Chitika

Sunday, November 20, 2011

In Land Australia Holiday

By Anton Maverick


If you're driving from Sydney to Brisbane on the New England Road with campervan hire Australia, at approximately the halfway point, you will find the town of Uralla. The name means a central meeting place and Uralla is exactly that. It's a country village with plenty of Australiana and a brilliant history too. It has cafeterias and bakeries, a pub naturally, as well as some excellent cafes.

The area was originally settled on sheep farming and there are still plenty of fully operational sheep stations in the area, with some cattle these days also. As you would expect in the center of some of Australia's best sheep country, there is a wool shop as well as associated woollen fashion items to look at and purchase.

Uralla is roughly 20 kilometres to the south of Armidale which has an airfield and is the major service centre for the area. Local history is not unusual and there is a brilliant antiquarian bookshop there also. There a few wineries in the area also, if that is more to your taste, or you might also visit the historical gold diggings and try your hand.

Uralla also had it's own resident bushranger back in the 1860's when that actual occupation was at the height of it's recognition in Australia. Captain Thunderbolt AKA Fred Ward operated successfully in the Uralla area for a bunch of years prior to being shot by a detective. Thunderbolt's grave in the Uralla trailblazer cemetery is also a favored attraction, as is Thunderbolt's Rock, (granite boulders) south of the city from where he held up many travellers.

Uralla remains a popular stopover with visitors today and it's well worth stopping for a while to absorb the hamlet atmosphere. Today, many intellectuals and artists call Uralla home and they are awfully informed about the area. It's quaintness reminds many of days gone by and a way of life that many more would like to perhaps emulate today.




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