Sadly we were notified that Richard’s Aunty Anne had passed away. She was 92. Richard’s dad Bob had three sisters and Anne was the last one of that generation. Her funeral was to be held in Orange on Friday 24th November so we packed up the motorhome and left home on Wednesday 22nd to head towards Orange.

We went via Rankins Springs and stopped briefly in Weethalle to take a photo of their amazing silo art.

Our plan was to head to Ungarie and then Condobolin however when we arrived at the turn off to Ungarie we found it was a gravel road. We really didn’t want to do a gravel road on this trip so we had to drive all the way to West Wyalong then back up to Ungarie. Neither of us had ever been to Ungarie. Arriving in Ungarie we found a tiny town that was obviously a much bigger one in its hey day. The Main Street was lined with lots of closed and boarded up stores from another era. It all looked a bit sad.

Ungarie has a ‘Big Thing’, a big AFL football. The big football is a tribute to four local lads, Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris Daniher. The four brothers all played for Essendon and in Round 22 of the VFL in September 1990 they all played against St Kilda. It’s the first and only time in VFL history that four brothers played on the same team in the same game. They went on to play for NSW and played in 752 AFL games in total. Ungarie is rightly proud of the Daniher brothers.

In the little park behind the big football is an amazing wooden sculpture that was carved with a chainsaw.

The mobile preschool was in action in the park and it was lovely to hear the enthusiastic singing and see the dancing of the children as they practised for their Christmas performance.

Continuing on to Condobolin we had to backtrack 10km from Ungarie to reach the Condo road. We stopped for a lunch break at Ridley’s Rest Area on Humbug Creek. It would be a lovely spot if it wasn’t for all the rubbish lying around. Makes us cross, especially when the council have provided a rubbish bin. Put it in the bin (or if the bin is full, take it with you to the next town). It’s not that hard people!!!

As we approached Condobolin from the south we spied the brand spanking new Tourist Information Centre. Wow, it’s impressive. It was Wednesday 22nd and the new centre was due to be opened on the following Saturday 25th. The stunning new building houses the Tourist Information Centre, toilets, and a cafe with a large deck overlooking the Utes in the Paddock. Council had previously bought a 25 acre paddock to display the quirky painted and decorated Utes.

Utes in the Paddock was the brainchild of Jana and Graham Pickles of Burrawang West Station and was to promote and encourage visitors to the area. It worked and the Utes in the Paddock are a major NSW tourist attraction. There are 20 Utes some of which have been painted by well known artists. We managed to get a look at most of the Utes before the storm that had been threatening really started coming down. So much for our plan to wander along the Lachlan River to Forbes to view the Sculptures down the Lachlan! Looks like we’d have to stay in Condo.

Condobolin is a small country town situated on the banks of the Lachlan River with a population of around 3,500. It has been an important river crossing for many years. The area is part of the huge Wiradjuri nation of First Nations People.

The area was first explored by white men in the early 1800’s and by 1844 squatters had established the ‘Condobolin Run’. Since the early settlers the area has become a prime cropping and sheep and breed producing area.

We did a drive around the little town and stopped off in the pouring rain at the Foodworks to stock up on groceries before heading out of town to Gum Bend Lake.

On the way we came across a mob of kangaroos hopping alongside the road. A few of them made a dash across the road in front of us. All made it except one who kept slipping and sliding on the wet road before finally managing to regain her feet and hop off into the grass. We felt very sorry for her and think she’ll be very sore tomorrow. The mob then hopped along the fence line alongside the road for quite a way before heading into a paddock. A true Aussie driving experience!

Gum Bend Lake is a man-made lake just 3km from Condobolin. It was opened in 1988 as a Bicentennial project and expanded in 1990. It’s a popular spot for water skiing, and has toilets and hot showers, a children’s playground, boat ramp, swimming area and a free camp. You can camp for up to 14 days. They do have a donation box. There is also a walk/cycle path back to town.

We arrived in the rain to find the lake very full and 7 other camps were already set up, one motorhome, one 4WD with a roof top tent and 5 caravans.

Not long after setting up camp for the night, including putting out our awning and getting the chairs out, it started to pour down rain. We haven’t seen rain like that for a long time. The rain lasted for over an hour so we came back inside.

Some crazy people arrived with a ski boat in tow. It really wasn’t skiing weather. They didn’t stay long!

By 6pm the rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing. That gave us a chance to pack our chairs and awning away.

After dinner I went for a walk. It was a pleasant evening as the rain had cooled everything down. I found a wide concrete walkway along past the new amenities block and children’s playground. I met a man walking his dogs and asked if the path goes all the way around the lake. He replied that it did and it’s 3km all the way around. I could do that!

I set off to walk around the lake and wow, I’m impressed with what the Condobolin Council have achieved. The lake is much bigger than I remember with a large island in the middle. The new concrete walking path has been built on the top of the embankment. This has been sown with grass and trees have been planted. Every now and then is a shelter with a seat. As I came back towards the Campground I found another camping area. There were three camps set up there, a couple of vans and a tent. One of the vans had a generator going so I’m glad we didn’t park near them!

As I arrived back at our motorhome the sun was just setting. There was a chorus of noisy Corellas in the tall River Red Gums surrounding the campground. It’s a really lovely spot. Hopefully it wouldn’t be raining the next morning and we could set off towards Forbes to see the Sculptures down the Lachlan.