway. I'm a pansy, I know.

I spent Friday wandering around town, seeing its small heritage museum. Saturday was their Fall Festival and parade. I went on a heritage tour before the festival and learned more history of the area than I will ever possibly remember. On Sunday, Sue, her three kids, and I drove to her brother's place, two hours away near a town called Bingara. Their parents had run Herefords on the 4500 acre property, but now Sue's brother runs Wagyu cattle. It was interesting to see how a smaller outfit is run in Australia, or even to see a smaller operation at all.

I am especially grateful to Sue for opening up her house to me, and to Doug and Jane for sharing their connection. This is a very small world.

I've finally gotten around to putting up pictures. Anyone who is on Facebook can find me and see them on my page, or you can go to natecoxmt.shutterfly.com, which was the same site I posted my Ireland pics on.

I will meet Larry in a town called Tamworth tomorrow. He and I had considered getting on with a cotton harvesting crew, but neither of us cared to work twelve-hour days for two months without a day off, so we considered our other options. I would be stunned if anyone guessed it, but Larry and I are set to be...carnies. We had met a girl on a train on the way to Emerald who had mentioned a friend who worked for a carnival. This person had gotten to see a lot of Australia this way, so we were intrigued. We were told we will have accommodation of some kind. We can go to the next town after Tamworth if we want, or we can go our own way if it doesn't work out. I feel a few good stories coming on...