Inverell

We had certainly had a great run of remote off grid campsites in fact we hadn’t plugged the camper into power for a couple of months but at Inverell we fancied playing a bit of golf and doing some mountain biking and so picked a campsite just outside the town centre as our base. It was a little strange camping right next to other people again but the site did back onto a park running next to the Macintyre river so it still felt nice and spacious.

Inverell town itself was a lot bigger than we had thought and we enjoyed walking along the pathway running next to the river right into town. It was really nice to be able to walk directly from our campsite into town to have a look around. The town was really tidy and the original facades above all of the shops had been well maintained. We found ourselves liking Inverell more and more. It has a nice relaxed vibe and you could tell it was a proud town by all the effort that had gone into looking after the place.

So far on the trip we had probably spent more time taking the bikes on and off the camper when we set up but all that was about to change!! It was great to have started mountain biking again in Stanthorpe and we were coming to an area where we knew there were loads of tracks so we were keen to get some degree of fitness back again. Inverell boasts a decent sized mountain bike park and we set off to attack some of the tracks.

Unfortunately we were a little late in starting our ride and so only actually began the course at about 11:30 yet we were so keen and excited that we still decided to do a 5km long intermediate track. At the furthest point of the loop and halfway up what felt like our 20th ascent we both stopped absolutely exhausted and overheating!! Maybe we had bitten off a bit more than we could chew but we took it easy and had plenty of stops and eventually made it back to the Ute.

Not to be deterred we came back later in the week during cooler weather and had a great time on the beginner tracks. Probably a few lessons learned there but to be fair we should have known anyway and once we were doing nice easy tracks we both had a great time. The tracks were great snaking their way through the forest and we had a ball we will definitely be doing plenty more over the coming weeks.

Inverell golf course was just next to the mountain bike tracks and was next on the list. The first of the courses we have played recently with grass on the greens (and mowed grass on the fairways). In fact it was a pretty good course and we played the front nine on one day and returned after the rain to play the second nine. For the record it was a draw on the front nine but I managed to overcome Sarah on the 2nd 9. Needless to say I am feeling a whole lot better and ready to start being active again!!

Inverell was a surprisingly great place to stay and while we thought we would only enjoy a quick 2 day stopover we ended up staying for a week. The town was fun to walk around and had plenty of shops and there were lots of activities to enjoy. We have also got used to daylight saving where we manage to avoid rushing around trying to get fed and washed up by 7 pm and instead can enjoy more of the day as the sun doesn’t go down until 8pm. The lie ins are nice too. T