The National Trust holds an extensive collection of 19th century costumes and textiles here linked to lifestyles and industry in the region. Grossman House and it’s antique rose garden reflects a prosperous Victorian ambiance. We finally arrived at the Palm Valley Motel at Tarro for this evenings accommodation and dined at the Beresfield Bowling Club. 17 March 2014. We started today with a big Aussie BBQ breakfast cooked by Master Chef Merv and his merry band of helpers. Paul Pui was seen happily consuming a BIG BREAKFAST, for which he has become quite famous. It was then time to leave the Motel to take a leisurely drive through the very picturesque countryside and onto the historic town of Morpeth. After a stroll through the village we set off again to Paterson where we had morning tea, then onto Dungog for lunch and finally to the Gloucester Country Lodge Motel. A very special thank you goes to Jim and Merilyn for conducting todays tour. We celebrated St.Patrick’s Day with dinner at the Gloucester Golf & Country Club.
18 March 2014. This morning our ladies visited Karen at the Hillview Herb Farm where they toured the farm before indulging in a scrumptious morning tea and (naturally) some retail therapy. While the ladies were enjoying their ‘women’s secret business’ the men continued down the road to Peter Jackson’s PJ’s Vintage Sheet-Metal for morning tea, a tour and plenty of “men’s secret business”. This afternoon was a scenic drive around Gloucester and tonight’s gigantic dinner was at the Roundabout Inn Hotel. Nobody went home hungry! Rumour has it that Graham Burgess had several bets during the week to see how many ladies he could entice into his Austin 7 for a free ride. Well ... talk about a quick worker ... Graham had several ladies hopping into his car for a quick drive around town and back, and duly won all bets! Sorry Graham, but we said we would tell Maria what you got up to in Gloucester! 19 March 2014. Today we visited Lindy and Matthew Trudgeon at their Trudgalong Farm to see how they have diversified into aquaculture (silver perch), breeding Labrador’s for Vision Australia, farm stay accommodation, horses, alpacas, goats, dog and cat boarding, coach tours and more. You name it and they do it. They have a hard but interesting life living off the land in rural Gloucester. Once again we enjoyed some home ... continued next page ...
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