We had planned a day of looking round the area today. Our first stop was the Tourist Information Centre at Maclean. They have a gallery at the Centre, with lovely items for sale by local craftspeople. There were some incredible dolls that were so lifelike. The lady who made them had used silicone instead of porcelain for their faces. I'm not really a doll person, but these were amazing.
We really like Maclean and have been there on a number of occasions. It was named in 1862 and quite a few of the early settlers were Scottish. They were mainly Highlanders driven from their land during the war there with the English when they were being cleared out from the Highlands. Several shiploads arrived on free or assisted passages. Many of them became landholders in Maclean and a number of descendants of these early Scottish settlers still live in the local area. Maclean has a big Highland Gathering each Easter.
In Maclean, there are telegraph poles through town decorated with Scottish tartans. We spoke to a lady at the Information Centre. She was telling us that she had been involved in getting it going and that it had taken 3 years. It started up just before the Olympic Torch Relay in 2000 with 10 telegraph poles. There are now more than 200 poles decorated with different tartans.
From Maclean we drove south to Ulmarra. Ulmarra is an 1860's River Port town and the entire village is classified by the National Trust town as well. We usually stop at Ulmarra at a park on the river for a break when driving through, if we are driving through on a long trip. There is an antique shop that we haven't looked through and a timber shop, so we checked them out today. The Wood Shop had some beautiful pieces of furniture and they also sold timber for those who wanted to make their own.
On our way from Ulmarra to Brooms Head (back near Maclean), we stopped at Fredo Pies. Fredo Pies are originally from Frederickton, near Kempsey, but have now expanded to other outlets along the mid north coast of New South Wales. We had tried them once before, and we didn't think we were all that impressed. Bruce decided to give them another go. They had Crocodile, Wild Boar, Kangaroo and Camel, but Bruce decided to try Chicken, Garlic, Honey and Chilli. I had a taste and the flavour was nice but there was a fair bit of sauce and not a lot of substance.
Driving along the road to Brooms Head we came across a sign advising to be on the lookout for emus, and sure enough we spotted a couple. We now have a Shoo Roo (also called Hopper Stoppers) on the front of the car. This makes a high pitched sound as we drive along and keeps the wildlife away from the car - hopefully.
Brooms Head got its name in 1870 when a broom thought to have come from the wreck of the ship "Eureka", was found washed up on the beach. Before that it was known as Cakora Point. We hadn't been to Brooms Head before today. It looks a sleepy little town and is surrounded by Yuraygir National Park. The Yuraygir Coastal Walk goes through Brooms Head, starting at Angourie, which is near Yamba.There is a Council caravan park along the water's edge and we will come back for a stay at another time. We went up on the headland and spotted a whale out to sea. That's our second for this trip. Brooms Head is certainly a lovely spot.
After afternoon tea back at the van, I went for a long walk, although not as long as yesterday. Where we are staying is a good place to walk, as it is level and easy on the knees. I haven't got as much walking done this trip as I would have liked. Lucky I don't have any scales with me!
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