Advertisement
Published: July 16th 2009
Edit Blog Post
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old,familiar pillow”.Lian Yutang.Having rested our heads on a pillow in Sydney for the last time on this epic journey,it was time to pin new co-ordinates into our trusty Navman GPS device and head off to new territory.Starting out on the north shore of Sydney heading out west in hired wheels….this was no ordinary challenge.Those of you who have braved this city’s roads will know how important it is to find the right glide offs as you thread your way over the bridge and through the city….suffice to say that an impressive combination of Navman and a rapidly improving human navigator,Susan,saw us safely on route to the Blue Mountains.One always builds little mind pictures about foreign lands and these mountains conjured up a picture of a divide between coastal plains and the great inland regions with perhaps a sprinkling of snow enticing “Sydneysiders” there for week ends of skiing.Despite the cloudy,misty conditions the Blue Mountains stood as a large,brooding mountain range to be conquered before being exposed to the great yonder.The climb is fairly gentle and,keeping in mind that one is on the
Great Western Highway,there was remarkably little traffic heading over the hills.It was cold and the misty rain spoilt what the brochures depicted as spectacular viewing opportunities.The bit that did surprise was the fact that all the way through the Blue Mountains there are a never ending line up of small villages each proudly announcing it’s magnetic charms and inevitably we succumbed to one of these by name of Leura which sort of rhymed with “lunch”.It has an old town charm all of it’s own and all it seemed to lack to qualify as a town in the Alps was a two foot layer of the fluffy white stuff and a few chair lifts…..but,alas,no snow to be seen.If cappuccino stops were compulsory in every town for travelers working their way through the Blue Mountains,I doubt you would get through in a week end.But get through we did as Navman had us beamed up for Mudgee which is situated about 300km’s inland of Sydney.Remembering our penchant for road side stops,trusty spotter Sue located a tiny town by name of……..well,on a quick reference to the map we couldn’t find it again BUT…it proudly announced kilometers before getting there how good their coffee and
pies were.Great marketing but also an early warning to slow down and break otherwise it would simply flash by.We stopped and weren’t disappointed…this little café boasted having won the “Best Pie Competition” for years on end.After the soaring mountains,the ascent took us down into flatter countryside with more and more indications that this was serious farming land with sheep and cattle in abundance.Why Mudgee?Well,this is where Glen and Ali Barker along with their children Robert and Kate had dropped anchor in Australia having lived there for the past 15 odd years.Glen had never painted much of a sketch about Mudgee in many discussions with him and the “self portrait” I had in my mind was….a dusty inland farming town with a main street and maybe a tumbleweed or two blowing around in one of the droughts which befall the region.Let me say this…Glen has quickly learnt the Aussie trait of understatement.Mudgee was a revelation and it is anything but a dusty little backwater.First and foremost,it is a farming town but it is not just sheep and cattle which infuse it’s life blood.It is also a thriving wine growing area and depending on which good citizen of Mudgee one speaks to,it
could easily be Australia’s “premier wine growing region”.We met many of their friends and were hugely impressed with how proud the good people of this town are about it’s qualities.Feathers were fluffed up as many told us how Mudgee is one of the few towns across the country which is growing(population up 50% to 9000 in the last ten years),the volume and quality of wines produced which leave the rest of Australia for dead and how “Sydneysiders” can’t resist it’s charms to counter the effects of their frenetic city life.Now consider this…..if all human beings were so genuinely positive about their town of residence along the lines of what we experienced in Mudgee,then we would all be a pretty happy bunch of people wherever we chose to live.Good on yer,Mudgee!There is much to see around Mudgee and a day was spent heading out to explore the area including a visit to a small town by name of Gulgong which was discovered in the early 1820’s but really got into top gear with the discovery of gold in 1870.Today the gold has been mined out but Gulgong remains in much the same state as one would have seen it way back
then boasting a large number of buildings listed with the National Trust as being of historical importance.Walking down the main street,which can only accommodate a single vehicle at a time,and looking on to the old buildings left one with the impression that this could easily be one of those old western film sets.In the midst of this time warp scenario are two distinct paradoxes…firstly,a very smart art gallery located in an impressive new building(off the main street)and secondly,a store selling just about every imaginable item ever “Made in China”(also,off the main street).The only lingering question was…..who comes to town to purchase from these two stores which have offerings at two opposite ends of the spectrum?Sydneysiders and others who visit this charming little town,I suspect.Mudgee also has a very good golf course and Glen,never one to turn up an opportunity,arranged a game against two long time residents of the town who gave us a golfing lesson.The return game will be staged in neutral territory on a course yet to be decided.Being inland and over the mountains meant that temperatures tended to plummet over night and Mudgee has the answer to this problem…..bring Xmas forward and so it came to pass that we had a “Xmas in July” luncheon at a rustic farm shed in the wine growing region.The concept and venue were great but to pull a stunt like this off one needs a character and Johnny Furlong was just the man for the occasion.He has owned and run hotels with his wife,Sally,and this lunch was exceptional.Good food,great wine(“Two Furlong” reds flowed all afternoon)but it was the collection of songs sung with gusto by Johnny which put the seal on an afternoon for the memory bank.There is always real danger in developing thumb sketch pictures in one’s mind about places and towns unvisited but then there is most times surprise and upside when actually going there.Mudgee was a wonderful example of this scenario…..a beautiful town nestled against a low mountain range and surrounded by spectacular farmlands and vineyards but most importantly,inhabited by friendly and proud citizens many of whom we were fortunate to meet.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.219s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0789s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ann Becker
non-member comment
Janes 50th
Hi there Sue and Tim, We returned a couple of hours ago, from a wonderful week at Leopard Creek @ the Smithymans place!!! Wow, every time we go there it seems even better than the previous, its a real piece of paradise... with special friends being Sharon and Rob, Di and Doug Jackson, Col and Charles Bennett and John and I. It was bliss... perfect weather, saw the big 5 and loads of little "beings". Anyway - thanks for all your blogs. About Janes 50th. Her invitation specifically states please not to bring a gift. I missed todays meeting and have not discussed with any of the ladies, but I think we should respect her wish. An idea I have, is to perhaps give her a card with a note of which charity a donation has been made in place of a gift. What do you think? I will chat to the ladies about it and see how they feel. Meanwhile - you carry on enjoying the last chapter of your travels. At noosa you may see Garth and Trish Berg ? - if you do, please give them our best love etc etc - they were at Perth many years, and around a year or 2 ago moved to retire at Noosa. I believe its beautiful there, so enjoy !!! lots of love from sunny bright Umhlanga Rocks. x x x