We left the Hunter Valley the morning Wednesday 8th, this time our departure was less rushed and with fewer people to wave us off. We had planned to head to Wellington having missed the caves on our first trip which only got as far as Dubbo, taking the Golden Highway out to Sandy Hollow we cut across the Bylong Valley and popped out at Mudgee.
As it was getting late we decided to stay in Mudgee for the night which also gave us a chance to have a wonder through the town. Lovely little place with some very interesting old buildings which are being put to good use, the theatre below seemed unused but sure would make a fantastic venue for something.
The next morning it was looking a little grey and wet the direction we were heading, after a quick drive via Gulgong we made it to Wellington and headed straight for the caves, entry fee paid it was on with the tour of Cathedral Cave.
After lunch as it was so wet and chilly we decided to head south, the intention was to make Cowra for the night, we took the Mitchell Highway via Orange for a fuel stop. We released it was getting a little late in the day as we approached Canowindra, calling ahead to the caravan park to make sure they had room it was decided to stay there a couple of days to explore the area. Bonus on arrival was the pay 2 nights and stay for 3, the park is a little old but only has about 14 powered sites and a few camping sites used by backpackers working in the local fruit picking industry.
Canowindra has quite an interesting local story about the finding of some fossils of fish in the local area which were previously unknown species, from the initial finding back in the 1950’s to today they have built the Age of Fishes museum which we found to be very interesting.
From our base in Canowindra we were able to explore south to Cowra to see relatives for lunch (thanks Bruce & Anne), we also checked out the visitor centre which has a very cool hologram telling the story of the Cowra breakout. Heading out of town we took the chance to visit the site of the POW camp which housed a number of nationalities during WW2, it was here that over 200 Japanese POW’s died attempting a mass breakout in 1944.
I had found in Parkes this weekend they were holding the annual Elvis festival, been in the area we had to go to see what all the fuss was about. We made it just as the parade was taking place so missed a few but managed to catch the end.
Parkes is also famous for The Dish, the movie with Sam Read depicting the Apollo mission was based on this facility and it is still amazing to see the huge dish on the horizon when approaching. They now show a cool 3D movie about Mars and the various planets out there, all very interesting.
It was now getting late in the day so we headed back via the Henry Parkes Centre where they have the Elvis museum, car museum and old machinery exhibit, from then on we hit the road via Forbes.
We were only staying the two nights at Canowindra but decided on a third as the weather was looking hot on the Sunday, so a lazy day around town and the afternoon in the pool was a nice break. Monday 13th we packed up and headed to Canberra via Yass where we stopped for coffee with the boys (cheers Greg & David).
So the trip so far looks something like this, thanks HEMA for allowing me to use their maps in the blog.
We have a ferry to Tasmania booked 19th Jan so until then.
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