What a lovely day we had. We didn’t go anywhere, just had a day reading our books and enjoying our camp amongst the trees.
Richard’s brother David and partner Anni arrived in their Avida Esperance motorhome in the early afternoon and very quickly they were set up.
I had decided to cook us all a camp oven lamb roast and had prepared the vegetables in the morning. Rich had the wood all ready for the fire.
We spent the afternoon chatting and catching up with David and Anni.
Around 3ish we got the fire going so we could have a good bed of coals for the camp oven to sit on. The camp oven was prepared by wiping the inside with olive oil and paper towel. The lamb leg that I’d purchased from a butcher in town was placed in the camp oven. I rubbed it with salt, black pepper and rosemary then onto the hot coals it went. Over the next few hours I rotated the camp oven to ensure the lamb cooked evenly.
The vegetables I cooked in our great little gas cooker that has quite a deep dish with a glass lid. This was set up on the outside table. I also made gravy in a saucepan on the stove inside the motorhome.
While we were chatting the delicious aroma of the cooking lamb wafted around the camp! You can’t beat a lamb roast!
The four of us enjoyed our scrumptious dinner sitting outside around our camp table. Our dinner was accompanied by a 12 year old McWilliams Shiraz that was outstanding. What a great night!
What a freezing cold night it was. We needed the extra blanket! Once I was up and showered I checked the weather for Oberon and it was only going to get to 17 degrees. Brrrrr!
We had planned to visit Mayfield Garden but decided that the weather was too cold to be wandering around a big garden and we just went into town instead. There was a sign at the Reef Reserve Campground for the Men’s Shed. It had a number to call if you wanted firewood.
I did a couple of loads of washing and now we were all caught up but also out of water so filling up was required. Our grey water tank also needed emptying and we couldn’t do that where we were camped.
First stop in town was the dump point to empty the grey water and toilet cassette. There is a pay water filling station however we couldn’t use it to fill up as it requires a cam lock and we don’t have one of those on our water hoses. We will never use the water tap next to the dump station as we just don’t want to take the risk of it being contaminated so we now needed to find a water fill point.
We had a drive around town and found the Showground and inside the Showground was the Men’s Shed. Opposite was the amenities block for campers and right outside was a water tap. Rich went in to see the Men’s Shed people to ask about wood while I got the hoses out to fill our tanks. Rich came back and said they’d told him we could fill up and there was no charge but they didn’t have any wood. They did say that they take bags of wood to the local fishing store in the Main Street and they might have some so that would be our next stop.
LOL they’d also run out of bags of wood! What next? Maybe one of the servos would have some. At last we drove into one of the servo’s and they did have bags of wood. 15kg for $25 so we bought 2. OK wood sorted, water filled, grey tank and cassette emptied. Now what?
As it was nearly lunchtime Rich wanted to know if there was a Chinese restaurant in Oberon. After googling it we found the RSL has a Chinese restaurant and one of the motels also has a Chinese restaurant. We chose the RSL and boy! I’m glad we did. It was the best Chinese meal we’d had since we were in China back in March! We recommend the bistro at the RSL if you are looking for delicious Chinese food in Oberon.
Following lunch we had a bit of a drive around town and we think we found the major employer in the town. The timber mill! It’s enormous and we could see stacks and stacks of timber packed up ready to go out to timber retailers. There looked liked lots of work was going on and we guessed that the mill probably employs the most amount of people in the little town.
Timber mill, Oberon NSW
We drove out to check out Oberon Dam and the dam wall. It was blowing gale out there and there were white caps on the lake. The damming of the Fish River started during WWII to provide a steady source of water for the Shale Oil facility at Glen Davis. The shale oil ran out but the pipeline still runs to Glen Davis supplying town water to the valley.
Lake Oberon supplies water to Lithgow, Bathurst, Oberon and parts of the Blue Mountains. It is also well known as a premier fishing spot. It is regularly stocked with Golden Perch, Murray Cod and Trout.
Oberon Dam wall and spillway. It was freezing!
Oberon is a small country town of only 5,500 people in the area. It is located on a plateau on the Western edge of the Great Dividing Range. It sits at 1113m elevation so the climate is much cooler than home. They even get snow here in Winter!
Explorers Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813 and by 1820 settlers were taking up grants of land along the Fish River. Oberon was originally called Bullocks Flat and permanent settlement began in 1839. The name was changed in 1863 and Oberon was declared a village.
Oberon relies on the passing travellers and sadly since the bridge at Victoria Pass has been closed that passing trade has dried up. The chef at the RSL was telling us how much that has affected the town. Most businesses have noticed the drop in trade and they are all hoping it picks back up when the Victoria Pass is finally opened again next year.
We headed back out the Reef Reserve and as our spot at the car park had been taken we went to one of the other spots I’d noticed yesterday on my walk. We don’t have as good a view of the lake but we are a bit more protected from the very cold wind. I can still glimpse the lake through the trees.
I spent about an hour in the later afternoon with an empty bag and my picker upper going around the camp site picking up rubbish. I collected half a bag of stuff like beer bottle caps, bits of plastic, glass from smashed bottles, toilet paper and even a container of markers left behind by someone. What a lot of rubbish! I do wish people would pick up their rubbish before they leave!
We had a great sleep but woke to a very cold morning. Time for the diesel heater. We stayed in bed until the motorhome warmed up a bit. I felt a bit sorry for the campers nearest us. They were in a roof top tent. I don’t imagine it would be very warm up there!
Our lovely camp at Wombeyan Caves
We thought about the road we had to travel and how it might be a good idea to wait until all the rangers have arrived down in the valley before we set off. This turned out to be a good idea because we only passed one car on the whole way up the narrow winding road.
On the roadworks section though the road crew were working and at one point we had to wait for a grader to pull over to let us go by.
As it was raining yesterday and we couldn’t really see much of the lovely little town of Taralga we drove back there for a look around. What a lovely town with beautifully kept gardens and homes.
Taralga, NSW
After a drive around Taralga we headed northwards again towards Oberon. Once we passed the Wombeyan Caves turnoff the road surface deteriorated badly. It was still a tar road with so many potholes it was hard to miss them. There was a steep climb down to where the road crossed the Abercrombie River then of course a steep climb back up. The motorhome handled it all with no problems. The potholes were not fun though!
I remembered as we passed through Black Springs that we’d camped there once before with Catie & Robert. Then we were on to the last stretch before Oberon. Once in town we found the IGA and parked around the back. Quite by fluke we managed to park opposite the Mitre 10 so we’d be able to get groceries, gas and wood with only one park up!
Groceries done, leg of lamb bought at the butchers, fresh bread from the Vietnamese bakery then back to the motorhome to put it all away. Across to the Mitre 10 for a swap n go gas bottle and a couple of boxes of wood for a fire. We were set!
We made our way out of town to The Reef Reserve. This is a free camp area next to Lake Oberon. Lake Oberon is the town water supply and only unpowered vessels are allowed. Canoes, kayaks and electric powered fishing boats are allowed. It looks like a good lake for fishing. There is a BBQ, toilets, rubbish bins and a boat ramp. You can stay for 72 hours.
We set up camp on the flat-ish carpark backed on to the grass with a concrete fire ring beside us. There was already a campervan and a caravan set up and not long after we arrived a New Age caravan pulled in. We could see a few camps set up among the trees as we drove in.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch and as it was a sunny afternoon I did a load of washing hoping it would dry in the breeze. We had plenty of water as we’d only filled up yesterday.
I went for a walk around the campground and found three other spots that would be good if we get back from touring and this spot is taken. While I was on my walk Rich said he was going to have a read. I arrived back to find him snoring! So much for a read!
Later Rich got the fire going and we were enjoying having a wine and chatting while the sun set behind us. A little while later our neighbours from the New Age came over and joined us. Katrina and Wayne are from the Gold Coast and traveling to Melbourne to go to the Melbourne Cup. How exciting! We enjoyed their company and there was lots of laughs around the campfire.
Wow! what a storm we had last night! It pelted down rain. For us Griffith-ites it was amazing to hear that heavy rain. It’s not often we hear that out our way!
We woke to a bright sunny morning though. The sun was shining and our new solar panels were already working to top up the batteries. Following breakfast in the motorhome we set off walking to the Visitors Centre. First we had to cross the little creek in front of where we are camped. Yesterday the creek bed was just dry stones and pebbles but this morning it was a running creek with a couple of inches of crystal clear water flowing. So we had to carefully use stepping stones to cross then walk across the South End non-powered camp area. In the centre of that area is a large circle fire pit area. The circle is defined by huge rectangular limestone blocks arranged around the circle and then inside the large circle is three smaller circles each with a fire pit. There’s also a large fire pit in the centre.
The people we shared our fire with were still camped nearby in their Explorer motorhome. Lots of kangaroos and wallabies were out and about eating the green grass. We commented that the rangers wouldn’t have to mow very often as the Roos keep the grass neat and even. It must be a good year for the Roos and many of them had joeys in their pouches, sometimes with last year’s joey alongside as well.
Wombeyan Caves Campground
Once we arrived at the Visitors Centre we asked about which tours were available that day and we were lucky to find that a guided tour of Wollondilly Cave was going to be held at 1pm. We could do the self-guided tour of Fig Tree Cave and the Victoria Arch in the morning. We paid the 2 cave price for Seniors of $30 each. We were given a receipt and a token to be used to enter Fig Tree Cave.
From the Visitors Centre you cross the creek over a new looking substantial bridge and follow a well made gravel path up to the top of Wattle Hill. It’s about 500m to the top and the path is quite steep. Halfway up there’s a cantilevered lookout down to the valley below. The valley is so pretty.
At the top we had a brief rest on the chairs while taking in the gorgeous bush views. Who should come along? Amanda and Allan from the other motorhome. They had done the same caves tours yesterday that we were going to do and they decided to do the Mares Forest Walk today. We said farewell and safe travels and headed off to the entrance of Fig Tree Cave. At the locked door you put your token in the slot to open the door and gain entrance inside. Once inside the door closes and there’s no going back!
As you make your way in Fig Tree Cave lights come on ahead of you so you can follow them. I was surprised to see all new-looking stainless steel handrails in place to aid your walk. In a couple of spots along the way a recorded commentary comes on and tells you a bout the features of the cave in that area. It is very well done. Fig Tree Cave is full of beautiful cave decorations including stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone etc. It took us about an hour to make our way through Fig Tree Cave and we came out inside the Victoria Arch. The Victoria Arch was once a cave that had collapsed and is now open to the sky. It is huge!
Fig Tree Cave and Victoria Arch, Wombeyan Caves, NSW
After our tour of Fig Tree Cave and Victoria Arch we wandered back through the campground and had a well earned late morning tea back at camp.
We had to be back at the top of Wattle Hill by 1pm for the start of the next tour of Wollondilly Cave so we set off about 12.20. On the way up we spotted lots of different birds and also a large Goanna who had crawled into an ants next. It was not in a hurry to move on but eventually came out and made its way down the steep hill.
We arrived at the top by 12.45 and were enjoying the rest before the ranger came along. He introduced himself as Robert and we learnt we were the only ones on the tour. We had a very personalised tour. We spent the next 2 hours going up and down steps and ladders and it felt like we were doing spirals underground. It was fascinating. Some of the formations in the cave are stunning. Robert was a great guide with a wealth of knowledge of the geology and topography of the cave.
We enjoyed the tour very much and would recommend it to anyone coming to Wombeyan Caves although you need to have a good degree of mobility to tour Wollondilly Cave as some of the steps are very steep with high risers and some of the steel ladders are very long and steep. There are lots of places where you have duck under rocks and walk along bent over to avoid hitting your head.
Back at camp we filled up our water tanks from the tap across the road and emptied our grey water into the bush away from the creek using our buckets. Chores done and the rest of the afternoon was spent reading and writing.
We had a quiet evening around the campfire and had home made hamburgers for dinner.
The next morning we had a slow start before stopping off at the dump point then continuing back to the Hume Highway and on to Goulburn.
Goulburn is one of those places that we have always driven by on the highway or stopped in only to get fuel and something to eat before continuing our journey. We’d never really taken any time to explore the town. So this day we did.
We spent the morning in Goulburn with a first stop at Bunnings to get a few things. The Bunnings in Goulburn is much bigger than the one in Griffith and we spent longer than neccessary just browsing. They even have a cafe in the store!
Next stop was the to the Garroorigang Historic Homestead but as we drove in a fellow came out to greet us and said he had a bus of 45 people coming in shortly for a tour and would we be able to return after 1.30pm. That was no problem for us so we headed back into town and went to the Visitors Centre. Here we did the usual and talked to the guide about what there is to see in Goulburn. We found out there is a wier on the Wollondilly River and near that is the Historic Waterworks Museuam. That sounded worth a look.
The Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum is well worth a visit and showcases the ingenuity of the Victorian era. The beautiful brick and sandstaone building houses the steam engines that pumped water up to a reservoir that supplied the town with water.
Before 1886 residents of Goulburn would have collected water in tanks or wells, or purchased water from a water carter. The town was growing so the Rivers and Harbours Board had the waterworks constructed next to the Wollondilly River at Rocky Point. The pump was powered by a steam operated beam engine and the water was pumped up to a reservoir then gravity fed to the residents.
The Waterworks were extended in 1897 and again in 1918 and continued to supply water to Goulburn right up to 1977.
The original Appleby Bros steam engine was built in 1883 and is one of four that were installed in pump houses around NSW. It is now the only Applby Bros Beam Engine left in the world and has been lovingly restores and kept in working condition by a dedicated team of volunteers.
Just up the hill from the pump house stand the Fireman’s Cottage. This was built to provide accomodation for the fireman and his family as the fireman was on duty 24/7 because the boiler ran 24/7 and had to be constantly observed and attended to. Now there is a gorgeous cottage garden around the Fireman’s Cottage maintained by volunteers.
We arrived at the Waterworks just as a tour was being given to a group of historic car owners so we tagged along. It was a great tour and we were very impressed at the loving care that’s been shown to the engines and the lovely gardens. We found out that the volunteers hold regular ‘steaming’ days where the engines are fired up so people can see them in action. That would be great to watch.
Historic Waterworks Museum, Goulburn NSW
After a very informative tour at the Waterworks we headed back to Garroorigang Homestead and pulled up in their carpark to make our lunch. Rich decided he’d had enough history for one day and chose to stay back in their carpark motorhome and read his book (have a nap).
Garroorigang began life as The Mulwaree Inn and was built by Charles Thomas in 1857. It was made with locally made bricks and beautiful cedar joinery throughout. The Inn had 12 rooms as well as a brick stable block out the back in the courtyard. There is an 1850’s hand pump over a brick lined well in the middle of the courtyard. The inn was perfectly situated to passing traffic on the way to the goldfields at Araluen. Ben Hall and his gang were once very unwelcome guests.
The Mulwaree Inn only lasted 7 years because of dwindling traffic due to the petering out of gold and the imminent arrival of the railway. The inn was bought by Samuel Harborne Belcher who was an English teacher looking to set up a school. Samuel Belcher and his wife moved to Goulburn in 1862. In 1868 he purchased Garroorigang and the 200 acres around it as a home for his family and for the school. He converted the stables into a classroom, which can still be viewed today, and built a dormitory for the boys (now gone). At its height the school was home to 30 boys, mostly sons of established pioneering families. Famous alumni of the school are the Impressionist painter John Peter Russell, test cricketer H H Massie and the Mort brothers of Goldsborough Mort fame. Some 300 boys were students over the years until the school closed in 1883.
During the time of the school Samuel Harborne Belcher and his wife converted the inn into a gracious gentlemen’s residence. The bar and parlour were converted into a classic Victorian drawing room complete with grand piano and fabulous Victorian furniture. You can still see the trapdoor that led to the original cellar below the bar in one corner of the drawing room.
When Belcher died in 1920 Garroorigang passed to his son Stuart. Stuart had married Annie Jane Hume, the step daughter of Andrew Hamilton Hume. Andrew Hamilton was a nephew of the famous explorer Hamilton Hume. Stuart and Annie moved to Garroorigang in 1920 where they expanded the gardens and cherished the home.
Andrew Hamilton Hume died in 1947 and Annie asked her nephew Stuart Hamilton Hume to move his family to Garroorigang. Stuart Snr and his wife were passionate about preserving the home but as a lived-in home, not a museum. Their son Stuart and his wife Anna now live in the home and along with Stuart’s sister Jenny run tours of the home
I spent the next hour with the Stuart and Anna. What a great tour! It is fascinating to tour an historic house with one of the descendants who grew up and still lives in the house. Stuart and Anna pointed out tapestries that his mother had made when she was in her nineties. She lived until she was 100. Imagine having the ability to sew tapestries at that age. Her eyesight must have been very good!
The house is full of historic Victorian and colonial furniture and bric a brac collected by a long line of Humes. Silverware, crystal, tons of family photos and favourite pieces of furniture. The house is still used by the extended family for large celebrations.
Garroorigang Historic Homestead, Goulburn NSW
Stuart Hume himself had an interesting career with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and there were many photos throughout the house from his long career as a diplomat.
I was fascinated to find a small picture on the wall in the hall of the house at Frankfield near Gunning. This house was built by Francis Rawdon Hume in 1870 and is now owned by the Walmsley family. My cousin Ann married Greg Walmsley and has called Frankfield home for many years.
Frankfield, Gunning, NSW
I spent about an hour with Stuart and Anna before making my way back to the motorhome where Rich had enjoyed a bit of a read and a nap.
After all that history it was time to get back on the road and we headed northwards towards Taralga. What beautiful countryside it is around there. Lush green rolling hills everywhere. I can see why it appealed to the early English settlers.
It started raining as we arrived in the little village of Taralga but we decided to carry on to Wombeyan Caves.
It rained on the way down the mountain into the beautiful valley. The road down the mountains is great from the turnoff after Taralga. Then we hit roadworks and road became gravel. It was very smooth gravel though and we could see that the roadworks with ongoing. We eventually passed by the road crew vehicles but as it was Sunday they were all still.
Back on the tar again and the roadworks became much steeper, narrower and winding. In some places down the mounting it was a single lane. We prayed we wouldn’t meet a truck going back up! At the bottom the valley opens up and what a gorgeous spot it is.
It was still waiting while we tried to find a campsite that had a fire pit but the storm had killed our Starlink and we couldn’t check which sites were booked. We took a chance and settled on one site and wouldn’t you know it? Five minutes later a ute pulls in and he had that site booked for two nights!
We moved further down and when the rain eased up I tried Starlink again and it worked! Yay. I was able to book us site for two nights.
Then the rain stopped and we were able to go for a walk. We met some people camped in their Explorer motorhome and invited them to join us at our fire. Allan and Amanda came across and we enjoyed a few hours sitting around a lovely campfire.
We decided to call it a night and lucky we did because Allan and Amanda had to walk back across the campground to return to their motorhome and not long after they left the sky became very ominous and we could see lightning. Then the thunder started rolling in.
Of course that bloody Murphy was at work again and as I was washing up our dinner dishes the gas ran out. So out in the cold I went with my headlight torch on to change the gas bottle. This is my job because Richard can’t fit under the slide out when it is out whereas I am so much closer to the ground and can crawl under easily. Gas bottle changed and I came back inside to finish the dishes and then heavens opened up. We had thunder and lightning and very heavy rain. It’s a cozy feeling being inside with the sound of thunder and heavy rain on the roof.
The next morning I checked our tyres and let air out of a few of them. The tyre place at home had put too much air in them and the ride was very hard. We usually travel with our tyres at 65psi cold and they warm up to 70psi. This seems to give the motorhome the most comfortable ride.
I had trouble getting one of the TPMS devices off one of the rear tyres and inadvertently unscrewed the valve extension. OOPS! Oh well we didn’t have far to go to get to Temora and we pulled in to the Bridgestone dealer there. A nice young fellow was able to fix it for us straight away.
McGuirks, Temora
We continued our meander on towards Yass where we pulled off the Hume highway into Yass and went to Joe O’Connor Park for a lovely lunch break. This is a free camp on the Yass River and there were already quite a few RV’s set up along the riverbank.
Continuing on from Yass we arrived back on the Hume Highway and pulled off at Gunning to see if we could find a spot at Barbour Park. This great little free camp is beside Meadow Creek and next to the town swimming pool. There are toilets and showers and a dump point just across the bridge. It’s a short walk back into town. You can camp for a maximum of two nights. This great spot is often so full that we go back to the Gunning Showgrounds and camp there. We arrived early enough this day!
What a shame it was to arrive and find a couple of selfish people had parked their motorhome and caravan alongside the creek instead of backing in. This really limits the number of people that can camp in this great spot. We parked up and had a lovely afternoon reading our books. During the afternoon more campers arrived and by nightfall there was 12 RV’s camped.
A campervan pulled in next to us and we got chatting with the couple. Turns out they used to live in Narrabri and knew most of the family that we have in that area. What a small world it is!
We both love that part of travelling. Meeting people and discovering connections.
After a busy 2 weeks of our annual SpringFest where we open our garden to the public we were able to pack up the garden, pack the motorhome and by 4pm we were ready to go. We looked at each other over a cuppa and said what are we waiting for? We may as well get going now instead of in the morning.
So we set off and made it as far as Ariah Park. Ariah Park is only 120km from Griffith but we’ve stayed at their beautiful little campground many times over the years, usually in summer on our way to and from the annual family water skiing holiday and we like to get a powered site because it is so hot in January. This time we didn’t need a powered site so we stayed in an unpowered one for $10 per night.
To book in you go to the pub, pay your fee and they give you a key to the amenities (which we didn’t need anyway). Once at the pub we had a cold beer and decided to stay for dinner and another cold beer. The beer was lovely and the glasses were cold before they even poured the beer! Perfect!
What a delicious pub meal. I had a chicken parmi with mash and veggies and Rich opted for the bangers and mash. They were both great. We recommend you stop for a cold one or a meal at the Ariah Park Hotel if you are going that way.
While chatting with the bar staff we found out that they were all very busy prepping for the following weekend for their annual Ariah Park B&S Ball to be held at the showground. We did think the showground was looking pretty clean and tidy as we drove in to town. Now we knew why.
We were told they had pre-sold 1600 tickets for the B&S and were now sold out. This is amazing for a tiny town of only 300 people. This year’s ball is being called the Last Hurrah and it will be the last B&S. Sadly insurance costs and liability is becoming too expensive. So the town is going all out to make sure the last hurrah is a huge success.
People will start arriving in town on the Friday and the pub has live music and karaoke on as well as a regular shuttle bus to and from the showground to ferry people back and forth. The Bowling Club is also running a shuttle bus to and from over the weekend.
We hope the B&S Ball is a big success for the tiny town and feel it’s such a shame that it will be the last. We are 69 and 71 and fondly remember going to B&S balls when we were young. We’d travel great distances to attend one, party all night and all day, sleep then drive home again. They were great fun and a part of country life.
It was a quiet night in the campground in spite of it being nearly full. The powered site end was pretty full of various sized rigs and a large group of campers were sitting around a fire pit when we arrived. Most of them gave a cheery wave as we went by and parked up in the non-powered area on a lovely green grassy site.
We’d recommend this great little campground. It has 24 powered sites and numerous unpowered. It is situated in a corner of the Recreation Ground and has amenities, a camp kitchen, gas BBQ and is pet friendly. The skate park is on the grounds and next door is the town swimming pool. The main part of town is a short walk away.
It was another freezing night but we were warm and snug. Having power meant we could have the AC heater on. It was so cold when we woke that I also put the diesel heater on to warm up the floor.
We all had lovely long hot showers as it didn’t matter if we used lots of water because it was our last day. A leisurely breakfast followed and by the time we packed up and left it was 9am.
It’s a bit of a trick at Mirrool. They charge you $20 for the key to the power box but if you take the key back they give you $10 back however the pub doesn’t open until 3pm. If you are lea bing in the mornings there is a key return box on the wall of the toilet block but you don’t get your $10 back! Oh well. $20 for power and a good spot to camp is still pretty good.
Farewell Mirrool
I think we may have a slow leak in one of our rear tyres as it was low again. Maybe the valve has a leak. Add that to the list of things to fix when we get home! Luckily we have a Makita air compressor on board and I pumped the tyre back up to 65psi. This is what we usually run in our tyres for highway driving. 65psi in a cold tyre and they usually get up to 70psi once they have warmed up. Thank goodness we bought a Safety Dave TPMS. It has saved us many a time by letting us know when tyres are low in pressure or even a couple of times when we’ve had a flat tyre. The last time it was near Euabalong when we picked up a screw in a rear tyre. The TPMS beeps loudly and an error message flashes on the screen saying “Rapid Air Loss” Well worth the money having a TPMS.
The other thing I really appreciate when traveling now is having Starlink Roam service. It is a game changer! No more worrying about whether we will have service when camping remotely. We can make calls using Starlink. We have our Starlink mini attached to our central skylight with a suction device and as long as there is a clear view of the sky it just works. Brilliant!
We had an uneventful trip home to Griffith and I’m sure our grandson will be talking about our trip for months.
Trip Stats
KM traveled
1,725
Accommodation
Caravan Parks
Wellington Caves x 1 = $35
$35.00
National Parks
Nangar NP x 1 = $6 Warrumbungles NP x 1 = $43.56
$49.56
Donation camp
Pilliga Bore Baths x 1 = $7.50 Mirrool Hotel x 1 = $20
It was a freezing cold night and we woke to a frosty paddock outside. Our house batteries are nearly the end of their useful life and were not holding their charge so we put the stove on to heat the kettle and warm up the motorhome. We all snuggled in bed and played eye spy while we waited for it to warm up.
All our devices were flat so we had to use Victors phone to take some photos as it was charged up first. We got some photos of the motorhome in the paddock and next to Rosie the old truck. The owner of the Farmstay had written a poem about Rosie and stuck it on the window of Rosie. See photo below.
It was 10am before we set off southwards. The Farmstay is only 100m from the Newell Highway and we were quickly back out onto the main road heading to Forbes.
I had to clear the Check Engine light again before we set off.
It’s only 31km from Parkes to Forbes along the Newell Highway. We both commented on the lack of traffic especially as it’s school holidays. Of course there is the usual assortment of big rigs on the road but there are not as many RV’s travelling as we expected. Most caravan parks we’ve been past have plenty of empty sites. At the Farmstay overnight we were the only ones there and it is such a lovely spot for self contained RV’s.
There were a few grocery items we needed such as fresh bread so we stopped in Forbes and parked in a large carpark behind the Woolies. Victor was please to see it was opposite the skate park!
We quickly picked up what we needed and Victor charmed the check out lady with his chatty personality. Pa and I took our cuppas across the to the skate park to watch Victor. The Forbes skate park is quite a large one and had lots of challenges for the scooter riders. Two other boys of similar age to Victor came along with their grandfather so the three boys had fun while us oldies sat and watched.
Victor declared the Forbes skate park the best so far, even better than the one in Gilgandra. When we asked why he replied that there was more tricks and jumps. So that’s it folks if you build a skate park make it big enough and add lots of jumps!
By 11am it was still a brisk 9 degrees but there were no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. A lovely chilly winter day.
We continued on and stopped at the truck stop on the outskirts of West Wyalong to swap our empty gas bottle that had run out the night before. $30 and we had a new one to put in. Rich took care of the gas bottle while I made use of the time to put a little more air in the drivers rear tyres. Our TPMS said they were a little down so I topped them back up to 69psi using our little Makita air compressor.
The boys decided they’d like leftover lasagne for lunch so we pulled up in a sunny spot next to McCann Park and I set the lasagne in the oven to warm up whilst Victor went for a play and a scoot in the park.
We left West Wyalong at 3pm and continued our way southwards on the Newell Highway. We decided to stop for the night at the tiny village of Mirrool. The small community has set up a fabulous RV camp. There are tennis courts, a playground, a small history museum, toilets and showers, communal fire pit with wood supplied, and a large graveled area for camping. There are 11 powered sites. You choose you site then if you want power you go across to the Hotel and pay $20 for the key to your numbered power box. If you return the key you get $10 back.
We arrive around 3pm and there was already three other campers there. Victor and I had a busy afternoon playing Grip Ball and after we found some tennis raquets in the camp kitchen we had a game of tennis as well. We checked out the little history museum and victor was amazed at some of the ‘olden days’ stuff. During the afternoon more RV’s rolled in and by the time we went back to our motorhome there were 11 RV’s set up for the night. Victor is very good at going over and introducing himself to the new arrivals, especially the ones with dogs. He loves to meet the dogs. I think he was missing his Jack Russell Jimmy!
Dinner at the pub sounded like a good idea for our last night of our trip so we got changed into our finest clothes and headed over the road to the Mirrool Hotel. Most of the people who’d arrived also went to the pub for dinner. It was good pub grub and we all enjoyed our dinner.
Waiting for dinner at Mirrool Hotel
Back in our little house on wheels we all changed into our PJ’s and snuggled in bed and watched a movie. Victor chose the Disney movie called Turbo, about a snail who dreams of being fast. It was funny.
Oh what a slow start we had. Victor didn’t wake until after 7 and we played a funny game of eye spy whilst snuggled in bed for an hour before we got up. Victor was a hungry boy and had a bacon and cheese brioche bun followed by two pancakes for breakfast!
The laundry was piling up so I got two loads of washing done and hung up. Now the inside of the motorhome looks like a laundry. But it was a sunny day so it might dry as we go along.
I had to clear the Check Engine light again before we could get going. The motorhome will really need to go back to the mechanic when we get home.
While we were packing up Victor declared this camp in the Warrumbungle NP a 10 out of 10. High praise from the 6 year old. When I asked why he gave it that rating he said because he made some new friends and had fun making damper with Granny.
Site 93, Blackman Campground 3, Warrumbungle NP
Before we left the mum of the Victor’s new friends came over with her children to tell us about a fantastic tour to do at an emu farm that is located on the Tooraweenah Road if we are going that way. She explained that it is really worth a visit.
We all really enjoyed our stay in the Warrumbungle NP and we were a bit surprised how empty the campgrounds were. The powered section we were in was almost full however the unpowered sections had lots of vacant spot. It is a beautiful campground set in its natural bush setting and the brand new amenities block was impressive. There were rows of bins for rubbish disposal too. Our site 93 was a drive through site with plenty of room for us to slide out and we could have put our awning out as well. Each site has a fire pit and ours even had a picnic table.
After packing up we drove out of the campground, past the visitors centre and back onto the road that goes right through the Warrumbungles. Richard’s dad, so the story goes, built the first road through the Warrumbungles with his dozer back in the day when he was an earthmoving contractor. Today the road is a good sealed road. Out of the park on the western side you take a left turn towards Tooraweenah and Gilgandra. That road is now sealed all the way too.
Not long past the turnoff is the entrance to Emu Logic Emu Farm. This was the one we’d been told about so we turned in to check it out. It is a gravel farm road in to a large carpark in front of an old shed used as the farm tour building & shop. We signed up for the 11am tour. It cost $20 per adult and $6 per child. In the fifteen minutes we had to wait for the tour to commence we checked out all the emu info in the shed including a large glass enclosure that held three 2 day old emu chicks. They were so cute.
Out in the yard we checked out the huge variety of chickens and other birds the lady owner has collected. There were chickens with weird feathers that looked like the chicken had stuck his foot in an electric socket! Strangest chicken I’ve ever seen. There were bantams and silkies and even a beautiful pheasant. Victor got to feed the goat and kid with the nanny goat butting the kid out of the way to get to the offered leaves.
The tour commenced in the grassy yard with the lady owner giving a talk about emus and why they chose to farm them. Emus don’t have much meat however they do have a significant amount of oil and they are farmed for their oil. Emu oil is used for medicine and cosmetics. Emu oil is particularly good for arthritis just rubbed into the joints daily. Ostriches on the other hand are farmed for their meat.
Phil, the other farm owner, brought out the three 2 day old chicks and all the children were able to hold a chick. Of course this was a big hit.
The group was then led out the gate to the paddocks. On the way we passed hundreds of Muscoveys. Did you know that Muscovy are not ducks? They are between a ducks and a goose. They are quite large birds and there were hundreds of them. The lady explained that she breeds them for a lady at Paddy’s Market in Sydney who buys 100 each month. We came to a section of the farm where we could see into the emu paddocks. On one side were the 1 year olds. We were amazed at how much emus grow from 2 days to 1 year old. The next paddock held the teenagers and they were bigger again. The next paddock held the breeding adults.
The owners little granddaughter handed out small branches of saltbush for us to feed to the emus. We entered the paddock with the adult emus and they all gathered around us for the food. We were surrounded by emus! Victor bravely held out the saltbush for the emus to each and they pecked at the saltbush leaves until the branch you were holding had no leaves left. You had to hang on to the branch tightly s they. Teared the leaves off with their beaks.
The adult breeding emus are kept in one paddock together. The females make a strange drumming sound from an air sack in their necks. The males don’t make much noise are a very docile. The females lay eggs and we were visiting right in the middle of their egg laying season. The males try to gather up as many eggs as they can and once they have enough, 10 -12 eggs, they sit on them. Emu eggs stay dormant from the time they are layed until the male sits on them. It’s the heat that commences the incubation process. It can take a month for the male to gather enough eggs and once he sits he will stay there for 56 days. He neither eats nor drinks in that time. His whole focus is on incubating those eggs. The chicks all hatch at the same time and then the male will stay with them until they are 18 months old protecting them from predators and female emus. Females will kill any chick left on its own.
On the farm all the breeding emus have had their claws chopped off to make them less dangerous to handle. The eggs are gathered each day. They can be tricky to find as the males hide them in the grass.
Phil led our group over to a group of four emus sitting on the ground. He explained that these males were all sitting on eggs they’d gathered up and instead of gathering the eggs the group of four had been left to show the tourists. Phil was able to life the male emus up and we were amazed to see lots of green emu eggs underneath. Each of the three younger emus had 9-12 eggs underneath them. The oldest male had an albino head with fuzzy feathers on top of his head. He is named Donald! He’s about 35 years old and although he had no eggs underneath him he sat with the others providing moral support.
Phil showed us the amazing feathers. Did you know that emu feathers are unique in the bird world as each quill has two feathers? Emus are so well insulated they can survive extreme heat and even extreme cold and snow.
The emu farm tour lasted for an hour and we declared it well worth it. We learnt a lot about these unique Australian animals.
Back on the road we passed through Tooraweenah and then we met up with the Newell Highway again and drove into Gilgandra. It was time for a lunch break so we found at skate park. It was a really good one and Victor gave it a 9 out of 10. He had a fun time scootering while I prepared lunch.
Following our lunch we headed south again on the Newell Highway and I used WikiCamps to find us a spot to camp for the night. I found a Farmstay near Parkes that looked like it might be good for us. $20 per night for self contained vehicles and they provided fire pits and had wood for sale. Sounded good. I called the owner and booked us in.
The Newell Highway bypasses Parkes town centre now and we stopped for fuel at the huge BP service station that’s been built on the Bypass road. Our little travel buddy’s eyes lit up when he saw the Big M sign. Then we had to listen to all the reasons why we should have Maccas! We resisted.
The Farmstay we’d booked is located just off the Bypass road and we found it easily because they have a large metal cow and calf on the front gate. The owner had told me to look for the cow. The paddock is a large one surrounded by a row of large pine trees along the fence. It looked like the owners had been busy planting lots of trees and shrubs to enhance the camping experience. There were a couple of fire pits and a large old truck that we found out was called Rosie. Rosie is a decorative feature and the owner has planted a garden all around Rosie. Rosie is also decorated with solar lights that came on after dark.
Karen, the owner, had told us to park anywhere so we parked up near the fire pit and set up camp. I warmed up the last of Great Gran’s sausage rolls for an entree and put a lasagne in the oven for our dinner.
Karen came down to meet us and we said we’d buy some wood so she went back to the house and came back with a trolley full of really good dry wood. She also brought a bag of pine cones to throw in. They do make the fire smell good!
We enjoyed meeting Karen and hearing about how her and Andrew had set up the Farmstay over a year ago. They enjoy meeting all the travelers they’ve hosted in that time. They have lots of plans for improvements but as they both have full time jobs it is a slow process. They have just finished putting in town water pipes so guests will be able to top up their tanks with town water.
We enjoyed our time around the fire until after dinner when it was too cold so we moved inside. Victor and I played the Connect 4 card game followed by a game of Memory (he won both of those!) before we all snuggled in our bed so Victor could read us a story.
Our batteries are really on their way lout and not holding their charge so no diesel heater for us! Oh well, it was warm in bed!
