Log 02-10 Leaving home

Log 02-10 Leaving home

We left home a day earlier than planned, but it was a hot sunny day & great to be on the road again.  To avoid the steep climb over the range, we headed North through Branxton & onto the Golden Highway (no, we didn’t find any gold). It got hotter as we turned West, 37º, with gale force winds. Wherearwee was being blown all over the road. We decided to stop at a freedom camp called Battery Rocks, 15K’s from Merriwa. By then we were looking for a nice shady tree to stay under. It was only a small area, big enough for 10 vans & so called because of the crystalline rocks jutting out from the hillside, hexagonal in shape, about 30cm across the face & over a metre long.

 Next morning we drove to the the bakery at Merriwa where they sell the most fabulous pies, our breakfast. After another 50K’s we turned off towards Wellington, travelling through villages like Amwah & Birriwa. Dungog was the next stop &, after a walk through this historic town, we stayed for coffee at a sidewalk café. Just as we were finishing there was a flash of lightning & then the skies opened up. We had to retreat into the shop & wait for it to pass. 5 minutes later it had stopped & we got on the road again. The gale force winds were back with rain squalls all the way to Lake Burrendong. A state forrest so Lulu was allowed in (on a lead). We parked near the lake & it would have been beautiful on a nice day but the water looked black from the cloud reflections. We had a few walks & retired to the van for the night.

 Wednesday dawned bright & beautiful at a chilly 2º. No wind, so we set off for Condo. We love travelling on these secondary roads, very little traffic, beautiful scenery, & we can travel at our own pace. By 10 o’clock the winds were back so we were glad to arrive at Gum Bend creek (3K’s out of Condo) & to pull up next to our friends. After a big chat to all we decided to end the day by going into the RSL Club for dinner & drinks, a courtesy bus picked us up & drove us home.