Next stop was the busy city of Bathurst. Its roundabout was in full-swing as it was Saturday lunchtime.
The Bathurst region was one of the first areas in Australia to be hit by the gold rush. This plaque marked the beginnings of it all.
The old Bank of New South Wales has stood by it all, good and bad.
We are heading out west on this short trip. That of course means going over the mountains. We took a short break at Echo Point in Katoomba. Even though it was raining that morning in Sydney there were still plenty of visitors at the lookout.
The Three Sisters were shrouded in fog at first, but after a little patience we all got lucky.
I tried a recipe for spicy apple tea cake to enjoy the last of the year’s apples. With halved apples and a combination of cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg, it went down a treat.
Last winery stop in Broke at Glenguin Estate. This set up is a bit posher, but we still had the viticulturalist conduct our wine tasting.
They do produce a great drop of red, but no cows to mow down the grass here.
Wasn’t much at Milbrodale, only a couple of shacks. They’re picturesque in their own way.
Up the road from Broke in Milbrodale, we visited Baiame Cave. The cave is a rock overhang at the end of the valley, on a private farm.
Baiame is the creator in these parts.
Befitting a creator, his painting was a good four metres wide.
It was only the second time I’ve seen rock art in the Blue Mountains area. I remember seeing some hand stencils on the other side of the mountains near Newnes, but this was much grander.
A few weeks ago we spent a weekend in the Hunter Valley to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary (my, doesn’t three years fly). Instead of visiting the same old wineries, we decided to branch out and explore the wineries near the town of Broke. Even though these towns was only 20-odd kilometres, they were worlds apart.
Broke was a sleepy backwater compared to the tourist hub of Pokolbin with nary a car in sight – perhaps how Pokolbin was before it became a wine mecca. The wineries we visited in Broke were the kind that we liked – small places producing great drops, with the cellar door being manned by the winemakers themselves. They were always happy to explain away their wines and methods. Mount Broke Wines let cattle graze among the vines in the winter months to keep the weeds down.
One last beach to visit on our trip to the Mid North Coast. Boambee Beach stretches north from Sawtell all the way to Coffs Harbour, almost 6km away.
Once again, it was a leash-free beach, so Bridie enjoyed another scamper through the sandbanks. She certainly was spoilt by all the leash-free beaches on this trip.
There were many sniffs, but she behaved well, unlike a beagle x poodle dog we saw, who stole a lady’s chips while she sunbathed! Thankfully, Bridie was happy just to feel the wind in her ears.
That’s the end of our Northern NSW journey. We’ll once again go closer to home next time.
One more toddler vest for a friend’s daughter, the appropriately named Ruby.
As we approached the beach.
We could look back and see how far we’d come.
We watched the river’s last run to the sea.
Before heading back to shore.
Static and Silence 