Day 62: Tue 8 Jul 25 - Inglewood to Inverell

July 08, 2025

Tue 8 Jul 25 - Inglewood to Inverell (Towed 185 km)

Weather: A very chilly 1 Deg, remaining clear and fresh all day reaching a high of 17 Deg.

It was very fresh this morning - thank goodness for the diesel heater. After a warming coffee, I went out for a nice long walk along the 'Macintyre Brook' (a subsidiary of the Macintyre River I assume!), through an Olive plantation to the railway station and back through the township. Walking down the main street past a bakery, the smell of fresh baked bread dragged me inside, and convinced me to buy some fresh croissants for breakfast and a fresh baked loaf of high-top bread for lunch. Back at the van after devouring the croissants with a hot cuppa, we set off for Inverell. First stop was Texas where we took a short detour out of town to check out the painted water tank on the Stanthorpe - Texas Road, then on the way back into town we stopped for a walk through the Texas Rabbit Works. When you think of what makes the wheels of the Australian economy turn today, most people think of mining and agriculture, but in the 1930's it was the feral rabbit industry that was on top. Built in 1928 the Texas rabbit works is the last feral rabbit processing works remaining in Australia. The business only ceased operation in 1992 but between 1930 and 1960, it was a thriving industry when rabbits were in plague proportions throughout the district. Processing up to 6,000 rabbits a day, the rabbit works was a major business in the area. The rabbit works tour was very informative and included an equally interesting presentation on the making of Akubra Hats. Back to town we continued for morning coffee sitting outdoors in the slowly warming sunshine, then we continued 129km along some very ordinary road to Inverell. It was a bit sketchy in places with a lots of road kill including kangaroos, wild pigs, birdlife and one live emu that was reluctant to move off the road. We eventually made it safely to Inverell and set up at the Inverell Caravan Park by 1:30pm. A small park close to town, it is a very modern park with well maintained grounds, and hands down has the best facilities that we have seen in any caravan park that we have stayed at in Australia so far. Overall, the park is impressively clean and well maintained. After lunch (that fresh baked high top bread), we had a cuppa and went for a walk along the Macintyre River into town for a look around. On the way back we stopped to buy a few essentials for dinner and replaced my IPhone screen protector that I shattered when i jammed it in the tail gate of the ute when it unknowingly fell out of my pocket a few days ago - thankfully the screen didn't crack too. Back at the van, we were all feeling a bit weary after a very full day. First impressions of Inverell are very positive, the wonderfull historical buildings and the town's overall good feeling and cleanliness stand out. We are already talking about extending our 2-night stay by a night. We'll decide tomorrow.