Monday 21 January 2013

20 & 21 January 2013 – Tamworth Country Music Festival



We farewelled our good friends yesterday morning and packed the van ready to head to a place that Josh and I have been wanting to get to for quite a few years – the Tamworth Country Music Festival.  However, to get there it meant travelling back along the Oxley Highway but this time we were better prepared.  We kept the kids up late the night before, gave them travel tablets before heading off and gave them each a spew bag for just in case.  They both watched a movie and then fell asleep in the car….. before we knew it we had gotten up that mighty mountain and finished with all the twists and bends and came to the mighty Apsley Falls.  This site is not far off the main road and well worth the visit (although if you were to ask the kids they would say differently).  There is a massive gorge with extremely tall slate walls.  It is possible to walk the rim of the gorge but due to limited time, bad weather and the kids non-stop whinging, we opted out and just went to a few of the viewing points.  One of these points showed where there had been a landslide where the wall had cracked and fallen into the river but the river was bare of water on the surface so all you could see below was the remnants of the slate in various size boulders.

The rain started to become a little heavy so we headed back to the car and finished off our drive through Walcha and into Tamworth.  We quickly found our caravan park, set up camp and had a rushed dinner so that we could clean ourselves up ready to head to the Toyota Star Maker show at the Tamworth Entertainment Centre.  We were ushered to our seats in the VIP area (thanks to Josh’s Toyota contacts) and sat back and enjoyed the show.  The 15 finalists were just brilliant and it was hard to pick a favourite.  We were able to SMS our votes through so the kids were pretty vigilant in watching so they could vote wisely.  A few of the previous Star Maker winners also performed including last year’s winner Bob Corbett who was absolutely entertaining and his entire band were brilliant!  The kids had a cd signed at the end of the night as well as a few pics with some of the previous winners.  It was about midnight by the time it finished and the kids slept until around 9.30am this morning – aahhhh heaven!

So today was spent walking along Peel Street being entertained by many buskers and loads of talent, both young and old.  The kids were star-struck when they kept running into the Star Makers from the concert last night and know majority of them by sight and name now.  We finished off the day by grabbing some groceries and then heading back to the van.  Upon getting back, the kids sat down for a game of chess while Josh sat down and planned out which performances we should try and get to over the next few days.  After dinner the kids washed and dried up the dishes and we all grabbed our chairs and gathered with many others in the caravan park to a free performance here put on by a few of the buskers hanging around.  There are so many talented people trying to get a big break but at the same time just loving performing their country music – and we love listening to them!







 
 

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