glen innes

glen innes is a large small town in north west NSW.

i liked it there, it is surrounded by national parks and spent several days using the town as a touch point to launch into adventures nearby. i camped in a spot just south called stonehenge recreation reserve (pictured above) which was full of sheep! (pictured below)


i also spent a lot of time dozing/bathing at the local pool (where i saw this butterfly)

i met a bipolar felt artist who was patiently waiting for a manic episode to hit her so she would be ready for an upcoming exhibition..


i met an alpacca farmer who described, in detail, an alternate history/alpacca fan fic where Charles Ledger (champion of alpacca import to australia) had successfully convinced the government 100 years ago to continue investment in the smarter and softer animals rather than siding with the sheep

i made slut spagetti


i painted this at sunset

i was woken up every morning by this guy

jason's mistake

after leaving llangdon i promptly took a wrong turn in the wrong direction, up a road called 'Wards Mistake'.

being out of reception i resolved to see the mistake thru to the end and suffered a long drive through lush rolling pastures, cows and trees all the way to glen innes.

pics from the journey

road

plane

cows

little llangothlin lagoon

a really nice find... a huge world heritage listed pond, filled with birds and kangaroos and 1000s of tiny grasshoppers that scatter like popcorn on approach. day use only but completely deserted so i decided to spend the night. i cycled around the pond (5km dirt track) pursued the entire way by a cloud of flies... here are some pics


abandoned shack


pond

cow

fly selfie

drop toilet


dinner

mother of ducks reserve

i spent 1 night here, just down the road from a BP (that has free hot showers!!!) nice little place aside from the mozzies, i cycled around the town during the afternoon and drew a picture

riverside reserves

nice secluded place..
no one was around which was just perfect for when i got bogged in the mud. i spent an exasperated hour piling sticks and rocks beneath the wheels and revving the engine until finally the van popped out of the ditch as if nothing was ever the matter..


after that experience it was a great relief to find some sculptures on the side of the road

and even better a puppy!!

bellingen

after google maps tried to kill me again leading me off road into a state park, and after hours of driving around with no reception over fallen trees and mud, i found an empty farm and lifted up the back fence and drove through to the road on the other side.

this time i was sure to enter the exact address into google and soon found myself at Nikki's Farm - Casa Eudiamonia

Nikki is a reformed city slicker. she now owns cows


chickens

a pond

and vegetable gardens

she also has a partner Cormack who works on the land with her and has a cousin Jackie visits the farm. Jackie is very cool, she is trained as a medic in the US, was involved in the greek revolution, stood in front of a firing squad in rwanda, saw a man die from a voodoo hex in togo, has set up a vegetable garden in cambodia and has never lived in a single country for more than a decade of her life amongst other things..