Wednesday 12th Jan
Moving on from Mudgee to Bathurst today and for those of you playing along at home mark today as a toilet emptying day.
Very nice drive but hilly to Bathurst via Sofala, allegedly Australia’s oldest surviving gold town. Who am I to doubt the Bathurst District Council. I must say that while we were there we did see Australia’s oldest surviving beard. Unfortunately I was too shy to get a photo. Quite possibly I was also a bit nervous as the guy attached to the beard did look quite “eccentric” and as I have always said to Elke - “don’t make eye contact with nutters.”
Anyway, I digress, lovely little village.
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| I'm sorry Di, I will listen next time. |
Continued on to the historic village of Peel (maiden name of Wilma Smith and Amelia, one of my work daughters). Unfortunately it’s not only an historic village but it appears to be history, because all we could find were tiny signs at either end of nothing.
Prolonging the excitement and anticipation, before heading out to Mt Panorama race track we stopped at Bunnings to get the raw materials for a fly screen blind for the sliding door of MM. In the car park we constructed what can only be described as an engineering work of art. Calling on all my experience from my time spent at RMIT on my engineering degree, we fashioned a roll up blind out of two pieces of fly screen, a piece of dowel and gaffer tape (in honour of a multitude of race mechanics at the Great Race over the years). We can all only wonder what Di & I could have achieved had I continued in the degree for more than 6 weeks of the first year. Now that I think about it, Di did most of the design and construction.
Mission accomplished it was off to the National Motor Racing Museum, right behind Conrod straight, near Murray’s corner. (Someone out there will know something about the Great Race and understand this) Aaah memories: hours of sitting in front of tele; a light aircraft trip to the race with Mario; our unforgettable first wedding anniversary (spent at a Bathurst watching BBQ). It all came flooding back.
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| The glory days - when Ford could win |
Then, it was time.
A lap of the world famous Mt Panorama Circuit.
In Mighty Merc
In the rain.
Lap record looking fairly safe then. But then again, Clarkson has done a spectacular lap of the Nurburgring in a Ford Transit for Top Gear so anything is possible.
Strap yourselves in then for a 6.213km ride that motor racing enthusiasts around the world dream of (race cam pictures provided by D C Kendall (Mrs.) )
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| On the start line |
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| Heading down Pit straight |
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| Over the top - through the Esses |
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| Down Conrod Straight - wipers on |
Could this day get any better? Well yes it could, on the way to checking in at the park we stopped at an Aldis supermarket!
To top it off the Big 4 caravan park that we checked in to was extremely pleasant and reasonably priced, within budget.
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| View from the back of MM |
Thu 13th Jan
Quiet day around the park, Di catching up on washing and Steve updating blog (which you read last week).
In a nice finish to the day we watched the last episode of Series 1 of NCIS, oh that Gibbs is such a wag :-)
Fri 14th Jan
Caught the local bus into town to have a look around and take a few photo’s.
Discovered that without a concession card buses are not a cheap way of getting around. Also discovered that Di and I are the only two people in Bathurst without a concession card. In fact the second bus driver was so shocked he nearly gave us the discount anyway.
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| A lot of locals here - Bathurst Court House |
While on the discovery trail we also noticed that the primary industry in Bathurst appears to be producing babies. (OK I might be being a little harsh, but not a lot).
Given we are still in NSW headed for the lunch special at the RSL. Unfortunately it wasn’t very special. In fact it was very ordinary. On reflection I should have noticed it said “Curried lamb” not “Lamb curry”. It seems that even when you pay $8.90 you can’t be guaranteed of a good meal these days!
Finished the day on a better note - yep, starting watching series 2 of NCIS.
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