Historic Gold Mining Towns

Gulgong is a historic 19th century gold mining town, located a mere 30km from Mudgee. It is always amusing when travelling in rural Australia, how a place < 100km isn't really that far away.

Mudgee

Mudgee is a country town located in the Central West of NSW (or the Central Tablelands), approximately 3.5hrs from Sydney. It is the perfect distance away from home; it is not too long of a drive, but just long enough.

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing at Blue Mountains

The last leg of my roadtrip was a little uneventful. As I didn't want to partake in the standard traffic jam back to Sydney associated with every public holiday, I wanted to stay for the night at a place reasonably close to Sydney.

Henry Lawson Statue at Glenfall. Henry Lawson was a writer and poet.

Cowra lookout

Central West Roadtrip: Iandra Castle

Waking up to this beauty

There is a castle in NSW! Technically Iandra Castle isn't a castle in the strictest definition. However, it is what the homestead is known as colloquially and it has stuck. The structure is privately owned and they only have a few open days a year (coinciding with the long weekends). Admission is $10 per person and all the proceeds go towards the restoration of the castle as they do not receive any government funding.

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing in Condobolin

One of the many advantages of living in Australia is the fact that there is relatively little light pollution. For those who are curious, you can check out this map to see how much light pollution there is in your country / region! Naturally, there is quite a lot on the coastline (which is where the capital and major cities / towns are) and pockets inland. However, generally, once you head a few hours inland, the light pollution diminishes and the skies are amazing! With this in mind, I wanted to head as far west as I could from major cities / towns and I decided on Condobolin purely because there was a free camp.

In my attempt to find something - actually anything - to see / do on the way to Condobolin from Orange, I stumbled upon The Utes in the Paddock. It is an art installation where 20 Holden utes have been given a makeover and placed in a field!

Central West Roadtrip: Autumn Leaves in Orange

Another long weekend and another roadtrip! This time I headed to Central West of NSW out towards Orange and Condobolin. I originally wanted to head to Warrumbungle National Park, past Dubbo, as it is Australia's only Dark Sky Park.

A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.

However, I wasn't convinced it would be that much more amazing than another area in the region and eventually decided against it. Plus, I wasn't excited about the bushwalks at the national park either.

First stop on my roadtrip was Orange. Orange is 254km west of Sydney and is known as a "Colour City" due to the autumn leaves. The area is also known for fresh produce and wineries however as I am not a massive foodie, my appeal lay with the leaves. I had been wanting to visit Orange in the autumn for a few years now. This may sound quite silly for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere / areas where there are deciduous trees however the native trees in Australia (except for one in Tasmania) are evergreens and autumn isn't as visually exciting.

Warning: this post is image heavy with photos of leaves.