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DESTINATION TAMWORTH

STORY AND PHOTOS: MARK

HINCHLIFFE

T

amworth exists in our

national conscience as

that li le country town

where they like both types

of music, where the guys are all boot-

scootin’ cowboys and where the gals are

charming gingham-wearing warblers.

That’s an understandable

misconception as it has hosted the

National Country Music Awards every

January since 1973. But Tamworth is a

whole lot more than just a country town.

For a start, it’s a city. And it’s a city many

travellers have visited. Some one million

tourists pass through Tamworth every

year, according to Destination Tamworth,

and many of them are motorcycle riders.

Unfortunately, most of those riders only

stay overnight on their way from Sydney

to Brisbane or vice versa, or as the turn-

around point before heading home again. 

We riders usually roll in off the New

England Highway a li le weary from

several hundred kilometres of some of

the best and most challenging riding in

the country — well-known “Ways” such

as Bucke s, Thunderbolts and Clarence,

and highways such as the Oxley, Gwydir

and Bruxner.

By the time we’ve booked into our ►

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