12 April 2011 - Blayney Tourist Park, Blayney, NSW

Tonight we are huddled up in our caravan with the heater blasting away, the television playing current affairs, the computer plugged in to power and recharging at the same time. Tonight we would have it no other way. The alternative was too harsh, 3 degree temperatures at night with no heating is just too cruel for aging bodies such as ours!

We had a lovely evening yesterday with Neil and Pauline, chatting and eating and drinking and chatting some more as we had the night before. We arrived back home soon after eight o’clock and went straight to bed, half dressed, with me particularly chic in my bright pink bed socks! It was so very cold.

This morning we woke to temperatures colder than the previous morning. I was curious to learn the outside temperature and so I put the thermometer on the step outside, and then currently forgot about doing so, until Chris stepped outside sometime later, on to the thermometer. Of course, we now have no such tool, but the good news is that it was purchased from one of these wondrous Australian cheapy shops and can be replaced for a mere $2 or so. In the meantime I will be able to be creative about how cold it is and cannot be proved otherwise.

Both the Maxwell’s and us packed up camp, hitched on and made our way back to Bathurst. We called via the town’s dump site, and then met up with our friends at the Information Centre where we were able to top up with water. By now the rain had set in and both Chris and I were pretty wet and cold by the time we completed that operation. Neil and Pauline sort refuge in the Information Centre and café, and stayed relatively warm and dry.

Views from Mount Panorama

Chris and I walked a few blocks to the shopping centre and found the Big W where we were able to buy a few warm clothes to supplement the six layers we were already dressed in. Neil and Pauline went to a couple of supermarkets to restock their food supplies, then we all met up again at Berry Park, a rest area on the edge of town that was featured in our CMCA bible as a place we could overnight.

By this time, we were all cold and rather disillusioned with the tourist potential of Bathurst, and not particularly impressed with Berry Park as a camp. We then drove separately up to Mount Panorama, the world famous motor racing track, left to mull over the options for the rest of the day.

The track ahead as we "sped" around

The record speed for the circuit is somewhere about 2 minutes 7 seconds. The road is a public road, and as such and more particularly because of it’s reputation and use, is heavily policed. Legally, when it is not functioning as a closed off racing track, the speed limit is 60 kilometres an hour! We did exceed the speed limit slightly (68 or 70ish) and completed it in about eight minutes, taking into account that we stopped at the top to enjoy the spectacular and extensive views, despite the poor weather. Mount Panorama stands 874 metres above sea level, 204 metres higher than the town below.

toward the finish

Chris enjoyed driving the circuit and was both 

impressed and surprised how steep it was. I was delighted to discover that there are driveways to regular dwellings going off the route, and even a roadside sign that advertised, “Jams, apples, pears and pickles for sale”. Imagine Greg Murphy stopping in the middle of a race to pick up a jar or two of chutney for his wife, as a souvenir of his sporting weekend.

Neil obviously was equally taken with the experience because he did a second circuit.

Bathurst town

We drive down in to the town and walked around Machattie Park and the lovely old buildings on the perimeter. On returning to Berry Park, we spotted a Salvation Army store where we stopped and purchased a woollen under blanket as another weapon against the bitter night temperatures.

Back at Berry Park, we had all come to our own conclusions of where to from now. Neil and Pauline had managed to secure the last powered site at the one caravan park in Bathurst, and planned to move on eastwards early tomorrow morning. We had found a powered site in this caravan park in Blayney, a small rural town south of Bathurst, 35 kilometres off our original planned route.

We shared coffee and pieces of Pauline’s excellent carrot cake, said our goodbyes until the next rendezvous, and drove off in different directions.

As we drove out of Bathurst, the sun had come out and the gold hues of the autumn trees were just beautiful. We felt a little disappointed to have not given Bathurst an opportunity to keep us longer. Hopefully we will come this way again at a better time of the year, when it is warmer and we will feel more positive toward the river walk and the city heritage walk, and all the other attractions the city has to offer.

Bathurst is mostly known for its motor racing, but is otherwise an agricultural centre, featuring sheep, cattle, wheat, vegetable, honey, apple and peach orchards, grapes, olives, forestry and vineyards. Other sources of income to the area are from education, food processing, mapping, timber and production of pet food. The population of the city area in 2007 was 35,269 with a further 2,417 in the rural area about. Bathurst was the headquarters of the famed Cobb & Co and the birthplace of Ben Chiffley, a simple railway worker who became one of Australia’s prime ministers. These are just some of Bathurst’s historical and geographical features; we will return one day to discover these and others beside.

Our trip here was uneventful and very pleasant as we travelled over the rolling rural hills. Blayney is in a wide valley, centre of a farming community and the site of several lovely very old buildings. The camp is on the edge of the village, open, clean and very convenient, meeting our main need for electricity. There are some lovely trees here and horses in the adjacent paddocks. Hopefully the sun will be shining tomorrow and we will spend a moment here before taking a secondary road back through to Orange.