Lithgow – Blackheath – Katoomba

Lithgow proved to be an interesting choice of places to stay.  There are interesting old mining things to see and decent lookouts on the cliffs above town but the town has that disorganised, unplanned layout that gives most mining towns the appearance of being “temporary”.  The only van park in town is full of mine workers in cabins and has the features of the Great Western Highway and the western Coal railway line running at the back fence.  Its pretty hard to miss a coal train running less than 20 metres from your van.  P.S. there is more than one train per day!!

 Lithgow Info Centre

 Lookout cave above town

Carol and Garry managed a drive through the hills above Lithgow and enjoyed a couple of good lookouts.  The lookouts are around the edge of the sandstone cliffs and offer great views but have very basic safety barriers. 

Fabs, Em, and the grandkids met us in Lithgow for the weekend.  We headed to Katoomba and the Scenic World on Saturday morning.  The cable car running across the valley and the old railway running down to the valley floor are newer versions than the ones in place last time we visited in the 80’s.  There is a new cable car running down into the valley and we managed to ride all three.  Elliot and Violet all the rides and showed no fear sitting on the glass floor of the cable car going across the valley and peering the 270 odd metres to the forest floor below.  The new boardwalk around the valley floor is well presented and we enjoyed the whole visit.  This is a very good tourist attraction and we were glad we got there early enough before the coach loads of Asians arrived.  The scenery is fantastic and the tickets are quite reasonably priced.

 Katoomba

 Lookout near 3 Sisters

 Cable car across the valley

 Elliot & Violet enjoying the valley below

 Loaded up on the steep railway

When the coaches arrived it was time for the girls to find some shops and time for Fabs and Garry to hit the Katoomba Golf Course.  Shops are shops but the Golf Course was impressive. Despite being interrupted by a few showers and some bad golf shots from Garry, the course is very interesting. It is a tight course with every hole having a different and interesting layout.  I loved the huge trees that were so pretty and so different to the brigalow trees of CQ.

Next day we headed into the hills for a morning on the Zig Zag Railway.  This is a great day out for olds and young kids alike.  There was an old Queensland Railmotor running on the day we visited.  The trip is just long enough and includes several stops at bridges, stations and workshops.  The volunteers that man the railway give very informative talks about the railways history.

 Qld Railmotor on Zig Zag Railway

 One of the viaducts (bridges) built from local sandstone 143 years ago. No mortar used, the blocks lock together.

 Steam engine undergoing repairs

The kids headed home to Mudgee on Sunday arvo and Garry went for a tour of the Lithgow State Mine and Railway Museum.  This is a very interesting facility and the tour is well worth the $5 fee. The old mine office, shaft pit head, workshops, and   building are very interesting and well kept.  One of the buildings is rented out for themed weddings and functions.  It is necessary that you like old industrial bath houses with mining machines lining the walls and huge union banners hanging from the ceiling dating from the last two centuries of labour day marches.   The railway workshops were full of diesel and steam locos and it was good to be able to climb into them for a closer look.  Carol was very patient during this tour and caught up on some phone calls in the shade of a tree.

 Union Banners hanging in function hall (old powerhouse)

 Diesel & Steam engines being serviced for Museum

 Power Station building on left, pit head, mine workshop/stores building at rear

On our drives around the Blue Mountains we called in to see vans parks at Lake Lyle, close to Lithgow, and Blackheath close in to Katoomba.  Blackheath was a good choice.  It is a small park only a few minutes of the highway but very quiet. 

We visited the Mt Tomah Gardens which are the Blue Mtns Botanic Gardens behind Blackheath.  These gardens are really well presented and contain forest trees from many regions around the world.  It is a very interesting walk with the Blue Mountains always on display in the background.  It is one of the few attractions we have come across that has no charge to enter or no parking fee.

 Mt Tomah - Blue Mtns Bot Gardens

 Herbs from around the world

A couple of minutes further along the street passed the van park in Blackheath and there is a great lookout above the cliffs, waterfalls, and ranges and valleys of the Blue Mountains National park.  The scenery is great and there are a number of really good walks along and down the cliffs.  There are at least 3 large waterfalls in good view and several more visible in the valley below.  The walks are very scenic as they mostly follow the cliffs edge and the wildlife is plentiful.  A lyrebird was scratching beside the path and not concerned about the hikers at all; and a small (50cm) and a large (2.5m) eastern brown snakes decided to share the path as I came along.

 Baby Brown

 Falls beside the Hanging Gardens at Blackheath

 Top of Bridal Vale Falls

 Blue hills

 Clifftop walk follows the edge between falls.

I must mention one of the best antique shops I have seen for a while.  It is the Regent Theatre and café in Blackheath.  The range of old books, clothing, jewellery, furniture, and stuff is amazing and it is all really well lit and presented nicely.  It is not the dark and dusty sort of shop.  Between that and the bookstore next door, a couple of hours were consumed.

Mudgee - Sofala - Bathurst

Saturday morning saw us and the family heading for Rylestone, a small vilage about 30 minutes out of Mudgee. There were farmers markets on and everything was hand made in the area or grown in the area. The plums were the best Garry had eaten in a long time, and our granddaughter thought so too.  A lady was there spinning wool, which really fascinated Violet. The kids loved the animals that were there for sale or to give away; puppies, kittens, chickens, birds but they were not lucky enough to get one.  After a wander down the main street for Garry’s photo session, Garry, Fabian, and Elliot headed for Kandos to play golf. The girls were left to finish looking at the shops and have morning tea and then head over to Kandos which is only about another 7 klms on.  The shops in Kandos were great and a few bargains were found. After golf and shopping we all enjoyed Yum Cha in Rylestone.

 Bridgeview Inn Rylestone - good yum cha

After lunch we went to Dunns Swamp in the Wollemi National Park.  It was an area on a large lake with small beaches where swimming, canoeing and fishing is undertaken. There were large rock formations around the picnic area and Fabian and Emily can see themselves going back again for a day trip or overnight camping. We stopped on the way out of the national Park at a small causeway as Elliot had been driving his grandfather mad to do some metal detecting.  Elliot was so keen that whenever it beeped he was there with the shovel digging for treasure.  Only some bottle tops and an old watch were found but Elliot still thought it was all great fun.  So to keep him interested Fabian buried 2 twenty cent pieces under some stones, there were  two excited grandchildren when they found the coins. Elliot was sure someone had thrown some change out the window on their way home. We called into Windamere Dam, which is on the Cudgegong River above Mudgee.  It is an impressive lake above a rock wall in hills but is only 47% full after heaps of rain.  Fortunately Mudgee has another much larger dam and Lake Burrendong which is near 90% full.

 Fabs and the kids rock climbing at Dunns Swamp

 Elliot filling the pond up.  The weir was built in 1820 odd to provide water to an oil shale operation 20kms downstream. 

 Dunns Swamp

 Detecting in small creek

Sunday we all had another day out to some gold mining areas. First was the town of Hill End were we had morning tea in a local park for the grandchildren to have a run around. Then out to an old gold mine and a short walk to look at the remains of a large Battery Stamper.  Elliot was never far from his grandfather’s side as the 2 of them walked through the bush. Elliot had a million questions to ask about everything there was to see.  On to a lookout at the end of a ridge where we could see an operating underground gold mine down in the valley below. We went on to Sofala which is another very small gold town.  After a beer at the local pub it was onto a café for lunch, which was very enjoyable. Garry then referred to his map of the Sofala gold mining areas and we headed out to do some gold detecting.  Alas, nothing was found.  

 Mudgee Post & Telegraph Office

 At Hill End Goldfields. An operating underground gold mine is located at the bottom of the facing hill.

 Sofala pub. Note the street width - you could hand a beer to the coach passengers passing by!!

 At the Vines Restaurant, Sofala, waiting not so patiently for lunch to arrive.  It was very good when it did.

Monday was our last day in Mudgee and Emily had her first day on canteen duties at school so we had the pleasure of having Violet for the day. The family then came over to the caravan park for roast dinner. So it was farewell to Mudgee and our beautiful family. We have enjoyed our time with them so much.

Having decided there must be gold in them there hills, on Tuesday morning we arrived at Sofala to stay for two nights in a campsite beside the river about 6 kms upstream from the village. We camped on the bank of the Turon River under the she-oaks with about 6 metres and a cute pebble beach between the van and the river. It is really pleasant and very quiet with nothing but the birds and running stream breaking the silence and the nights are so dark.  Garry wanted to continue on with his gold detecting. So he has followed his map and has done a lot of detecting in the hills and gullies nearby; but nothing.  We are not rich from this source of income yet!!

 Relaxing on the bank of the Turon River - beaut free camp location!!

Having decided that all the large lumps of gold must have been found already, we packed the detector away and departed our riverbank campsite and headed for Bathurst.  We found Bathurst to be a very well presented old style town.  It has all the facilities of a city but the heritage houses and buildings are very well presented.  The street lamps along the centre of some streets were a feature.  The Court House and Carrilion housed in a tower opposite in Kings Parade are impressive.  The parks around the Court House are very well kept with statues and gardens full of flowers and many varieties of huge trees.  There was also a Fernery and Begonia House that were impressive for a regional city. 

 Bathurst Court House

 Public Fernery

 Park behind the Court House

 One of many beatiful Begonias

 Carol enjoying the many perfectly formed blooms

 A great example of a well preserved Bathurst building.

Centre Lamp Posts and Railway Station

Of course Garry visited the Motor Museum at Mt Panorama and we both drove around the track.  There are some very neat houses, vineyards and gardens around the track.  The Museum houses some very well preserved cars and motorbikes including Fred Gibsons 1971 XY GTHO, both of the 2 door XC Falcon GT Cobras that Moffat and Bond posed the 1 2 finish in 1977, a Holden or two, and Wayne Gardners bike that he won the World Championship on at Philip Island.  We stayed at the Bathurst Showgrounds which was nice and handy to town with lovely grassed areas to park, huge old trees for shade, and basic clean amenities blocks.  The old pavilions have been extremely well preserved and while the campground is beside the Great Western Highway from Sydney, we were not disturbed by the noise as we were behind the Goat Pavilion. 

 1977 1st & 2nd

 The original muscle car - a race car that was registered for the public roads.

 Wayne Gardners winning Hinda

There is also a Fossil and Mineral Museum in an old school building in the middle of town.  The mineral displays are the best examples and the best presented I have seen to date.  It is largely the collection of a Professor Sommerville and includes minerals from all major mining areas in Australia and also some overseas examples.  There are also two almost complete T-Rex skeletons, one full sized at 5+ metres high and a smaller one at only 2.5 metres high.  They are very interesting and are complemented by a range of excellent fossil displays.  All sorts of shells, fish, crabs, plants, and other creatures fossilised in rock.  This was a surprisingly good display and well worth the $6.50 entry fee.

 Fossilised school of fish

 Fully grown T-Rex skeleton

After stocking up on groceries and catching up on some washing we are headed to Lithgow and the Blue Mountains to meet up with Fabs, Emily, Elliot and Violet for the weekend – but that’s for next week.

Mudgee #2

We have had a lovely week in Mudgee with Fabian, Emily, Elliot and Violet.  On Saturday morning we went to the markets in the church grounds and then had a walk around the main part of town.  Garry and Fabian played in a golf competition on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was Fabian’s birthday and after opening his presents they all rode down to the caravan  park because Fabian received a bike for his birthday. We went to di Lusso Winery for lunch which is not too far out of Mudgee.  It has Italian influenced food and wine.  We had pizza, pasta and nice wine. After a small afternoon nap we had a lovely roast pork dinner at Fabs and Ems. Fabian did the cooking on his hooded BBQ that is part of their outdoor area in the new house.  Fabian and Emily’s neighbours joined us for dinner also.

 Faian on his new bike.

 Waiting for wood fired pizzas at the winery

 Elliot & Violet found a tree to climb

 Inside the Cellar Door shed

Elliot has completed his first week at school which has gone well and he has enjoyed it immensely. We have enjoyed watching Violet at her dance and swimming lessons.  On Thursday Em and Violet came with us to Gulgong for the day.  Gulgong is an old gold mining town and a lot of the old buildings are still in good order and in use.  They have a particularly good and large museum.  The displays are extensive and cover all forms of European occupation in the area over the last 160 odd years.  Garry enjoyed his tour while the girls checked out the shops. 

 One of the many displays at Gulgong Museum

 An old steam tractor

 About 50 buggys and drays are under roof

 

We had a nice lunch at one of the local hotels. 

 Lunch at the Gulgong Prince of Wales Pub

 Violet waiting patiently for lunch

 It was a wet day though with heavy showers coming over throughout the day.  We have had a mixture of weather since arriving in Mudgee. It can be wet, hot and cold all in one day. Friday night we had socks and electric blankets on for bed and Saturday night went to bed with the air conditioning on.

 Gulgong Main Street shops

 Headframe over the gold shaft at Red Hill (Gulgong)

Fabs, Em and kids came to the caravan for dinner on Wednesday night and whilst here, Elliot noticed the river running behind the van park.  So Thursday Grandad obtained some bait and there was fishing on the riverbank Thursday after school, but no luck. Elliot and Violet did enjoy the afternoon.

On Friday morning Emily and Carol went to Leanne’s for morning tea. Leanne and Tim lived in
Tieri and moved to Mudgee just before Fabian and Emily. Leanne had invited a few ladies that had moved down from Tieri, so it was a very nice catch up.

Friday night we all went to the Mudgee Brewing Co. where they brew a few different local beers. Fabs, Em and Garry all enjoyed tasting them and seemed to agree that they weren’t too bad.

 Weather brewing.