August 12th

It was minus 3.6 degrees in Bathurst this morning, despite this we slept warmly. The heater went on prior early so we were kept warm. Our Webasco cooker has been troublesome for several weeks. It has developed a very irrational switch on pattern. Today gas was essential for our morning cup of tea.

Eileen and Geoff need to be home this coming Sunday which is a little earlier than we need to return to the NE, so they are going more directly south than we are. This allows us to wander for a little longer.

Spools at 'Home Patch' Bathurst

Our first call for the morning was a patchwork shop called ‘Home Patch’..the Home of Hatched and Patched. It was a very tastefully decorated shop and I was lucky to find a number of ‘spools’ I purchased several of these. Yvonne and I are looking forward to a new embroidery project which involves putting our work on a spool.

The city of Bathurst was settled in the first half of the 1800s. We drove by Abercrombie House, which is on the north side of Bathurst. This particular home is extensive with 52 rooms and is considered a heritage treasure. The Morgan family, who now own it have been maintaining and restoring it for the last 40 years.

We decided to return to Orange and look for the Winery that Philip Shaw operates. It is a little way south of Orange. The buildings and sales  areas are very attractive. We were lucky to be able to spend quite a long time chatting with Philip. John knew Philp, when he lived in Rutherglen about 40 years ago. At that point he worked at Lindeman’s Corowa.

From there we drove through very hilly and green farmlands to the Nangar National Park where we have camped for the night. The Terrara Campsite is about 7 km from the main road. The track in was quite narrow and we crossed the creek about about a dozen times. It is a remote and very pretty spot to spend a night…no doubt below freezing in the morning. The valley is so narrow that we may not see the sun here before we leave camp tomorrow.

The hills of Orange and Bathurst are part of the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

Eucalyptus Dealbata in Nangar NP