Touring

Anita and I went to Hopscotch for breakfast but it wasn't as good as it has been. I picked up a folding light weight playpen from Kmart for Blue and Tilly. I had planned to drive to the Moonbi Lookout and Manilla. Anita didn't want to come but Chris, Janeene and Hugo were keen.

The lookout is built around and on top of a large granite boulder. It overlooks the highway, the town of Moonbi, and the Moonbi Range. It is not suitable for caravans or large motorhomes.



We set the GPS to take us to Manilla nort east of Tamworth. It was an interesting drive through farmland with rocky outcrops in the background. At Manilla we discovered the main street is a couple of blocks away from the B95 highway known as Fossickers Way. We made lunch selections from the bakery before it closed then explored the town's historic buildings. The 1899 building contains a cafe and gift shop called Manilla Folder.



In town we saw a sign urging the Manilla viaduct be saved. This structure carries the railway line over the Namoi River. The line ceased operations in 1987 and the viaduct has deteriorated. Apparently only three spans will be preserved.


We had read Manilla is internationally famous for having a mountain used by hang gliders, paragliders and other aerial activities so we decided to go see. The road through farmland to the paragliding school soon changed to single lane gravel. At the school a sign indicates Mt Borah is private property but we could enter at our own risk. The road up is closed in wet weather.

Once we started driving up the hill there was no turning back. We saw a hang glider pass above as we negotiated the steep winding single lane track in low gears. We finally came to one of the four launch sites.



The other three launch sites on Mt Borah allow takeoffs when the wind comes from different directions. Last year two paraglider pilots launched from Mt Borah and flew just over 400kms in 10 hours breaking the previous record. The new record holder landed south west of Bourke. 

We didn't feel the need to see all of the launch sites so headed slowly back down the hill after shifting to low range 4WD. As we approached one of the many blind bends Chris managed to take this photo while she also held Hugo on her lap.





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