Lake Burrendong to Warrumbungle NP

Two weeks at Lake Burrendong have come & gone. In those two weeks at the lake it has rained for most of that time with only the week-ends being dry & sunny. Despite the much needed rain, it has been a good time to just relax & get away from the hustle & bustle of the big towns. A great place to take regular walks, while at the same time watch the water level of the lake rise. We have been keeping an eye on several landmarks in the lake & slowly they have been disappearing, for example when we arrived at the lake, on August 31 the level was 61% & today Sept 12 the level is now 81% full. Unfortunately for us, the rise in water meant that there was more of it between the fish. We didn’t catch any, but then again, the boaties didn’t do much better.
The locals enjoy coming here on the week-ends to ski, fish, have BBQ lunches & generally drive around the park to see how much the lake has risen after 12 years of dry conditions.

Gulgong was an interesting little town. I’m not sure if SA has heard on the news this year about a small country hospital which was to be closing as a result of asbestos. Well, it’s this hospital. The hospital was given 2 weeks in which to close its doors to the community which will mean that they will have to travel to either Wellington or Dubbo for treatment. The town developed a website “Save Gulgong Hospital” so that the community can keep abreast of what’s happening. The hospital will continue to open its doors for general consultations but any hospitalisations will have to be in other neighbouring towns.
Gulgong (click on Tourist Attractions on the top menu bar for each of the links below) is also known as The Ten Dollar Town. It was given this name as the motel was on the first $10 note (original paper note). Gulgong was once an old gold mining town (click on Gulgong History on the top menu bar) where Henry Lawson lived. We called into the Henry Lawson Centre which was very interesting outlining his life & displaying each of his books which he wrote. His mother played a significant part in Henry’s life with his writing & she too was a writer that was involved with the emancipation of women. A walk through town was interesting with a ‘Swaggies / Symbol Trail’ visible on the footpath. Symbols on tiles along the main street illustrated how swaggies used to communicate to one another; gutters were deep to manage the sudden downpours of summer rain that falls in this region of NSW. After meandering through town, a bite of lunch then head off to Dunedoo.

Dunedoo claims to be the southern gateway to Warrumbungle National Park. Dunedoo is derived from the local Wiradjuri Aboriginal name for swans which explains why there is a large black swan on the top of one of the buildings. In the Lions Park down the main street we came across a large board with what looked like a ball on it. At closer inspection it was a model of Neptune which upon reading further was a part of ‘The World’s Largest Virtual Solar System Drive’. Starting at one of the regional towns of Tamworth, Dubbo, Gulgong, Moree & Merriwa driving along different routes towards Siding Spring Observatory at Coonabarabran there are different planets starting with Pluto right through to the Observatory which represents the sun & central point of the solar system model. Each 3D model is scaled in size relative to the huge observatory done & the locations of the billboards are also scaled in distance.

Coolah was to be our next stop for a couple of days. We quite enjoyed our stay once we got onto our site at the local caravan park. This proved to be quite interesting. Owing to the high amount of rain which has fallen recently, the grassed area next to all of the van sites were very wet & slushy. As a consequence, when Colin drove the caravan onto the concrete pad both the van & car got bogged, what a sight... So yours truly had to get out & lock the 4WD hubs so he could pull the van out & onto the pad. He sunk down at least 4 inches; what a mess! Behind us was a small stream, flowing strongly after the showers of rain. By the evening it had turned into a raging river; it had risen at least 1 metre. The camper next to us was quite concerned, questioned the park manager who told her that 10 years ago, the river had risen up to the amenities . She was not amused by this news & was quite nervous about staying there. By 10pm, there was a slight drop in the water level and we were able to sleep soundly. By morning, the river had subsided quite significantly.

A lovely tranquil place hidden in the nearby Warrumbungle Range was Coolah Tops NP. The Norfolk Falls was in great display with a rainbow forming above the water as the sun shone. The view from the Bundella Lookout which overlooks the Liverpool Plains was just stunning. But to get there we had to walk through almost an inch deep of water. Everywhere was wet, wet, wet. Our final point of interest was Bracken’s Hut. The hut was built in 1937 for the purpose of housing Tuwinga herdsmen William Bracken & his family. The home has been lovingly restored back to its original condition including the outside long-drop & is available for hiring. The evidence of how much rain has fallen in the park was a bogged tractor which we had passed on our way into the park.

Binnaway is a lovely tranquil & very friendly town which runs close to the Castlereagh River. The classic Australian film Shiralee was filmed around Binnaway. We stayed at the town’s newly developed Camping Rest Area for the night. During the 24hours we were camped, we had 3 members of the Progress Association visit us on 3 different occasions; just to make sure we were ok. They really made us feel welcome. Binnaway used to be a bustling railway centre where it serviced over 20 steam engines a week. It was an important transport link ferrying timber & grain from rural NSW to coastal markets. It is also on the main line where iron-ore from Broken Hill mines is transported to Newcastle.

With only about 40kms to go for our next destination, Warrumbungle NP, we weren’t in a hurry to head off the next day. As some of our readers are aware, the Warrumbungle NP is just outside Coonabarabran where the mountain top views are just spectacular & is a hikers/walker’s paradise. The park management has recently completed a new section of the original camping area which is now completely sealed with a few drive-through sites. We chose one of these because by this time we had had enough of being wet under our feet. It has been wonderful to go to sleep at night without hearing trucks using their engine brakes as they’re passing through and instead, to wake up with the birds singing. The kangaroos come up quite close to the campers.

Coonabarabran and the Warrumbungle is the Astronomy Capital of Australia. It is the home to Australia’s largest optical astronomy research centre. A visit to the Siding Spring Observatory was in order although we had visited the observatory some time ago, we got to join a tour of the complex. Some of the telescopes are privately owned; others are accessed off-site by Internet technology from as far away as Peru, Japan and the US. Astronomers even from China have access to the telescopes. The astronomer Robert H McNaught, who named the McNaught Comet in 2006, works from here searching for new comets and other Earth-bound rocks from space. The day at Siding Springs was very enjoyable.
While at Warrumbungle NP, we have taken the opportunity to do several of the easier walks. We leave the hard ones for the more experienced hikers like our neighbour ... Ron. Well done!

Our next update will come from Lake Keepit where we are going to bunk down for the next two weeks for the coming school holidays.

Click on the link below to view some photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/LakeBurrendongToWarrumbungleNP?feat=directlink

Condobolin to Lake Burrendong

We left Condobolin to head east-wards to Parkes, again, off of the main highways and to look at the less known attractions. We had read about a unique collection of Holden Utes, (pick-up trucks for UK readers). Down a side road off of the bitumen at Ootha, it appears that a cattle station (Burrawang West Station) family saw a need for attracting tourists off of the beaten track. Different to other attractions, this was free. In a paddock alongside the road, was a display of 16 Holden Utilities, positioned in a variety of poses, paint and accessories “Utes in the Paddock” http://www.utesinthepaddock.com.au.

Well known artists, including Peter Browne from Broken Hill, decorated the utilities in various themes to present a tribute to life in the outback, Dame Edna on the dunny, native fauna and even a bottle of Bundaberg Rum, (essential for most Ute owners at the end of a hard day in the paddock).
I could see from the roadside that they attracted many visitors to this unique piece of Australiana. They should put up a donation box if only to collect for the RFDS.

At Parkes, we headed for the Spicer Caravan Park, having been there when we last visited, it is off of the main Newell Highway and quieter. The Newell Highway is the main route between Victoria and Brisbane, Queensland. It is very busy with all manner of truck-trailer combinations. It is also the major route for southerners going to and from the Queensland winter resorts and nowadays, it is a toss-up as to whether there are more caravans than trucks. Of course, the truckies are being paid to get from a-b and do it flat out at their speed limited best and they don’t like being held up by caravanners. We have heard the chatter on the CB between trucks about their dislike of the “aluminium road blocks” along the way. We will do our best to keep off of the Newell. Not enough passing lanes, few rest areas and just too busy.

From Parkes, we again visited the CSIRO Radio Telescope, made famous by the movie “The Dish”. This was our second visit and just as interesting as the first; they have updated the video shows, and have a diary on display that lists what the “Dish” is doing at any given time. On this visit, it moved around a fair bit, searching for more electrical signals from space. Seeing a 64 metre span of over 1000 tonnes of steel being moved to within minutes of a degree azimuth and inclination is quite impressive. The display in the centre tells the real story of the televised event of the moon landing in 1969.

We used Parkes as a top-up time, shopping, washing and housework. Filled the tanks and charged the batteries ready for more of our discovery tour.

Molong-Yeoval and the “Animals on Bikes”

We left Parkes to head off to Molong (place of many rocks) for lunch, a walk around this Central NSW town and a bit of history of Cobb and Co stage-coach routes. Many of the buildings in Molong are just about as they were built in the 1800s and a history walk around the town tells their story. Near there is “The Wire Paddock”, the first place where barbed wire was used West of the Blue Mountains, 1860, and probably marked the beginning of the settings of boundaries of the massive sheep stations that helped grow Australia.

Just up the road is the turn-off to the Obley Road to Cumnock, Yeoval and eventually to Dubbo. Along the first half of the highway is another of those unique attractions. The Obley Road and the little towns along its way host an annual cycle event: “Mulga Bills Bicycle Ride” This event commemorates the Australian poet, “Banjo” Paterson who wrote an ode of Mulga Bill buying a bicycle to replace his horse. “Banjo” Paterson spent his childhood in Yeoval and apparently many of his writings were inspired by the characters he met along the way.

As an adjunct to the Bicycle Ride, the locals have erected a number of animal characters “on bikes” made from old farm machinery and a great amount of imagination. It is written that the locals were inspired by the “Tin Horse Highway” in WA; the characters are positioned in the paddocks along the road. As we drove along, van in tow, “....there’s one”, shouts Vicki, and with a bit of luck, there was room to pull up and take the photos.

Having made so many photo-stops, by mid afternoon we decided to camp at Yeoval Showgrounds. A lovely quiet spot alongside the river, power supplied for a measly $5 per night. There was only one other camper, so we had plenty of choice of spots. A walk around the town and along the river, we found out a bit more about Banjo Patterson’s early childhood and his home in Buckinbah. Another surprise was the sculpture of Henry Moore, another of the “Big-Things” that can be found around Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/07/26/2964123.htm Bought to Yeoval as a “traffic stopper, it works!

Burrendong State Park

Our next camp off the beaten track was to a New South Wales State Park, Lake Burrendong. The lake is a critical water supply and is formed by the damming of the Macquarie River. When full, the lake is bigger than Sydney Harbour. However, for the last few years, like many others, was almost dry. Just a couple of months before our visit, the lake had been down to 6%. When we arrived the level had risen to over 60% and rising. I am sure that I could see the difference with trees on the shore. As I write this, (Saturday 4th September) wild weather and lot’s more rain is forecast, flood warnings and wind squalls are coming. We had a steady rain overnight but the strong winds are just arriving, we have battened down and are hoping that we stay the right way up. The rain will surely add to the level of the reservoir, it has been known to rise above the spill-way. Work is underway to increase the reservoir capacity, several years of drought, climate change and population growth, the need is there.
The increase in water level is supposed to have bought back the fish, photos in the kiosk of recent catches look good but we haven’t seen any. With the rise in water levels, there is more space between them.

In the Park is the Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum. The Arboretum was established in 1964 and is a grand display of the variety of flora from all around Australia, particularly from the more arid zones. Some of the walks are over a kilometre in length and best driven to in turn. The under-story fernery walk (Fern Gully), is a lovely experience. Under a man-made canopy, with a stream flowing through, birds and frogs among the plants, one could easily think that they were in a real tropical environment. The park has over 164 Hectares to explore, over 180 species of birds and fauna. We disturbed dozens of Kangaroos as we drove and walked around the park. http://www.burrendongarboretum.org/

Wellington is the local township 20 odd km north of the Park, and has its own history in palaeontology; near the town are a series of old caves, around 1830, the caves were discovered to contain the bones of thousands of years of animals. One of the caves had several thousand years of guano from giant bats, extinct for 10,000 years. The guano, as phosphate was mined and the mining uncovered millions of years of bones, extinct mammoth Diprotodon, a giant wombat’s ancestor. The caves are well worth a visit.

We had a fair bit of rain over the weekend and there was a flood warning for Wellington on the Sunday night. There are two rivers that join up alongside the town; the Bell River joins the Macquarie River, the town sits in between the two. As the Bell River catchment area around Orange has had a lot of rain, the river was running a banker. Tree branches, logs and all manner of debris were being washed downstream at a great rate of knots. Where the junction was, a few people were watching (and fishing!) with interest as the floodwater was rising. Another few feet would see it over the bank and into the town. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the river peaked at 3.1m around 2200hrs. Had the Macquarie been in flood too, it surely would have been disastrous for the town and surrounding areas. However, the Macquarie is held back by the Burrendong Dam, and the lake, after this rain, has risen to around 70%, we can see a difference from when we arrived on Tuesday. If the dam does fill and spill downstream, it is to be hoped that the Bell River has subsided and leaves room for the flow. The Macquarie River is one of the wonders of Australia; it doesn’t run into the sea but peters out inland in an area called The Macquarie Marshes.


So if we weather the storms tonight, we will be looking for our next camp in a similar State Park a bit further north, along the way we will be going “Beyond the black stump”. More about this next post.
Click on the link below to view more photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/CondobolinToLakeBurrendong?feat=directlink