A fairly smooth trip yesterday from Blackheath to Mittagong, basically the Great Western Highway and then the Hume Motorway, so a straight forward drive. Mittagong is the gateway to the southern highlands and we’re here for 3 days before heading to the coast on Wednesday.
The southern highlands is an historical area approx 100 k’s south west of Sydney. First settled not long after the first fleet arrived in Sydney, so very similar to Windsor north west of Sydney. The area is very green with lush pastures for cattle and horses and a lot of historic buildings and attractions.
Yesterday after arriving and setting up we did a bit of shopping and a quick walk around Mittagong. Antiques and Cafes are the prime tourist haunts in town and we visited a few of them.
Today we headed off to visit Berrima, MossVale and Fitzroy Falls. Berrima is a very historic village and probably the Mecca for tourists, certainly on a weekend. It’s not just the old buildings that are an attraction, the whole village gives off a welcoming ambience that is most noticeable. We travelled thru Moss Vale today on our way to Fitzroy Falls but will see more of it tomorrow along with Bowral. I hadn’t been to Fitzroy Falls since 1983 and so far on this trip all the falls we’ve been to have had little water because of the drought. With lots of rain overnight I thought we’d get lucky this time we we weren’t disappointed as the falls had heaps of water as the photos show below.
Main Street Mittagong which is the old Hume Highway.Parkland in Berrima.The old Berrima Courthouse, they do Ghost tours here now!The old Berrima Goal, which is still used by the NSW Correctional Facilities division.The very old Commercial Hotel on the Main Street thru town, now a restaurant.Fitzroy Falls from the top lookout, which you can see in the following photo.The Falls from the lookout across the gorge.The gorge from the Falls lookout, pretty speccy if you ask me!One of the local Wombats from the National Park. Unfortunately he’s very tired or to be more correct, he’s stuffed!
Yes, its my time to CRAPP again. Today I played in the Saturday competition at the Blackheath Golf Club and I have to put my hand up and say I played very well (at last) but that has not affected my rating of the course. I’ve tried to be objective with all ratings, whether I played good, bad or indifferent. I have to say that Blackheath is probably the best or one of the best, visually appealing courses I’ve played on this trip.
The club has managed to receive a significant amount of money to upgrade the course and they are currently working on 3 holes, the 1st, 16th and 18th holes. Despite this work being undertaken the course is in spectacular nick! Even the temporary greens on these holes are far better than normal greens on most of the other courses I’ve played. When the 3 holes are finished it will truly be a must play course, if it’s not already there now.
Last years bushfires came extremely close and they were very lucky not to lose some of the course. Thankfully it didn’t and now the course even with the works, looks superb. So here are my rankings.
Design – 18 out of 20 (It’s a very hilly course, being in the mountains covers that but the holes have been designed perfectly with the contours of the land and it just flows nicely, unlike Dubbo last week).
Condition – 18 out of 20 (The course overall was in great nick, the greens were consistent and the fairways lush but with good run. If the new works weren’t happening it would have been 19 or 20).
Cost – 20 out of 20 ($38 for 18 holes, comp fees and a schooner of beer at the finish, on such a good course, well you can’t get better than that!)
Visual Appeal – 18 out of 20 (It was a very stunning course visually, if not for the works for the new 18th green under the clubhouse it would have been 20)
Facilities – 9 out of 10 (I took one point off because the car park was very small and tight for parking, probably harsh put it was very noticeable when driving into the club).
Ambience – 10 out of 10 (This is a club I would be proud to be a member of, especially after the upgrade is completed. It really is a community club, from the Club pro to the staff in the bar/bistro, you really felt comfortable and at home. I played with two locals although Danny was local to Sydney but not Blackheath. Both were excellent companions and played some good golf throughout the round,)
So the final score is 94, which places Blackheath as my number 1 course on this trip. I have a few more courses to play in the final weeks of our trip and I know they have good reputations but they’ll have to be good to beat Blackheath. Whilst I’m not a fan of Sydney, I would come back thru here to play the course again, Susan loved Blackheath as well so hopefully we’ll be back sometime in the future.
The clubhouse overlooking the 9th green.Looking down the 9th hole from the clubhouse.The par 3 7th hole, a beautiful amphitheater to hit into.The 11th hole was a great short dogleg. You really had to position your drive to get thru the tight downhill ok-ending to the hole. There were 2 other holes similar that added to the enjoyment/challenge.The signature hole of the course. A relatively short hole of 125 metres but the water to the right was very threatening, particularly when the other tee box is used and you have to span the complete 120 metres of water.The new works in place for the 18th green. Two bunkers, one covering the front and one to the right side protect a large undulating green. The 18th hole will be a great par 5 when finished. A blind uphill tee shot to a right hand dogleg to the ridge and then another 200 metres to a elevated green. I look forward to playing this sometime in the future.
Interesting drive today, we travelled thru all the Blue Mountains towns down to Penrith and then up to the Macquarie towns of Windsor and Richmond on the Hawkesbury River. From there it was to Kurrajong Heights, Bell and Mount Victoria before getting back to Blackheath. Over 200 k’s drive that basically circled the Blue Mountains.
What really stood out was the damage the bushfires did to the national park. The fires stretched from Kurrajong to Lithgow, about 50 odd k’s. The mountains and the ridge lines looked very barren without foliage, just tree trunks. Although the re-growth was happening, it will be a look time before the park returns to normal.
Windsor and Richmond are historic towns, settled not long after Sydney town was settled by the first fleet. Windsor has many old buildings and we stopped into the Macquarie Arms hotel for a drink. It’s Australia’s oldest hotel, being established in 1815 and seeing it was 38 degrees today, we just had to go in.
From Windsor and Richmond we drove up the mountain to Kurrajong Heights to the Archibald Hotel. It has a great view over the Hawkesbury Valley with Sydney in the background. Unfortunately it being so hot today it was hard to get a clear photo. I’m sure the view of a nighttime with the lights stretching all the way to Sydney would look great.
The Hawkesbury River at Windsor.The old Post Office in the Windsor Mall.Australia’s oldest hotel, the Macquarie Arms Hotel.The view from the Archibald Hotel in Kurrajong Heights. It’s about 600 metres above sea level.Another old Post Office, this time at Mount Victoria.
We’re now in the Blue Mountains in a very nice village called Blackheath, which is approaching 100 k’s from Sydney’s CBD. We left Bathurst yesterday which is just under 100 k’s from Blackheath but in that time we went from relative flat land to the top of the Great Dividing Range. We stopped off in Lithgow for lunch and had a big surprise, it was only 14 degrees at midday. We hadn’t had a daytime temperature like that since we left south west Victoria back in February. Easy to see Lithgow’s mining heritage and also it was the manufacturing site for the Australian Defence Forces weapons, mainly rifles and small arms. In the afternoon we visited Hartley, a small historic village not far from Blackheath. Not quite what we expected as it had only 4 buildings but in its time it was a significant stopping off point in the mid 1800’s for those travelling from Sydney over the range to Bathurst.
Blackheath is very similar to Sassafras/Olinda although the village part is not as large but at 1065 metres above sea level, its about 500 metres higher and I suggest very cold in winter months. It was a significant climb up the ranges from Bathurst but the Cruiser made mincemeat of the climb, it performed great even though it was pulling a combined weight of nearly 7 tonnes. Not that I’d want to do it everyday as the fuel economy was not that good.
As you could expect the Blue Mountains townships have their own Antique stores and even in the short time we’ve been here, Susan has seen most of them. Today we visited a lot of the scenic lookouts in the various towns, unfortunately the Scenic Railway (one of the attractions I was keen to visit) in Katoomba was closed, continuing the theme on this trip where numerous places have been closed because of COVID.
It’s been 37 years since I have been to these places (during my RAAF years in Sydney and Canberra in the early 80’s). I can remember Katoomba, particularly the Paragon which is an historic and famous Cafe/Restaurant in the Main Street but it too was closed but this time for renovations. There are many signs of bushfires that have occurred in recent years here in the Blue Mountains, probably the most alarming was in central Lithgow, you could see the burnt out trees on the hills around the town. It must have been quite scary at the time.
We’re still here in Blackheath for a few more days. We have made the decision not to travel into Sydney, even though there have been no COVID cases in Sydney for 9 days. With a month to go before we are due home, we’ll take a conservative approach and bypass the metropolitan area completely. That way we can reduce the risk, we are seeing many more people wearing masks, mainly older people which I suppose is to be expected. Tomorrow we plan to go for a drive thru Penrith and then up to Richmond and Windsor (my old stomping ground when I was in the RAAF) but there all about 50 k’s from Sydney, so similar in distance re Kallista compared to Melbourne.
This visit so far has reminded me so much of the Dandenongs at home back in Melbourne and how both areas are at risk to bushfires. The Dandenongs are the 4th most fire prone area in the world but I suggest the Blue Mountains aren’t far behind. The way climate change is affecting us, it might be time to look at what we are doing in both these areas, stop new buildings and look at plans to ensure the safety of the current inhabitants, as major fires thru both mountain regions could be horrendous and impossible to stop once under way. We have been very lucky so far and fingers crossed it doesn’t happen but I think we need to plan for such an event.
One of the tree lined streets in Blackheath. All are very similar in the town.The view from Victoria Pass near Mt Victoria about 10 k’s from Blackheath. The Great Western Highway is only about 20 metres wide here as both sides drop away into deep valleys.The Courthouse in Hartley, built in 1837. Doesn’t look a day over 50, not 183 years!The Grosse Valley from Evans lookout in Blackheath. You can see some patches of burnt out forrest in this photo. Jamison lookout at Wentworth Falls.Wentworth Falls, at Wentworth Falls. We decided not to do the walk down to the falls, it was about an hours hike with many steps and with 3 knee replacements between us, it was not an option.The Three Sisters at Katoomba, one of the most iconic and well known photos of Australian Landscape. I would like to name them ……… from left to right they are Rebecca, Shannon & Jessica!The view from Echo Point at Katoomba.The view from the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath, a very historic and well known hotel in the Blue Mountains.
Been a very interesting couple of days since we left Dubbo yesterday morning. First stop was the CSIRO Radio Telescope in Parkes, otherwise known as “The Dish”. My first visit to the Dish was back in 1974, which was only 2 years after the Apollo program had finished and we all know how big a part the Dish played in that program for NASA. I took the girls to see it in 2007 and now 13 years later I return with Susan. Even now on my 3rd visit and 36 years after my first visit the Dish reminds me so much of the time as a 10 year old I watched the moon landing and the impact it had on my life. I still have the scrapbooks I made from newspaper articles after 50 years. It’s probably why the movie The Dish, is one of my Favorites!
We didn’t stop in Parkes but drove thru the town centre, it looked a nice enough town, maybe on another trip we’ll manage to see more. From Parkes it was onto Orange where we stopped and had lunch. Never had red wine on tap before but I did in Orange and I have to say it was pretty good, a local Shiraz, slightly chilled. Plenty of wineries in the area and based on what I had it would be good to taste more. Orange really impressed us, it was a fabulous looking town, well treed and very clean, obviously the locals take pride in their town. We’ll definitely have Orange on our itinerary on our next trip north.
Then onto Bathurst, whilst its more known for the car race, it’s the first town settled in inland Australia after the first fleets settlement in Sydney. We’ve only been here for two days but its impressed us, Bathurst has a good mixture of history and modern city infrastructure. Some of the original houses of early settlers are magnificent and they have very unique stories themselves, although to long to detail here. We also managed to visit Ben Chifley’s house, unfortunately not many Australians know Ben’s story. Some of his decisions as our Prime Minister post WW2 has laid the foundation of our country and its posterity, particularly for the baby boomers! As Molly used to say, do yourself a favour and read about Ben Chifley, you won’t be disappointed!
Of course a stay in Bathurst would not be complete without a lap of the Mount Panorama racing circuit. We did that today, both in daylight and at night. It’s scary enough coming over Skyline and down thru the Esses in daylight but at nighttime it’s extraordinary. Really enjoyed our time here and I hope our time in the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands after that are just as enjoyable.
Bathurst township from Mount Panorama.“The Dish”Ben Chifley’s house in South Bathurst. Hard to believe that a sitting Australian Prime Minister had a small railway workman’s cottage as his own residence and he travelled back to this house every fortnight from Canberra during his time in Parliament. He was truely, one of the true Believers!Abercrombie House, the original house of the Stewart family, one of Bathurst’s earlier pioneering families.Just a “walk in the park”, no not Top Gun but central Bathurst!“Woolstone” a truely remarkable story on this house. The original owner, Thomas Kite, was sentenced to death in England in the very early 1800’s which was commuted to a life sentence in Australia. After 8 years as a convict in NSW he was freed and given 80 acres in Kelso near Bathurst. From there he grew his business and property assets to $1.6 Million upon his death in 1876. Woolstone is no longer in the Kite family but it has to be the most impressive building/home we’ve seen on our trip.On the grid!The view out the left window as you come up Mountain Straight.Down thru the Esses, looks easy but even at 60 k’s its scary!Susan on her hot lap!Onto Conrod Straight, pity we can only do 60. Must be exhilarating travelling at nearly 300 k’s down this straight.Bathurst township at night from Skyline!
Dubbo is a pretty big regional town in NSW, in fact I think its the largest town in the central west. So you would think there would be a cafe open at 2 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon but not Dubbo, we walked around the city centre and couldn’t find one. Rather amazing in this time.
It’s pretty warm here mid 30’s for the last couple of days. I mentioned to the guys I played golf with what were the best tourist spots for Dubbo and they replied, the Zoo, the Old Dubbo Gaol and the Japanese gardens, so that’s what we’ve done, plus a general drive around the town. I thought there might have been a few more highlights but that’s about it as far as our interests were concerned (although the gardens were a bit of a push for me).
The Gaol was interesting, especially as it was right in the middle of the town. I suppose its not surprising seeing it was built at the same time as the township. It was in operation up to 1966 when it closed so there is possibly people still alive that managed a holiday in the place, lucky them!
The Japanese Gardens, what can I say, they were nice and a good place for a picnic, also they were free entry, always a plus for retirees! Susan enjoyed them, although not as much as she might have if the temperature was 10 degrees less.
Today was the Western Plains Zoo. I have to admit I’m not a fan of zoo’s, just ask my girls. Susan isn’t all that happy with them either, mainly because the animals are locked up but here they have much bigger containment areas than in city zoo’s. The zoo allows you to drive your own car around or hire a golf cart or pushbikes. We elected to drive RAYNSU around, certainly a novel way to get around but then again, walking it (as some people did) in mid 30’s temperature would be a task in itself.
These’s always a problem with zoo’s in my opinion, the animals never seem to be up and about, they are always having a kip after a feed. Unfortunately the main ones we wanted to see were basically doing just that. The Tigers and Lions were hidden under trees or in their little caves. The highlight were the Meerkats, they are just like the TV adds, simples! Giraffes, Zebras and Rhinos all were accomodating as was the Asian Elephant. Didn’t bother with the Aussie contingent, as we’ve seen enough of them on this trip already, mostly on the side of the road!
Tomorrow we have a big day, off to Bathurst via Parkes and Orange. Of course we can’t go to Parkes without going to “The Dish”. Hopefully everything is functioning OK at the dish and they’ve fixed the pie warmer!
The entrance to the Gaol is just off Macquarie Street, the Main Street thru town.This part of the Gaol contains the Hospital and Kitchen.Lock, Stock and and One smiling Walton!The Japanese Gardens!I’m on the horns of a dilemma here, so many animals to see!Very obedient are Meerkats, I said to this little one to be a real man and stand up for himself and he did!It was a very stop start tour of the zoo, we were always stopping at Zebra crossings!In my opinion, still one of the weirdest animals going around. Love to know what the original DNA mixture was to make a Giraffe.You can’t go to a zoo without visiting the Elephants!Galapagos Tortoises having a feed, these buggers are as old as the hills!
Time for another CRAPP! I played Dubbo Golf Course today and was very surprised at the course, it was not what I expected out here in the Central West of NSW. I expected a rather brown and dry course but it was exactly the opposite. The rain thru 2020 has certainly worked wonders on the course. The fairways were very lush, they are well positioned to get thru a long hot and dry summer. With 27 holes they have 3 course options, so they have a lot of players on the course on comp days.
The club has a very respectful membership of 1200 and certainly the course and facilities reflect a strong club. I played with 2 local members who made me feel very welcome. It was a good course but what let it down was the design, which was restructured when the extra 9 holes were added. Some of the walks between holes were very long and without the locals I would have been lost. It’s probably the most confusing course I have played. The other negative if you could call it that were the greens. They were in great condition, well grassed, consistent roll but not a flat surface on any of them. The slopes/borrows were very difficult to read, probably why I 3 putted 12 times during mu round. Anyway here is rating:
Design – 12 out of 20 (As I mentioned above the course design is atrocious and yet they had another design that all members wanted but the committee decided otherwise)
Condition – 18 out of 20 (Very hard to fault the course here, other than the greens and there slopes. I suppose you’d get used to them but first time up they were diabolical)
Cost – 17 out of 20 (At $40 its was good value for 18 holes)
Visual Appeal – 18 out of 20 (other than some dirt patches, which are not on the course proper, the course was green and well treed. It wouldn’t look out of place if it was in the English countryside)
Facilities – 10 out of 10 (Couldn’t fault their facilities, they even had practice hitting nets and chipping area, plus the clubhouse was very well appointed)
Ambience – 8 out of 10 (I’m probably a bit harsh here, probably because of all my 3 putts)
So the CRAPP score is 83, which is pretty good. If not for the crazy course design this could have been close to number 1. With 5 weeks of travelling left, I still have a few more courses to play. I still have plenty of CRAPP left in me.
The clubhouse overlooking the 18th green.The first fairway from the 1st tee.Looking across the 7th green to the clubhouse and the 18th green.
Today was an interesting drive from Denman to Dubbo. The Golden Hwy is not the best piece of road around, not as bad as central Queensland but still very ordinary. We had a lot of bouncing and swaying going on, combined with the wind made it a bit trying at times. Friday the 13th came to the fore!
We stopped off in Merriwa to see the silo art and have a cuppa in the town. As I’ve mentioned before all country town’s have there own little story that they leverage off to bring in tourists and Merriwa’s is Merino sheep and the annual sheep festival in June.
Further up the road and it was Dunedoo’s turn, with silo art of Winx the record winning racehorse the was foaled in Jerry’s Plains which is not that far from Dunedoo.
From Dunedoo to Dubbo we had to battle a few thunderstorms which had hit the whole area. Dubbo had 3 hailstorms before we arrived so Friday the 13th struck again. Dubbo is a lot greener than I thought it would be but the locals tell me its been good rainfall this year after many years of poor rain.
Off to golf tomorrow and then Sunday Susan and I are visiting the Wester Plains Zoo. Nothing like visiting a zoo in 39 degrees, so it should be interesting.
Macquarie Street in Dubbo, the Main Street in Dubbo’s CBD.The silo art at Merriwa.A bit of corrugated iron artwork at the Merriwa Tourist “Hut”Silo art in Dunedoo of Winx!
Today we travelled to Denman, about 100 k’s northeast of Newcastle but first it was a quick visit to Morpeth with Mark & Lorraine.
Morpeth is a lovely little heritage town in the Hunter Valley. With a lot of Antique and specialty shops, just perfect for Grey Nomads. Whilst Mark and I tested the beers at the Micro Brewery the girls did their thing. We enjoyed lunch with one of the “special locals” in the Cafe next to one of the Antique shops before checking out the Gallery and Lilly shop. The Gallery had some great pieces of Aussie art at some hefty prices tags as well. Plenty of fabulous pieces around the $30,000 mark, right up to $75,000. Not something I expected to see when we came in.
We left Mark & Lorraine at Kurri Kurri and headed on to Denman. We had a great time with them both in Bonny Hills and in Newcastle. After 20 years, Susan finally got to met them, funny how quick time goes by. We look forward to catching up with them in Be Brave during our travels in future years. Thanks guys we had a great time!
The drive from Kurri Kurri to Denman was only 100 k’s but it took us thru some interesting countryside. Plenty of Coal mines but 2 particularly large horse studs that are owned by Robert Sangster and the Gondolphin family, pretty significant enemies in the horse racing world. The Sangster property had its own airstrip which is not unusual but it was not a grass or dirt strip, it was fully tarred with a concrete apron. No mucking around here.
Denman is a small town, a couple of pubs being the main calling but surprising it has 3 cafes as well. We are free camping in the compound of the Royal Hotel for tonight before we’re off to Dubbo and the Zoo tomorrow.
The Royal Hotel in Denman. It’s claim to fame is it was used in the Aussie movie “The Shiralee” in the late 1950’s.The Main Street of Morpeth.The Morpeth bridge.The local that decided to have lunch with us at the Cafe. There were numerous lizards running around the place, some fairly large. Not everyone was happy, a number of mature ladies were a bit nervy with one very unhappy lady giving out the odd scream. They didn’t worry us much as they kept to themselves, obviously didn’t like our choice of food.Our campsite for the night, in the parking area next to the pub!
Yesterday we drove down from Bonny Hills to Elermore Vale in Newcastle to stay with Mark and Lorraine Monkley for a few days as we have a look around Newcastle.
Today is Remembrance Day, so we spent some time doing the Newcastle Memorial Walk along the cliff tops at Shepherds Hill Reserve. The Walk is to honour all Novacastrians who have served Australia in all the wars Australia has fought in. It’s a very special walk with some great ocean views and well worth a visit.
Whilst we were at Shepherds Hill for the walk, which also was used as Radar site by the RAAF in WW2, A RAAF F18 Hornet did a low level fly past along the coast. It was involved in the Remembrance Day service at 1100 and was returning to its base at Williamtown about 20 k’s north of Newcastle. Even after all these years its still pretty speccy to see a Hornet do its stuff!
From there it was over to Fort Scratchley, which is on the headland overlooking the entrance to the Hunter River. The Fort was built way back in the mid 1800’s but its real fame is when its 6 inch guns fired on a Japanese Submarine in WW2 after it had fired shells on Newcastle. At 1300 everyday bar Tuesday they fire off a cannon. We were expecting one of the WW2 to be fired but it was a small 9Ib 100 year old cannon that was used. A bit of a let down but the noise was authentic and I’m sure it could be heard around the city centre.
Having lunch with the Monkley’s in a Newcastle pub, seemed the right way to finish off our Remembrance Day 2020. Tomorrow we’re off to Denman via Morpeth before we spend a few days in Dubbo, in central NSW.
The Newcastle CBD from Shepherds Hill.The old RAAF Radar site and lookout at Shepherds HillThe Newcastle Memorial Walk along the cliff tops.The view of Bar beach and the coastline from the Memorial Walk.Susan and I with Mark and Lorraine on the Walk. It’s a very popular walk for the locals, part of their daily fitness regime I think.One of the 6” guns at Fort Scratchley overlooking Nobby’s beach and Nobby’s headland with the Lighthouse.The firing of the cannon! Managed to get the photo just as it fired.
Be Brave on Tour 