Heading home!

The day started cloudy but with no rain. As I headed out of Dubbo the western plains opened out in front of me. The vast spaces really make you feel free. It's looking very green especially after all the rain.

Some of the roads were in need of repair and the couple of areas of dirt were rather tricky with all the pot holes! I called in to Gulgong a town which should be called the museum town as there were three. I was stopped in my tracks at the Henry Lawson museum as they only took cash! I eventually found a note in my bag and was able to enter. It was quite interesting and I found Henry's mother very intriguing. I then wandered around the town and came across another museum only this one was huge. I have never seen so much 'stuff' in one place! When I went into the school room I was taken back in time  - remembering desks with lids, the inkwell holes and do you remember the double opening desks? This place was a historians delight but I got over it after a while and being cold needed to find a cuppa. I did get my cuppa, warmed up and continued on to Mudgee.

The scenery changed from the plains to hills and vines - you definitely knew you were in wine country. A quick stop at the Information centre gave me the info I needed to head to the vineyards. I found a distillery and had a tasting - they were producing gin, orangecello,  butterscotch schnapps and a lemon myrtle drink. He t stop was a recommended winery where I had some food and a tasting - I  must say $75 bottle of wine is wasted on me!! The view over the vineyard was lovely.

It was an amazing sunset tonight.

Today started foggy and became quite patchy after a while. My biggest excitement (??) was when the satnav decided it didn't like my choice of turn and then took me on a 20km trip along dirt roads through farm lands, lots of cattle grids, until finally we reached tar! I did  eventually reach home!

Where will the next blog will come from ????

Now the rain!

Saturday started with a great sunrise but then gradually went downhill as it poured all day!

I was heading down the back roads following the ' Heritage town's and village's information booklet. I'm afraid some of the blurb was well out of date  e.g. 'browse our boutiques' - my idea of a boutique and the closed shops couldn't have been more different. These town's were rather depressing and I don't think it can all be down to Covid!!

From Molong the 'Animals on bikes' trail had me smiling through the rain. It was the idea of a local lady to make the road trip more interesting and I  think she put it the  local landowners about using old bikes and any old rubbish they had lying around to make a structure that was an animal a bike. There were some really great designs.

It was really pleasant to get off the highway just enjoy the countryside. I know that many of these areas are still in drought so I'm sure they were delighted to see the rain. I was very glad to arrive at my accommodation and get out of it! Thankfully this motel has a very good restaurant and I didn't have to go back out in the rain.

Sunday arrived grey and dull but without rain so I headed straight off to the zoo. I decide to walk around rather than do the 5km drive - needless to say I ended up walking 10km! It is a terrific zoo, so much space and there were quite a few new babies on show. I would definately suggest people come to visit.

Another grey day but it didn't look like rain - wrong! I started by walking the length of Dubbo high street -got to get my steps up! The rain started as I headed towards the old Dubbo jail so it was a good place to get undercover. It was an enjoyable visit. Although the exhibits were rather old it was well done and the stories of the inmates were interesting. I would never have survived in the isolation cell - I would probably have been taken out in a straight jacket!

In the afternoon I headed out to Dubbo airport to visit the Royal Flying Doctor centre. Lots of interactive activities, a live map of the planes in the air and its history. This centre was opened at the end of last year. Another very interesting place and good for a rainy day. I have lots of admiration for all those people who live in such isolated spots in Australia. The RFD service is a very important service

A frosty start brrrrr!

I woke to beautiful sunshine but on further investigation the vines and close hills were covered in frost! It did look beautiful but wasn't much fun scraping the ice off the car  - I haven't had to do that for a very long time!

I set off for Canobolas mountain top - cautious driving was needed because of the frosty road. No wonder I keep seeing danger signs about frost and snow!

 It was a great view but very nippy so back into the car to go to Canobolas lake. There's plenty of water in the lake and it was a good walk around it even if the croaking of the frogs was rather deafening!

Even though many trees are bare you can just see the buds starting to appear and it gives you faith that winter is on the way out! The
Wattle is really beautiful. Moorhens were having a great time chasing each other and the lake was looking very picturesque!

It was then time to go and visit a couple of the local Heritage villages. After meandering down unknown back roads I came to Millthorpe. This town's buildings were a step back to the 1900s.  I  enjoyed going in and out of the little shops and ended up at wine tasting shop. After the initial 5 second 'should I, shouldn't I' scenario I felt it was my duty to support the economy! The owner gave me a rundown of the history and I came away with a couple of bottles!

After a pleasant lunch I  headed through Blaney to Carcoar. Carcoar is known as the 'Town that Time Forgot'  - so true it was as dead as a dodo but a very pretty area! Much of this area reminds me of places in England!

Travel during Covid!

As we are not allowed to leave the country I have decided to travel around New South Wales.
Two weeks ago I headed south, down the coast to Batemens Bay - this was one of the areas which had devistating bushfires at the start of the year. I was shocked by how many kilometres of burnt trees I drove through. It was even sadder to see a couple of wombats and a roo dead on the side of the road - they must have somehow survived the fire only to be killed on the road!!

I stayed next to the river, the weather was glorious and I walked a lot, I feasted on oysters and tried to support the local economy with my shopping! The devastation was overwhelming especially in one little place where 17 businesses were burnt to the ground. Now, 2 weeks later they have some Covid cases so will be shut down again.

School has gone back after 2/3 weeks of holiday so I felt it was time to do another roadtrip. This time my decision was to head west and after a 200km drive I'm in Lithgow for the night. The temperature dropped as I drove up and over the Blue mountains but it was such a beautiful day.
The countryside is spectacular and the roads fairly empty.

After booking in at my motel I headed to the Information centre where I had a good chat to a couple of locals and the set me on the right road to a couple of sights. I started at the Blast Furnace Park where the first furnace was built, mainly by Italian workers, in 1906 and was where the iron smelting happened but in the mid 1920's it was decided to move the operation to Port Kembla  - just down the road from me! It was an interesting trip around  the ruins.

A 2km drive up a dirt road  took me to Hassans Walls lookout which at just over 1100m above sea level gives great views over the Blue Mountains. It was a perfect afternoon and was shortly before sunset, rather cold, but it was a spectacular view  - well worth the drive or hike if keen!

With Covid it's hard to know where to eat when you travel  - I must admit that I had bought cheese and biscuits with me as an emergency food source! I  was lucky enough to find a 'pub' that I didn't feel awkward about going into. I have a long and interesting chat with the female owner and we got around to talking about Gin distilleries that were in the local area. She was telling me about a few places to visit. I had a pleasant meal and interesting conversation.

I woke this morning to a frosty car  - it had felt cold during the night but the electric blanket helped! Thankfully by the time I set off the first had melted and the temperature gauge reach 4C! I  headed towards Bathurst hoping to visit a Gin distillery but alas they are closed in the winter! The distilleries had started to make hand sanitiser.  Onward to Orange with another visit to the local Information centre. With a handful of literature I headed towards Canobolas when I found a walk to Towac Pinnacle Lookout