11/11/12

When we woke this morning we were surrounded by cars parked everywhere while people visited the Sunday Markets which had been set up on a grassed area a short distance from our vans. We were planning to leave this morning and the way the cars were parked we couldn't get out. Luckily for us it was not a large market and the people were not staying long. When close cars left I put our table out near the road so no-one could hem me in again. We eventually got away about 9.30am and headed for Orange. We had a quick drive around town until we found the Visitor Information Centre. We went in and had a look around and I bought a small soft toy for my granddaughter, Stella. Then we hit the road again and planned to spend the night at Gulgong. On the way we passed through Molong and had lunch there behind the Information Centre and Craft Shop in a shaded area under wonderful grape vines. When we arrived at Gulgong we found the caravan park had a sign stating the park was full and the office was closed. We had a walk around and found about 14 empty powered sites. Mary-Anne said they could stuff their sites so we continued on. Finally about 3.30pm we found a wonderful privately owned caravan park at Dunedoo with heaps of empty powered sites. We set up camp and spent a restful afternoon.

12/11/12

We woke to brilliant sunny skies and a mild temperature this morning. We decided to spend another day here just to relax and recharge our human batteries. The Mary-Anne did some washing while Karen sat around in her PJ's reading her book. I spent the morning updating the computer diary. The rest of the day we just sat around doing bugger all.

 We were camped very close to the Markets

 The Orange Visitor Centre

 

 The Banjo Patterson Memorial at Orange

 Lunch at Molong under the shady grapevines

 Molong Park

 The Information Centre/Craft Shop at Molong

 Our lovely spacious sites at the Dunedoo Caravan Park

10/11/12

We woke to a cool morning and it was very overcast. At about 9.45am we went to the historic house where former Prime Minister Ben Chifley lived. We took a guided tour through the house and were amazed how a Prime Minister could live in such a humble dwelling.

From there we went to the house of a former local identity, Ida Traill. She was a woman of means and lived in the house from 1938 until she passed away in 1976. The house was built in the 1850's and is a marvellous example of that era's architecture. The grounds are spacious with many beautiful large trees and countless rose gardens. It was a virtual mansion compared to Ben Chifley's humble half duplex home.

We left the Traill house and returned to the Show Grounds. We walked to the dog trials which were being held in the centre area of the main arena and watched the antics of the owners and their dogs for about half an hour before returning to the caravans.

 The Chifley Home & Education Centre

 Ben Chifley's Kitchen

 Ben Chifley's Lighthouse

 

Miss Traill's House

 The beautiful gardens and trees at Miss Traill's House

Beautiful roses

 

 The gardens are sometimes used for weddings

 Lovely shady trees

 Our campsite in the Bathurst Showgrounds

9/11/12

We had a lazy morning and after lunch we had another drive around town. We drove through the back streets and marvelled at the beautiful old brick homes with lovely gardens. The girls wanted to visit Stocklands Shopping Centre and we wandered aimlessly around for 1 hour. Then we went to Aldi and did some serious shopping.

Aldi even sells grog in NSW. What more could you want from a shop?

Later that evening we discovered that a trotting meet was being held in the main arena so we ventured over to have a look. It is good that none of us bet because we didn't pick one winner all night!

Our campsite was not far from the main arena

 We enjoyed the Trots

The beautiful night sky

We sat in the Grand Stand to watch the Trots

8/11/12

We left Lake Lyell and Lithgow at 8.45am and drove straight to Bathurst. We went to the Visitor Information Centre and discovered the Show Grounds had powered sites with water for caravans. We also got directions to Mt Panorama and that was our next port of call. Both cars and caravans did two laps of the famous race track. I was amazed how high up it was at the top of the mountain at Skyline and could not imagine doing 200kph along there. The drive through the Esses was fun and Conrod Straight was fantastic!

After our adrenaline rush we drove back to town and booked into the Show Grounds. After lunch we went for a drive around town and found a mower shop that sold Weber products. Mary-Anne and I each bought a large Weber Q BBQ plate. Then we found the Peace Garden and the Japanese Garden both situated in a large lush green park on the banks of the Macquarie River.

We returned to Mt Panorama so Karen could have a drive around the Mountain. After a fast lap we went to the National Motor Racing Museum. We sat through a video on the history of Mt Panorama from 1938 to 2006 and then viewed all the old racing cars and motor bikes on display. It was good to see there was a large section set aside to honour Peter Brock, The King of the Mountain.

 Mount Panorama

 The Main Straight and The Pit

 Murrays Corner

The caravans 'rearing to go'

 Peace Garden

 Beautiful gardens on the banks of the

Macquarie River

 The Japanese Garden

 Peter Brock - The King of the Mountain

 The National Motor Racing Museum

 Some of the racing cars on display

in the museum

 Part of the Peter Brock Memorial Display

6/11/12

The girls did some washing today and I caught up on a backlog of the blog. We discovered a water leak in the hot water system that had wet a lot of items stored under our bed. I tightened the inlet and outlet connections and will have to wait and see if that fixes the problem. The rest of the day was spent doing nothing but relaxing.

7/11/12

Today we thought we would see some of the attractions of the Blue Mountains. First we drove to the Cool Climate Botanic Gardens at Mt Tomah and spent three and a half hours walking through the grounds. There are plants and trees from many cold countries as well as spectacular views over the Blue Mountains. We also sat through a video of the Blue Mountains. We had lunch in the picnic area before heading off.

We stopped at Pierces Pass Picnic area and were greeted with more spectacular views over the Blue Mountains. Just out of Lithgow we stopped at the Hartley Historic Village. It was a small town established in the late 1800's but went into decline when Lithgow became the major centre for business and Government for the area. There are still a number of old buildings in fairly good repair. The standout building is the old Court House. It was constructed from sandstone in a Greek style. It has beautiful columns at the front entrance and still appears that it could be used if needed. None of the buildings can be accessed so we could only look through the windows.

We continued back to Lithgow and the girls ordered me to stop at a craft shop on the outskirts. It was raining very heavily and I missed the narrow entrance and had to do the block to get back. As usual, it was full of crafty rubbish and I was bored in one minute. Then we went for a drive through town and found the statue of Marjorie Jackson (The Lithgow Flash) who won a gold medal at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952.

 The Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, Mount Tomah

 The Mount Tomah Visitor Centre/Restaurant

 A beautiful view of the gardens and the Blue Mountains

from the Visitor Centre

 

A Water Feature at the gardens

 Some of the lovely plants and flowers

 A beautiful, restful place

 The gardens are well maintained

 We had never seen a Waratah before

 A Coast Redwood - a member of the tallest

living species in the world

The Coast Redwood (on the left!)

 Unusual flowers

 Rock Gardens

 The Hartley Historical Village

 The Hartley Court House

5/11/12

It was a bit cloudy this morning when we were packing up but no rain. We were on the road by 9.45am and drove to Richmond and did some last minute shopping at Aldi. I wanted to drive to Penrith and take the Great Western Highway over the Blue Mountains but Mary-Anne, the great navigator she is, told us there was a connecting road just out of Richmond that connects with the Great Western Highway and bypasses Penrith.

By the time we realised there was no such road we were stuck on a narrow goat track that had more twists and turns than the Gillies Highway at Cairns and was twice as steep, and ten times longer, than the Toowoomba Range road. We straddled vertical precipices while crawling along the narrow track on top of razor back ridges with a thousand feet drop on either side and large semitrailers approaching from the opposite direction. Then there were 80 degree inclines that soared into the heavens for a 1000 metres requiring first gear to keep our forward momentum. As is always the case in life, what goes up must come down. The 80 degree inclines were replaced with 80 degree descents down near vertical strips of narrow black bitumen. It was first gear again with the motor screaming and the pistons trying their best to blow both heads off the engine and all the brake linings glowing red hot and smoking. 

We would eventually make it to the bottom only to crawl up and down again and again and again for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually with melting brake disc rotors and jelly for arms and legs, Karen and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. 

The town of Mt Victoria was a sight for sore eyes. We found the first parking space opposite a beautiful park and stopped. Both of us just sat in our seats, staring straight ahead, trembling from the fear of heights and many near death experiences that Mary-Anne had put us through in the past two hours. Then Mary-Anne came up to us, wearing that Joker smile that never leaves her face and with her head wobbling from side to side said: ' Wasn't that fun!!' That was it. We both jumped out of the car and used the last remaining drops of adrenalin in our terrified bodies and grabbed her by the throat. When we both came too, Karen and I meekly walked to the toilets in the park and changed our underwear. 

After allowing the brakes to cool and the engine to rest we headed off again to Katoomba. We had lunch at Echo Point and then went and viewed the Three Sisters, the vertical tramway and cable cars. Mary-Anne suggested we take a ride on a couple and that it would be fun. I can't repeat what I said in this forum. 

From Katoomba we headed west across the top of the Blue Mountains with a few ups and downs, but none as hairy as coming up, until we reached the wonderful town of Lithgow. We went to the Visitor Information Centre and the very helpful young girl suggested we stay at Lake Lyell. The young girl wasn't exaggerating with her description of Lake Lyell. It really was an oasis in the wilderness. We paid for three nights then set up camp overlooking the lake and we also had power, but no water. 

 The lovely park at Mount Victoria

 The magnificent Blue Mountains from Echo Point

 The Three Sisters

 Lithgow Information Centre

 Lake Lyell and part of the camping area

in the foreground

 Our Lake Lyell campsite

 Lake Lyell