Goorambat - Silo Art

Diverted off the Hume Hwy to take in a bit of Silo Art at Goorambat and Devenish in rural Victoria. Just in time to see some of the last touches being applied at Devenish. Both were well worth the detour. This is a better 'big thing' for a town to invest in don't you think?

Goorambat

Devenish

Batlow - bells in the mountains.

It was a good night camping at a TSR (Travelling Stock Reserve) just south of Gulgong on the Cudgegong River. Then south via Mudgee and the Blue Mountains to Lithgow and Katoomba, nice. Well not so much on a Sunday. Seems most of Sydney are up here for the day. Slow going even early in the morning.

Becoming a fav stop at Daly's clearing in the Belanglo State Forest. Bit of a surprise when arriving to find about 100 families having a picnic. Anyway, they all had homes to go to, and a quiet night was had by a handful of bonafide travellers.

Weddings are special, especially when it's your offspring. My son married a very lovely lady in Batlow. The ceremony and reception were spectacular even timing the event to what could be the very last day of summer. The 'do' was held outside with a large marquee, just in case. The weather held off and went from high-twenties and sunny to single digits and drizzle the next day. 

So you may have guessed, getting off the mountain to somewhere warm and dry was a priority.

Setting up.

All lit up.

Bundarra and Wallabadah

A deviation from the New England Hwy to the Thunderbolt Way and a short stopover at Bundarra. Thunderbolt Way was named after Fred Ward a notorious bushranger.

Had a few days to spare so helped out on the fences one last time. 

Total to date:

Fences cleared or removed =30km

Fences rebuilt =58km

Volunteer days =839

The camp will close in two weeks, just before ANZAC day, hopefully with most of the work completed.

Leaving Bundarra headed south, again on the Thunderbolt Way, to Uralla and back to the New England and on down to Wallabadah for the night, a nice place to camp for a night. Interesting place in that it has a First Fleet Memorial all this way from the coast? Would seem a town needs, something of interest, to attract tourist to stop and spend a quid. Maybe the First Fleet Memorial was thought to be better than a BIG THING or maybe all the big things had already been taken up.

Wallangarra and Jennings

Cruzin down the New England Hwy ready for a stop and overnight camp. Friends told me about the railway station at Wallangarra on the border of QLD and NSW. A good example of state rivalry they said. Yep, so it would seem.

Long before the state of origin rugby contest was thought of these guys showed just how the states were getting along. Not only is the rail gauge different, requiring a change of train, but the station awnings could not be agreed on either.

I choose to stay in Jennings on the NSW side only because their free camp was farther from the road. Wallangarra/Jennings a good spot to camp and for a bit of walking about, especially if you are a rail buff.

No prize for guessing - yep Qld side.

Ho-hum - NSW side.

The state border. 

Jennings free camp is one block back behind the pub - large flat and quiet.