This weekend we are visiting friends in Kootingal just to the northeast of Tamworth – The Country Music Capital of Australia.

We made a brief visit to the Tamworth Country Music Hall of Fame, which displays the long history of Australian country music but there was surprisingly little for more recent artists such as the hugely popular Keith Urban. It was also looking quite dated and for such a major music capital it deserves better.

Just a short stroll away is the main street of Tamworth and the usual shops, cafes and supermarkets common to most of the country towns that we have visited so far. It was a good opportunity for me to get a flu jab while for Catherine an absentee vote was in order for the federal elections coming up soon.

Kootingal is a farming community and, like much of New England, is still suffering the effects of drought. Hopefully the overnight rain on Friday will help and signal the arrival of more rain to follow.

An early morning walk by the river was a good reason to rise on Saturday and fortunately the rain had cleared. We followed the path of the well attended Tamworth Park Run held each week. And of course our treat was breakfast and coffee at the Hopscotch cafe by the river.

Another early start on Sunday saw us at the Tamworth Marsupial Park, not just an excellent place to take the children with its own playground but also educational for all ages. It’s a lovely spot in a narrow valley surrounded by trees with the only noise coming from the many native birds on display, especially the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and their many spoken phrases. And not just a ‘Hello’ but ‘Who are you?” and “What are you doing?”. Even a Galah got in on the act.

Of course it wouldn’t be a good weekend without a good pub lunch with friends. It also happened to coincide with a very well attended village market at Currabubula, many of who also had the same idea as us to drop into the local pub for a beer and a bite to eat.