At last we have been on the road again after getting in a bit of a rut constantly working on the house. The plan was to go and see Zoe and Shaun around Christmas so we decided to make a bit of a trip of it as it is a while since we have been away and there is so much to see.
So we hooked up the caravan and, instead of the usual trek down via Sydney, we headed west through the Hunter Valley and along the Golden Highway. Part of the fun of travelling along the smaller roads are the signs which can be spotted along the way. The Golden Highway passes through mining country and there were signs warning of the date of the next planned road closures for mine blasting, but my favourites are the naive names the early settlers gave to some of the places. On this road we traveled through Jump Up Creek and Breakfast Creek (no sign of any water in either of them), then we moved on to the signs for towns that always have a bit of extra information or a slogan on them. Jerry's Plains (settled in 1822) - The gateway to horse country. Anywhere that calls itself a gateway to something is just using code for 'there is absolutely nothing actually here'.
We climbed up and up seemingly endlessly as we crossed the Great Dividing Range. The early settlers failed on many occasions to cross the range further south at the Blue Mountains, if they had tried where we were crossing, they may have found it a little easier as the slopes are more gentle here. The funny thing about crossing the Dividing Range is that you don't seem to descend much on the other side because the rest of New South Wales is on a plateau.
We take it in turns to drive which means we can keep on the move for a considerable time, so we carried on skirting Wollemi National Park where a group of trees were discovered in 1994 that had never been seen before, they are massive and are just another example of how huge Australia is if they could be growing unnoticed until so recently. On through Dingo Gully and past Hill End, a virtual ghost town now that used to be home to thousands during the Gold Rush, we finally reached Bathurst where we had booked to stay in the showground.
This was a fun experience, all reasonably sized country towns seem to have a showground, built around the end of the 19th century and this one has put a few powered sites on one of its grassy areas to get a bit of an income from caravanners. We were pitched between the cattle and sheep pavillions. To my delight it was overlooked by Mount Panorama Racing Circuit, home to the Bathurst 1000!
The public can position themselves on pole (as I did of course) and drive around the entire Mount Panorama circuit! It is really tempting to put your foot down but the place is full of speed traps. There is a vineyard within the circuit and the views are sensational, a real must experience for any motor racing fans. The museum is excellent too and well worth a visit.
We will spend a couple of days here then head for Corryong, over the border in Victoria.