Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Holiday Overview

The purpose of this week away was to look after Irwyn and Rosemay's two dogs while they were attending a conference in Coffs Harbour.
The 1st day trip was with Andrew and Zane to Dunn's Swamp. A sunny day with a cold breeze. Andrew tried fishing but nothing was biting. Went for a walk/ride to the weir and met up with some park rangers who were discussing the future of the weir. I was lucky to get some video of a Darter which had caught a large catfish. Andrew and Zane went back to Sydney at the end of the day.
The next day we went to Hill End, an old gold mining town. I took photos of some of the old deserted home along the way as well as other rural scenes that we usually drive past, taking them all for granted. Came back along the back roads via Pyramul and Windeyer.
The 3rd trip, on a wet day, was to Cassilis and Dunedoo. Cassilis, unfortunately, is an example of a small country town that has been bypassed by a new highway. Photos of what used to be the Commercial Banking Corporation building and another of a large general store show the demise of these once prospering townships. After lunch (bacon & cheese sausage roll ??!!) from the bakery at  Dunedoo it down to Gulgong via another back road (I'm not a fan of highways).

The next day it was a little overcast with a cold wind and as it was a Friday (Flora Friday) we were off to the Wellington Arboretum. After the rain part of the back road we went on was a little muddy, but hey, no pain no gain. We had the whole arboretum to ourselves as we were the only two people there.
Saturday went headed off to the Goulburn River National Park near Wollar. When we arrived at lunch time there was one other couple having lunch in the Spring Gully picnic area so we went onto the Big River camping/picnic area and had that all to ourselves. A very quite spot with not a lot of wildlife seen on the day. I liked the 'art work' at the property 'Mogo' along the way. The coal train we had to stop for was the longest train I've seen since the iron ore trains I saw in WA. Came back via Ulan and the coal mines.
We snaked our way home via Rylstone, Kandos, Ilford, Sofala and nearly Bathurst. This time we actually stopped at Sofala and walked around. From the road at the top of the hill down into Sofala I could see the the town was bigger than I thought it was. This time we stopped for lunch and had a better look around. It was sad to see what fire does to old towns like this. From Sofala we were to go up Razorback to Cherry Tree but the causeway over the Turon had sunk a little after the second biggest flood in history and had too much water over it to cross safely. This meant a slight detour via Wattle Flat, Limekilns and Glanmire then onto the highway (ughhh) and home.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Day Ten - The trip home.


An artists front gate.

Havilah Memorial Church, near Lue.          

Lue railway station.

Lue, another old town just lingers on.

Eastern Rosella

Bridge View Inn, 1872, Rylstone.

St Malachy's Catholic Church, Rylstone.

'roo shooters 4x4.

Louee St. (main street) Rylstone


Bus cemetery near Sofala.

Sofala, reportedly to be the oldest surviving
 gold-rush town in Australia.

The main street.



Lynn makes a new friend.

Unfortunately this has happened to a few
 of the old buildings in town.

Who's been a naughty boy.
Cute aren't they, bet they will taste good as well.

Country homestead near Limekins

Bee keeping would be a great way of earning a living.

Sunset over Lithgow brings an end to the trip.








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Monday, May 28, 2012

Day Nine - A walk in the Common.


Double-barred Finch
Resurrection Fern  -  Cheilanthes sp.
and Cypress Pine -  callitris sp. 
Wahlenbergia sp.
Prickly Pear
Grass Tree  -  Xanthorrhoea sp. 
Grass Tree - Xanthorrhoea sp.
Grass Tree - Xanthorrhoea sp.
Dead Grass Tree - Xanthorrhoea sp.
Grass Tree - Xanthorrhoea sp.
Cypress Pine trunk
 and lichen.
Cypress Pine trunk
and lichen.
Crimson Rosella
All the comforts of home, old bush camp.
Don't know this plant, but it looks nasty.
A little garden on up-rooted
Cypryss pine.
Female Golden Whistler.
"GOTCHA"
Brown Treecreeper
White-throated Treecreeper
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