New South Wales
At the end of August we left Adelaide for the north coast of
New South Wales. We decided we would drive via Broken Hill, across Western NSW,
through Wilcannia, Cobar, Nyngan, Narromine, Dubbo, the Hunter Valley and
arrive in Green Point some days later. In Broken Hill we did the historical
walk exploring the old buildings in the city. We also drove out to Silverton,
the original mining town. It’s a bare, red landscape with many of the original
old buildings including the pub. We had a cold beer and looked at the many
photos of “film shoots” including the Mad Max films. One of the cars used is
parked in front of the pub. Check out the photos. The drive along the Barrier Highway,
across the plains was beautiful, not boring at all. We saw a variety of
interesting flora and fauna including 2 wedge tailed eagles and lots of
feral goats. At Narromine Susan tried to find the grave of our convict
ancestor, Nathan Phillips (died 1899, aged 86), after an hour we gave up.
We had 2 weeks in Green Point , several walks along beaches,
rain forests, up hills and around Wallis Lake and even a swim. Joel flew up
from Sydney so a few more walks on 7
Mile Beach and a drive through Wallingat Forest (with stately white gums) and a
panoramic view from the Whoota look out over the lake and coastline. In Sydney we had a family gathering at the
Simpsons so Joel could catch up with everyone. Took some great photos of nana
with her 3 grandsons, and of Joel with his cousins. Unfortunately Briony was
away, but did take a good photo of her
on Father’s Day.
We drove back to Adelaide via Queanbeyan and Canberra. Revisited
the Central Cafe in Queanbeyan to indulge in their country cooking. Had a few
days there and visited the National Museum, old and new parliament houses and
the National Art gallery. We saw a wonderful exhibition of art by Emily Kame
Kngwarreye, inspiring and dynamic.
On the way home we stayed on the Murray at Robinvale, the
river looks OK here but only because there is a dam. A good trip, great to see
Joel and the family.
