Our Visit to Glen Innes

A while ago, we had a family trip to Glen Innes to visit an elderly relative -- isn't it amazing to think of my children having a great-great-uncle? My husband's family come from this area so we took a look at various places that his relatives had lived in (and hunted for graves in the cemetery) as well as doing touristy things like visiting the Standing Stones.

We stayed at a farm again, this time Sharron Park, a little south of Glen Innes.


The friendly Crosby family gave us rooms in the original part of their farmhouse. I liked their garden, which mixed various textures beautifully. I am not particularly fond of New Zealand Flax, but I loved this balanced arrangement. Below is the view from our window.







When I was exploring the garden the next morning (we arrived after dark), a friendly face greeted me. I think I was a disappointment -- no sugar!


I have to tell you about the silver service breakfast, presented on an array of antique and vintage crockery. Fresh fruit, fruit compote (I particularly liked the family recipe for Dutch Apple), yoghurt, cereals. Then in came the hot course: beef sausages from their own meat, scrambled eggs from their own chooks, and grilled tomato from the vegetable patch. After we had indulged ourselves, we went exploring. A little later in the morning, we went on a tour of the property.


Here are some of the stock: happy Herefords. I was impressed by how well-wooded New England still was; the Riverina has considerably less tree cover.


Our informative tour took us around the farm and included a hunt for a problem in the electric fencing (which fortunately turned out to be a loose wire rather than a break, probably knocked by a bounding kangaroo). At this time of year the cows were all in calf. We also went out into the old stock route which adjoins the property. These days, the stock routes can be leased for grazing. They are reverting to bush a bit now, and are a good place to find kangaroos. We spotted a couple. Here is one, see it?


No? But it's right in the middle!

Here is another relic of the droving days, part of a temporary yard used when two herds were close to each other.


I would love to show you more, but I've been wrestling with Blogger's picture uploader for over a fortnight with this post, and I've had enough. But if you have the chance to tour this beautiful part of NSW, take it.