Ian was keen to give his new senior's railcard a workout on something other than our usual train trip down to Sydney and after a bit of thought we plumped for a day trip to the Blue Mountains.
Some serious rugging up was in order as everyone told me it would be very cold up there so, wrapped up in coats, scarves, gloves etc. we left home at 4.45am for the drive to Broadmeadow station in Newcastle where we boarded the train for the two hour journey to Sydney. I have been impressed by all the trains I have used in New South Wales so far. They are reliable, clean and comfortable and have designated quiet carriages, which are great if you got up early and need to have a bit of a snooze. One of our favourite pastimes is to watch people who have not realised they have entered a quiet carriage as they carry on loud conversations on the phone wondering why the other passengers are glaring at them, eventually they generally blush bright red as the understanding dawns or some kind soul puts them straight. 

 We changed onto the Blue Mountains line at Strathfield with no mishaps and were at our destination, Katoomba by 10am where we hopped on a bus to Echo Point.
It was a glorious, sunny day and the views were to die for. The Three Sisters looked sensational bathed in sunshine and we took the recommended clifftop walk through the most breathtaking scenery. I am not good with heights but this was all fine as the paths were very well maintained and were fenced with plenty of lookout points where the view was particularly spectacular, there was even one specially named for our friends who are visiting next year.  Photos do not really do justice to huge panoramic vistas like these and, although I got some nice shots, you really have to go to appreciate the beauty of the area. 
 Our path took us all the way to the Skyway Terminal where the two cable cars and the world's steepest passenger railway begin. This was a bit of a disappointment as it was incredibly windy so wild horses would not have been able to drag me onto the cable car which was swinging around like crazy, so we just wanted to go on the train. Sadly the only tickets sold were to travel on both cable cars, the train and the walkway and it was impossible to only use one element. We did not mind too much though because the terminal (called Scenic World) was absolutely packed and this on a Tuesday in winter outside the school holidays, so we figured the train trip would have been packed too and turned our enjoyment of the place into a bit of a theme park ride. 
Back in Katoomba we stopped at the Paragon Cafe for a coffee. The cafe was 101 years old with all its original fixtures and fittings, and sold gorgeous home made chocolates and cakes displayed in the 1916 glass counters. 

After that we had a nose around the beautiful Carrington Hotel. This was built in 1883 and has been restored to its original glory in recent years. It was all stained glass windows, chandeliers and charming gardens and would be a fantastic place to stay to explore the area. Not for us this time though, we were on our way back home but will be back again now we know it is doable as a day trip and a cheap one too, even for those of us who have to pay full price the whole trip was only about $12 in total. Ian checked his senior's card balance when we reached home and found the whole day out had cost him $2.50 (about £1.50). 

 After leaving White Cliffs we were still way out west and needed to put a few kilometres under our belts. We had to be home by Saturday in order to fulfill our volunteering duties at the Tilligerry Habitat on Sunday, so we decided to head for Hermidale just short of Nyngan. Luckily this journey was all on sealed roads because we were expecting to drive for six or seven hours and the dirt roads slow down progress and can be very tiring. 

The first large town we reached was Wilcannia which was a pretty place on the banks of the Darling River, the indigenous population had a very nice life there until the white folks turned up and spoiled it. Ian told me that when he visited Wilcannia thirty years ago it was a town with a very tense vibe but work has obviously been done on all sides and, on the face of it, the community appear to jog along nicely together. I couldn't help notice that, in the shops and petrol station I visited, all the employees were white so, in my opinion there was still a way to go.
Our fuel supplies were getting low so we were forced to buy some diesel in Wilcannia. Fuel can be ridiculously expensive in remote towns like this so we have got in the habit of filling up our tank and three jerry cans at the cheap petrol station near home before we set off. Whenever we reach a large town or city we look for a United Petroleum garage using the sat nav and top up with their reasonably priced fuel whether we need to or not. That way we pretty much avoid being forced into filling up at remote town prices. With the distances involved in outback travel, it cannot be avoided altogether but we have got it down to a minimum.

 Next coffee stop was Cobar, a big, prosperous copper mining town which was home to the Big Beer Can. We did not stop there long as we were keen to get to our destination and got back on the dead straight road from Wilcannia to Hermidale. When we joined the road the sat nav just said destination 300km, it did not indicate a roundabout, a turning or anything along the route. I drove the next 200km just using the steering wheel as something to lean on then, when Ian took over he had to negotiate one slight bend before we reached our destination. The road was littered with dead kangaroos but although we saw hundreds of wild goats, we never saw a dead one bringing us to the conclusion that goats have better road sense than kangaroos, you may think this is a boring fact but we had to talk about something to keep ourselves awake.
We had planned to park up behind the Hermidale Hotel which offered camping for $10 a night but when we arrived it looked like a bit of a dump so we backtracked a couple of hundred metres and free camped behind the rest area where we were able to build a camp fire. 

After a full day on the road the previous day we decided to only drive for a couple of hours and head for Eumungerie, near Dubbo. The first stop on the road was Nyngan which was a beautiful town with thoughtfully restored buildings and an immaculate park.

 We also found to our delight that Nyngan was home to the Big Bogan - what fun! We were back on the grain train route again past the big silos and, as we left Nyngan, we saw a train being loaded up. That probably explained why Nyngan looked so wealthy compared to its neighbouring towns, the grain was brought there from all around to meet the train turning the town into a bit of a hub for the surrounding areas.
It was a very pleasant drive from Nyngan, past cotton fields with thousands of bales of cotton beside the road awaiting collection and through neat, manicured little towns. Eventually we reached the Oxley Highway which had signs warning of road trains (I just held my breath whenever one of these went by but Ian told me they are nothing compared with the road trains that thunder through the Northern Territory) and onto Eumungerie.
We set up camp in the recreation ground along with a few Grey Nomads who have sold their homes and travel the road permanently with stickers on the backs of their vans declaring 'We are spending our childrens' inheritance' I don't know what happens when they are too old or silly to travel any more, presumably they expect to be looked after by said children - good luck with that! 

 After dinner at the Drover's Dog Pub and a good night's sleep we headed for home. We had been away for three weeks but it felt like longer as we had covered a huge amount of ground and ticked off a number of places we wanted to visit.