The day had finally arrived, we were off to Dunns Swamp. I’d been looking forward to this for a while. I hoped that it lived up to my expectations as they were pretty high. Cousin Catie says it’s one of her favourite spots and I usually love the same ones she does. So hopefully Dunns Swamp would be all I’d imagined.

It was an orderly and quick pack up from the Riverside Caravan Park in Mudgee and we were driving out of the park by 9am (that’s early for us!)

We needed groceries and had sussed out where we could park when we were riding around town on our ebikes the day before. Most of Mudgee CBD is angle parking and there’s not a lot of parking for long vehicles. We found a street (still with angle parking) that was not as busy and parked parallel across 3 parking spots. There was a car towing a trailer that had done the same thing in front of us.

Just as we parked the motorhome there was a cry from behind us and what a lovely surprise! Our daughter Katie’s best friend from school had pulled up behind us. She’d seen the motorhome and knew it was us. We had a quick chat before she had to head off to her appointment. How lovely it was to see her.

After visiting Woolies for groceries, Bakers’ Delight for bread and the chemist we left Mudgee about 10am headed out on the Lue Road towards Rylstone.

Don’t you love driving in the country? Just out of Mudgee we came across a tractor with a trailer hauling those big round bales of hay. He was so loaded up he took up most of the road. He was just driving along the road. We wondered where he was going.

Lue Road is a narrower back road and had lots of pot holes so it was slower going. There wasn’t a lot of traffic though so we could avoid the pot holes by driving in the middle.

We spied a big old house with lots of chimneys. I quickly googled it and found it is Havilah Station, famous for breeding merino sheep.

First taken up by Nicholas Paget Bayly some time in the 1850s, Havilah Station is located near Mudgee, on the central western slopes of New South Wales. The property, which received its name after a visiting clergyman discovered specks of gold and, citing from Genesis, referred to it as the ‘land of Havilah’, became famous for breeding a fine strain of merino sheep. By the 1870s, breeders were referring to the flock’s offspring as ‘Bayly bloods’ and ‘pure Baylys’. Bayly built an impressive homestead at Havilah, but died in 1879. The following year, Havilah was purchased by Henry Charles White, of Belltrees in the Hunter Valley. Believing that Bayly’s ten-room mansion was too small, White commissioned John Horbury Hunt to draw up plans for extensions. When these were finished in the mid-1880s, the homestead with its two-storey brick wings on the east and west of the house, chapel-like kitchen and massive chimneys was a magnificent building whch is today listed with the National Trust of New South Wales. White, a strong advocate of Bayly’s methods, continued to concentrate on sheep-breeding, but he also developed a stud of race-horses which became famous throughout New South Wales. These dual concerns still predominate on Havilah Station, which remains in the hands of HC White’s descendants.

https://www.nswera.net.au/biogs/UNE0204b.htm

The little village of Lue has two churches, a hall, a few houses, a public school, a pub and not a lot more. It is situated in a lovely valley.

There were bright yellow signs up along the fences on the way protesting against Bowden’s toxic lead mine. Obviously Bowden’s want to build a lead mine and the locals are not having it! It was a very pretty drive through lush green valleys. It looked like perfect sheep and cattle country. No wonder the locals are protesting a mine being built.

On arrival in Rysltone we gave Richard’s brother, David and partner Anni a call to find out where they were as they were to join us for a few days at Dunn’s Swamp. They had camped at Sofala overnight in their motorhome. When Anni answered they had already passed through Kandos and were on the road to Dunns Swamp. We explained we’d fill with fuel and be not far behind them.

A quick refuel in Rylstone and we headed east towards Dunns Swamp. The road was noticeably narrower although it was still a tar road. There was an alert on the National Parks website for the road to Dunns Swamp saying there was roadworks and sure enough it wasn’t long before we came to those. It looked like the road was being tarred all the way with some of it tarred recently. I spied a Gravel Road sign next to where the road is now tar.

Almost at the entrance to Dunns Swamp we came across the roadwork crew. There was a lot of them and their big machinery. They were busy preparing the road for tarring.

We made the turn off and it was now a gravel road through bushland as we entered the Wollomi National Park. Arriving at the Campground we could see the well defined and numbered camp sites, each with their own fire pit. The camps are in set amongst the bush with bush in between each site. Each group of sites has a pit toilet and there is a large site that holds free firewood. Our site was number 3 and we found that quickly then drove around to see if we could find David and Anni. They were on site 66 not too far away.

We quickly settled in to our site and, as we were staying for a week, out came the awning, the mat, the camp chairs and table etc.

Late in the afternoon I got my inflatable kayak out, pumped it up, attached it to our beach wagon with an ocky strap and set off down to the water. Kangaroo Beach is only a 2 minute walk from our campsite. What a lovely place to go for a paddle. I had a 45 minute paddle and it was so relaxing paddling along in the quiet of the bush. I did meet other paddlers but very quickly they were past and I was on my own again.

David and Anni joined us for dinner of steak, chips and salad and we thoroughly enjoyed their company as we sat under our awning. It was a very pleasant evening.

What to do on another day in Mudgee? I know go for a bike ride! We set off on our ebikes and by following the shared path found ourselves across the river at the Glen Willow Regional Sports Complex. This amazing sports complex has ovals, courts, grandstands, amenities blocks etc and covers a huge area. It looks relatively new and we guessed that Mudgee must have received a large grant to make it all possible. I think every outdoor sport was catered for in the huge complex.

Back at camp we both had a read of our books. It was a relaxing day.

Late in the afternoon we went for another ride on our ebikes, this time up and around the CBD. Mudgee has some lovely old buildings. I found a few shops with gorgeous leadlight windows.

We stopped for ice-cream at the ice-cream shop on the corner of Church and Mortimer Streets and sat at an outside table to eat it while people watching.

On the way back to camp we took the shared path through the gorgeous, and very well maintained, Lawson Park which runs alongside the Cudgegong River. There is a sculpture trail along the shared path with some very quirky sculptures. As we were riding along all of a sudden I was swooped by a Magpie. The stupid bird came in for the attack multiple times and I pedalled really fast to get out of its territory. I felt it hit my helmet about three times. How come it didn’t attack Richard’s bright green helmet? Mine’s a boring old white one!

Later we glammed up and walked back into town to have dinner at Kelly’s Irish Pub. This is a great pub and we really enjoyed our meals washed down with a pint.

On the walk back after dinner we saw a sculpture of a woman near the Town Hall and wondered who she was. Turns out she’s Henry Lawson’s mother. Louisa Lawson was born in Mudgee in 1848 and was a publisher, poet, inventor, and mentor as well as Henry’s mother. She was one of Australia’s early suffragettes and worked tirelessly for women’s rights. Louisa died in Sydney in 1920.

First stop after setting off was to the Dubbo Showground to use the Dump point and fill up with water. Thank you Dubbo!

Then it was on to Wellington. As we were going directly to Mudgee, and we’ve been to Wellington quite a few times times, we took the Mudgee turnoff which is before you arrive in Wellington proper.

Only about 7 km out of town on the Goolma Road you come across a huge solar farm. It covers some 316 hectares of once grazing land. It was constructed in 2019 and supplies some 200MW. That’s enough to power 72,500 homes. Wellington Solar is adjacent to another lightsourceBP project, funnily enough, called Wellington North Solar. Wellington North solar produces 425MW. Enough to supply 152,500 homes.

A little further along the Goolma Road is the Wellington Correctional Centre and Macquarie Correctional Centre.

Wellington Correctional Centre is a 400 bed prison. This prison also houses prisoners ‘on remand’. These are prisoners who have been charged by police, refused bail and placed on remand to await trial.

Macquarie Correctional Centre is adjacent but it houses maximum security male offenders. It can hold up to 400 prisoners. Macquarie is an experimental prison where maximum security inmates work 15 hour days and don’t live in cells. Instead they live in dormitory-style pods and take part in art classes and get paid to design and weld furniture. The prison has been open since it was completed in December 2017 and has half the misconduct rates of other maximum security prisons. It also has an eighth of the staff assault rates and the governor attributes this to the safe atmosphere where inmates can focus on development instead of living in fear. One inmate has even completed a PhD!

The countryside from Dubbo to Wellington and onwards was looking quite green with lots of pasture on the rolling hills. Plenty of sheep and cattle were to be seen grazing.

A little further on from the two prisons we spied the huge wind turbines of the Bodangora Wind Farm. This facility produces 113.2MW from its 33 turbines, enough to power 49,000 homes.

After arriving in Mudgee our first stop was to the Tourist Centre to collect some brochures and find out what to do and see in the area. There are lots of wineries, boutique cheese factory, a Honey Haven, olive groves and more. Mudgee is certainly a foodie area.

We found a nice spot for lunch under a tree near the Showground and had a read of all the information we’d collected. Decisions, decisions! Which winery to visit first?

We chose Robert Stein Winery so we could check out their renowned restaurant called Pipeclay, known for its 6 course degustation dinners. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we enjoyed a wine tasting of 4 different whites. This cost $10 for the two of us. The restaurant did look good however one of the courses contained watermelon and I’m allergic to that!

Next stop was the High Valley Cheese Co where we tasted their delicious range and spent up to supply us with cheese for our week out at Dunns Swamp.

After a drive around town to get our bearings we decided to go to Three Tails Brewery & Smokehouse for dinner so we chose the Riverside Caravan Park to stay at as it was walking distance. The little park is right on the Cudgegong River, has large shady trees, grassy sites and although the amenities are old, they were extremely clean. It’s $42 per night for a powered site.

After a quiet afternoon we walked along the shared path next to the Cudgegong River and headed into town to Three Tails Brewery & Smokehouse. This fabulous boutique brewery sells their own craft beer on tap. They have 21 taps and they are the most unusual beer taps I’ve ever seen. Hope the knives are blunt!

It is home to Smokin Bro & Co Texan style BBQ and the Three Tails Kitchen does pub grub and tapas style food. I remember going to a fantastic Texan BBQ in Llano, Texas 10 years ago and wondered if the food here would be as good.

Richard chose the smoky BBQ Chicken Wings and I chose the Tasting plate which came with two meats, 4 sides and a sauce. Rich really enjoyed his chicken wings and I loved the BBQ brisket. The pork was OK too. Both meats just fell apart on the fork. The sides were true Texan style and included BBQ’d corn, Mac & cheese, mixed beans and potato salad. It was way too much food however I did enjoy the corn and potato salad. Having Mac & cheese as a side just seems weird to me!

We both tried the craft beer and each had a schooner of their mid-strength pale ale. It was cold, refreshing and tasty.

After a great nights sleep at Wheogo Park in Forbes we took our ebikes off the bike rack and set off for a ride around Lake Forbes. The shared path goes all around the lake on both sides and it makes for a very pleasant ride or walk.

A couple of the sculptures are right in the town so we rode in there to find them.

We stopped for a delicious coffee at The Bakehouse after asking a local where the best coffee was to be had in Forbes. It was pretty good.

We continued our bike ride all the way back to the motorhome where we packed up and set off to visit to McFeeters Motor Museum. This place is right on the Newell Highway near the entrance to the south side of Forbes and many times we have passed by that way and said ‘we must go there one day”. Well that day we did and what a good thing that was because it’s for sale. Bob McFeeter was there to greet visitors and he told us he’s in his 80’s and is finding it all a bit hard now. He has tried to sell it as a going concern but finding someone with many millions to spare is difficult. He told us he’ll probably sell the building and sell all the cars, motorbikes and other memorabilia separately. He had one car there worth approximately $2,000,000. That’s right $2 million dollars for one car. We reckoned the building alone would be worth $2-3 million.

It was a fascinating display and we enjoyed our visit in spite of the museum looking a bit tired. The cafe was forced to close during Covid and the McFeeters haven’t been able to get anyone interested in taking it over. A bit sad. We wonder what will become of it.

Continuing northwards and we stopped for lunch break at Billabong Creek Rest Area between Forbes and Parkes.

We came across lots of roadworks near Parkes. The road looked like it had been badly affected by floods previously.

The countryside was looking amazing around Parkes. Lots of ripening wheat fields and still plenty of green everywhere. Quite a pretty drive going north on the Newell with blue hills on the right. I think those blue hills in the distance are a uniquely Aussie thing and the colour is due to the eucalyptus trees.

Another thing we’ve never done while traveling on the Newell is to stop in Peak Hill and visit the Peak Hill Gold Mine Experience. Peak Hill began as a gold mining settlement back in the 1890’s and mining continued right up until 2006 with the large open cut mines. The Gold Mine Experience has a variety of walks and well constructed viewing platforms that overlook the open cut mining areas.

The largest of the open cut mines, The Proprietary Open Cut mined from April 1996 to June 2001 and took 95,000 ounces of gold out of the ground. I didn’t realise that Australia is the world’s third largest producer of gold and the third largest holder of gold resources.

We did the walk up and over the hill and this walk goes by the five large open cuts as well as crossing over an area of deep mine shafts. Fortunately there’s a metal walkway over these as they looked very deep.

A sad sight was the remains of miner Paddy Nolan’s house. Not a lot left except some rusting metal, an old metal bed frame and a scattering of bricks from a chimney. Paddy and his wife, Norma raised 6 kids on the spot until Paddy’s death. The original house had a dirt floor and the original two rooms were added to by Paddy with a further two rooms, two sheds and a kitchen. The family had to carry water from the town and heated it over a wood fueled copper. Norma cooked in a camp oven over an open fire. Paddy was killed from a fall over the old open cut in 1969.

The walk around and over the hill took about 30 mins and was well worth the effort. We were glad we stopped to check it out.

About 18km north of Parkes is the tiny town of Tomingley. Just before you arrive the highway crosses over a mine road, part of the Tomingley Gold Project. This is a huge open cut and underground mining project that started in 2014 and has extended their operations to at least 2032. The project has yielded over 500,000 ounces of gold so far. With gold worth about $4,200 an ounce, that’s a lot of money!

Continuing northwards and finally arrived in Dubbo where we went directly to our cousins place and parked under a shady tree in their driveway. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Richard and Robert enjoying sharing a 12 year old Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Richard says it was amazing. It was lovely to catch up with Robert and Fiona before heading off to bed.

Don’t you love going somewhere new? We do! We’d heard of this place but we’d never been there ourselves and we were looking forward to checking out a new camping spot.

So where were we going? Dunns Swamp in the Wollomi National Park, known as Ganguddy by the Dabee people of the Wiradjuri nation.

Dunns Swamp was formed when the Cudgegong River was dammed by the Kandos Weir in the 1920’s. The water was to supply the Kandos Cement Works. The town of Kandos grew to support the Cement Works which was constructed in 1914. For 97 years the Kandos Cement Works supplied cement for many major constructions such as the Sydney Opera House, the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, parts of the underground railway system and many office buildings in the CBD. The Kandos Cement Works finally closed in 2011.

Dunns Swamp is now a 5km long waterway and is a popular spot for kayaking, bush walking and camping.

To get there takes a few days from home so it was on a cloudless, warm, sunny day we set off at lunchtime and headed up the Newell Highway towards Forbes, via West Wyalong.

I was just so pleased to be going somewhere in our beloved motorhome. It makes me cheerful just traveling along. I love how good the views are of the countryside when you sit up so high. We passed by vast fields of golden, almost ripe wheat, freshly baled hay and of course, lots of trucks. The Newell Highway is one of the major inland truck routes and is always busy with heavy transport.

On arrival in Forbes we went directly to the Tourist Centre only to find a lady in Tourist Centre uniform locking up the place and heading home. She did point out where we could get a welcome to Forbes bundle that they prepare for people who arrive out of hours so we grabbed one of those to read.

We drove to a camp spot we have stayed at many times over the years, Wheogo Park. This lovely park is on the banks of the man made Lake Forbes and is provided by the council as a ‘free camp’ for RV travellers. It has a 48 hour limit and a dump point and potable water are available. It is a short walk into the town and the Bowling Club is just across the lake. A walking track encircles the lake and it is often busy with joggers, cyclists, walkers and people walking their dogs.

After setting up followed by a cuppa, we went for a wander along the path. Rich counted 17 RV’s camped for the night. The lake is a haven for water birds and we saw fish jumping. A couple of the sculptures from Sculptures Down the Lachlan are in the park and there are more scattered around town. We plan to ride our ebikes around in the morning to check those out and perhaps visit the Motor Museum.

We had previously followed the Lachlan River from Condobolin to Forbes to see all 13 of the sculptures along Lachlan Valley Way and there are another 12 in Forbes itself.

We crossed the lake and discovered that Griffith is not the only town with a ‘plane on a stick’. Forbes has one too!

On past the Public School and across the road we came to the ‘Bowlo’. A cold beer sounded like a good idea so we found our way to the bar and ordered a couple of schooners. There was no one in the bar and the funny barman said “I’m not sure where you’re going to sit” as though the place was packed!

Back at the motorhome I cooked up a delicious Chicken and Mushroom Rissotto and we ate sitting outside in the cool of the evening.