Bathurst

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We have settled in Bathurst, and a plus is the satellite signal could be found (without the satellite finder) so we have TV. Saturday morning we took a good walk along the Macquarie River which runs adjacent to the showgrounds. We are impressed with the number of parklands and how they are maintained. Many people use the walkways along the river for walking, walking their dogs, exercise as it is a pleasant area. The old harness racetrack is part of the showgrounds which is used to practice the horses. We enjoy watching the horses going around the track and enhances the sense of space here. The next few nights are forecast to get quite cold. Saturday night was 13º. Our daily routine here is to walk around the various parts of the showgrounds, as the area is quite large and to walk the different walkways along the river. Sunday we drove into the town CBD to pick up a few things. The minimum got down to 10º. Cooler. Monday we decided to walk to the CBD. It is a lot closer than we realised. Just up the road. Walking always gives you a better perspective of an area. Jayme stayed in the caravan, which I think is only the 2nd or 3rd time we have kept her in the caravan while we went out. We are enjoying Bathurst quite a lot. Although a large town (population of 42,000), it has a country, easy going feel about it. Monday night it got down to 6º. That was coldest we have experienced. We were rugged up Tuesday morning and the Top End's climate did seem a long way away. (More than 4,000km away anyway!).

Tuesday morning we dropped the car off to get its' scheduled service and the courtesy car dropped us off in town. Jayme remained in the caravan. This offered us the chance to walk around the main streets of the CBD and have brunch at one of the cafes. When we got back, Jayme was very very happy to see us. We picked up the car later in the afternoon, with a higher cost than anticipated as the brake pads and disc rotors needed to be replaced. The Toyota guy advised us that it was wear and tear and really quite good not to have had to replace them previously. The car is 10 years old next month and has done over 130,000km. We have decided to stay a further 2 nights.

Thursday was scenic drive morning. We drove to the Mount Panorama race track (the famous Bathurst 1000 for race car enthusiasts) and Holly drove around the track. What a buzz, and we aren't race car fans. Then onto Chifley Dam. The scenery was interesting, but a dam is a dam is a dam.

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Photos

Macquarie River
Walkway next to showgrounds

Our site at the showgrounds

Mt Panorama
At the top

On way to Chifley Dam
Bathurst surrounds

Comments

[Uncle Leigh]

Burning Rubber
Could you smell the burning rubber? I believe you can buy it in cans there somewhere. Did you see an official sign like this - Aunty Di thought it was hilarious - "Don't Sleep and Drive" It was up near Rocky about 13 years ago.

[Just the 3 of Us]

Burning Rubber
Yes, we have seen those signs and we laugh every time. With my fear of heights, there was no chance of burning rubber. :-)