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Published: March 29th 2010
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Day 328 - Orange
Ding-a-ling-a-ling! Walkies! With all this extra activity going on you’d think we’d be starting to feel really fit, but we’re not! This morning’s walking adventure was out to Federal Falls, a walk that Tony & Jane have done many times before but are keen to do again with us so we get to see the sights. It’s definitely a ‘boots’ day today so we figure the terrain will be rocky underfoot and as with most waterfalls will involve a steep climb somewhere along the way!
We head out to Mount Canobolas with Tony at the wheel of the cruiser and are soon parking up ready to get going. The initial walk out to the falls is very straight forward and although there’s not much more than a trickle coming over the top it’s an impressive drop which we imagine is fabulous after lots of rain.
The walk up to the top of the falls wasn’t too bad either and the view down the mountain side (we’re somewhere in the Mount Canobolas area) is fantastic. If there was a water hole at the top big enough to swim in it would be perfect!
It
was the walk back up to the car park that did us, in particular me! Gosh it was tough and I really puffed my way up there amidst a few groans while Jane & Tony took it all in their stride with Darryl half way in-between! I felt slightly better when Jane said that some people use the walk in their training for the Kadoka trail. And there was me thinking that we could tackle that for my birthday treat - perhaps not!
We greeted the shower back at the house like a long lost friend. I don’t think I’ve ached so much after such a short walk ever before! I must have been burning the wick at both ends of the candle a bit too much perhaps but there’s light at the end of the tunnel as this afternoon we’re racing off to Bathurst for some 60 kph action!
With Jane having to go to work it was just the three of us speeding off to the Mt Panorama race track and the nearby museum. As we pulled out the driveway Jane wiped away the tears of pure joy at having to miss out on the trip,
motor racing and museums are not her thing but we’re very happy to indulge.
Neither of us had heard of Bathurst until a chap having a bad day yelled at us when we drove into the campground at the Barkly Roadhouse back in August. He was trying to fix the door back on to his caravan and all we did was drive into a site opposite him but it did involve swinging our van around which might have kicked up a bit of dust. He shouted something and waved his hand, we thought it might have been somebody we’d met previously so I wandered across for a chat but was met with a very abrupt “It’s not bloody Bathurst!” Since that day we’d made a pact to come to ‘bloody Bathurst’ and kick up a bit of dust from under our tyres, all the while sticking to the speed limit of course!
Bathurst is the home of the annual V8 Supercar Bathurst 1000 where cars rip round this circuit for 620 miles at speeds of up to 200mph. It’s the only permanent road racing circuit in Australia and is a real road, with houses dotted around and a
great big resort at the bottom. The pits are fully accessible and even the podium is within view although not within reach. Driving round the 6.213 kilometre track is great fun, even at 60 kph, and we can easily imagine the thrill of coming over Brocks Skyline under full power. We’re surprised at the steepness of the track in places too and the drive through the Esses is not only winding but also downhill.
Darryl had gone to the trouble of doing a bit of lunch for the three of us so we stopped mid-track to eat at a well positioned picnic table, something every race track should have! With that done and us back at the start I took a turn at the wheel for a 2nd lap! I just about managed to stick to the speed limit (I hope!) but it was mighty tempting to slam the accelerator to the floor I can tell you!
The museum was a great hit with the three of us. We intently watched the short film all about the history of the track and then wandered through the array of vehicles on display. They’ve even managed to get hold of
Australia’s first dragster which was fun to have a poke around too. One area is dedicated to the memory of Peter Brock who was a hero of Bathurst but sadly killed in Tasmania during a race. He was one of the greats and a film runs through some of his racing highlights over the years, we couldn’t take our eyes off it until the credits rolled through.
Away we came with our certificate to say we’d done our laps of the track, thoroughly chuffed that we’d made the effort to come along. Tony guided us home through the beautiful town of Millthorpe but everything was closing up for the day so there was little point in stopping.
Darryl was head chef tonight and although Jane was still at work when we got home he cooked up a great sausage casserole for us all to enjoy. Tony & Darryl settled into watching the rugby league game on the TV and I chatted to Jane & Tony’s daughter Em who came round for a visit. It was lovely to meet her, we’ve heard so much about her and of course about her older sister Kat and daughter Chia who we’ll
hopefully get to meet on another trip.
We’ve got a big walk planned tomorrow; it’s so big that we needed to collect some maps from the land registry in Bathurst earlier today! Hopefully they will keep us from getting lost as it’s an unmarked walk for 18kms in Kanangra Boyd National Park! For some unknown reason Em cannot be persuaded to change her plans for tomorrow and come join us! It brings back memories of the day she went to support her Mum in the City to Surf race in Sydney. Jane decided that Em was going too slowly so left her in the midst of 25’000 strangers and sped off. With a cheerful and joking glint in her eye Em says she’s been traumatised ever since!
Once we’d heard that we thought we should get a really good night’s sleep ready for tomorrow, we don’t want to get left behind with strangers!
Dar and Sar
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Clive
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Exciting drive!
G'day peeps, Drove this course myself and what a course it is!!! You can't imagine what it must be like at full tilt and even better when there on the bikes! How nuts must that be ..lol.. Say Hi to my cousin as they live there haha :o) Clive