Week 3: Eumungerie NSW - Blackheath NSW

February 01, 2023

Week 3: Eumungerie NSW - Blackheath NSW

Stats Overview

Km's Travelled: 1098

Km's Hiked: 0

No. of Camps: 5

The Adventures

This week has taken a slower pace travel-wise which has been a welcomed change for us both. Unfortunately we were not able to do much hiking because many of the national parks near us were closed due to damage they sustained during the recent flooding events. However, we still managed to pack a lot of fun and adventure into the places we visited. We based ourselves just outside Dubbo at Eumungerie, at a low-cost camp where we were connected to power. We were very grateful we made that choice as the three days we were there the temperatures were creeping close to 40 degrees. Thankfully we could use our air-con being connected to power, and it certainly got a work out! Most nights it was still over 30 degrees at 9pm.

We didn't let the heat deter us and adventured out to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, choosing to walk because we figured exercise is good! We got through most of the zoo (the rhinos were a highlight) and clocked up about 8kms of walking by midday, which was when we decided to seek out air-con to escape the heat. We then headed to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre which was an awesome experience! The centre at Dubbo focuses on the current operational side of the service. The centre is fairly new and has lots of really interesting information related to all facets of outreach performed by the RFDS. They had lots of really interesting stories from patients and also from those whom they employ. The RFDS also do a podcast which I highly recommend listening to although, fair warning, some of the stories are pretty intense! I really enjoyed visiting this centre as I had previously visited the museum in Cloncurry where the service was started, so it was nice to see how it has grown and is used to provide support and emergency aid to rural Australia.

While based at Eumungerie we also did a day trip out to Nyngan so that we could go and visit the Big Bogan! It was definitely worth the drive out there and we enjoyed seeing some of the silo art of the various small towns we went through.

From Dubbo we headed south-west towards Parkes. On the way we stopped in at Peak Hill to check out their old gold mine before heading to the dish. Visiting the dish at Parkes was definitely a highlight of the day, as was their Elvis museum! We also learnt a lot of interesting information about Sir Henry Parkes and the role he played in Australian politics, particularly federation. We ended up staying the night at Forbes, where we no longer had the luxury of air-con as we had no power. It was definitely a hot night! Will tried his luck fishing in the river which saw him have some success catching fish, however, he was a bit disappointed when they all turned out to be carp.

We then headed east to Orange where we enjoyed a nice cool change- it was nearly 10 degrees cooler in Orange when we arrived compared to Forbes! Unfortunately, our run of sunny days ran out and we ended up with some miserable weather, which is good for the farmers but not for people living in tiny caravans. (Sorry Mum and Dad!). However, we still got out and about and saw a lot of what Orange has to offer. We visited a really great cider brewery and learnt a lot about how they grow, select and brew apples and pears to make a wide variety of ciders and other beverages. Orange is also the birthplace of Banjo Patterson so we visited a couple of memorial sites for him which was fun. We also went out and visited some of the lookouts from Mount Canobolas which showed stunning views of the valleys below. Orange is definitely one of the prettiest towns in Australia we have seen so far with it's beautiful gardens, parks, orchards and old architecture.

After a nice stint out west, we have headed back east and are in the town of Blackheath where we plan to base ourselves for the next few days so that we can explore the Blue Mountains. It looks like we will have great weather while we are here so we are hoping to get out and see as much as we can.

Kodak Moments