Gulgong, Mudgee & Hill End

 

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GULGONG

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Gulgong is a 19th Century Gold Rush Village with the most narrow main street that we have ever seen.  I wouldn't want to navigate this street with a van.  Thank goodness we didn't have to.  The old heritage buildings, some decorated with wraught iron, are beautiful.  We both loved the main street here.

Things were quiet on Monday, but we managed to find an open pub to share a burger lunch.  One of the best chicken & bacon burgers that I have ever had.  Plus you can get food here at any time of the day which is a bonus.  This pub oozes charm with it's warm atmosphere, super friendly staff and quaint decor.

The newsagent was open so I had a quick look around and spotted a small gift crystal ball on a stand that lights up.  This is not why I bought the crystal ball.  

Us photographers use them for unique photo opportunities.  When you photograph through them it turns the world upside down.  The best thing is that it cost only $10.  Bargain! 

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GULGONG INFO CENTRE & GOLD EXPERIENCE

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If it wasn't for the yummy scones here, I would give this place a 1 or 2 stars.  For an Information Centre, there was just the one information booklet that you can see out the front here, most dog-eared.  They seemed to be more interested in the Gold Experience in which you get to practice panning for gold and selling devonshire tea than advising people passing through of things to do and places to see.

So the Gulgong Information Centre received a Google 3 star review for the scones only as they were made fresh and yum.

Gulgong is also the home of Henry Lawson, one of our famous bush poets well known for the poem Andy's Gone With Cattle.  Henry Lawson is not one of my favourite Australian Poets so I didn't bother visiting the Henry Lawson museum.  I did manage to grab the obligatory quick snap of the statue as we drove past.

Henry Lawson Statue.

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GULGONG SHOWGROUNDS

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This was a great camp site.  $60 for 3 nights, including power, drinking water, great clean facilities, lovely hot shower & dump point.  Doesn't get any better than that.  And yet people will still try to get a free night.  You see them come in after dark, still hooked up for a quick escape in the morning.  

But try to escape the caretaker here?...  No way.  She was up at dawn, parked in front of the hooked up van & car and knocking on the door for the money.  You go girl!  So let that be a warning to those of you that try to dodge the camp fees here.

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We had a storm come through late on our last evening which cooled things down.  I managed to capture some sheet lighteneing but just couldn't get any fork.  Anyway, it was fun trying.

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MUDGEE BREWING CO

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We had a fantastic pizza here.  Fresh & hot!  The mozzarella cheese was yummy, complete with mushrooms, hot salami & olives.  Washed down with a beer tasting paddle.  Well worth the drive to Mudgee.

The beer vats were on show which reminded us of the Brewing Company on Granville Island where we stayed in Vancouver, Canada.  Real nice.

Mudgee is known as wine country.  There are heaps of wineries around here.  As we already both spent our pocket money, we decided to check out the Brewery instead as that falls into our lunch budget.  Wineries one the other hand are under the luxury budget & purchases come under pocket money budget.  First hand example of being a budget conscious tight@ss.

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I also snapped a quick pick of the town clock which looked pretty cool at the end of the main street.

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HILL END

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We stepped back in time at the awesome little Heritage Village of Hill End.  It was quite a drive from Gulgong to get there, high up in the mountains.  We wondered how anyone back in those old days knew that there would be gold out here in the middle of nowhere.  Must have been tipped off by the locals for possibly a bit of rum, we reckon.

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Anyway, it was certainly well worth the trip.  The Heritage Museum is absolutely a must here.  It costs nothing to get in and has a great miniture village diorama as well as old artifacts including an old gold miner's trolley and pictures of what it was like here when Hill End was a bustling Gold Village.  There are also videos along with a sound system depicting daily life to enhanse our senses.  We were taken back in time.  

As you wander around the streets, each old building has a placard of what it looked like in the old days and a bit of commentary.  

This place is looked after by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.  They have done great job!

Hubby chose to come here because his dad talked about Hill End alot when describing the 'good old days' ... rabbit shooting.  Well, we didn't see any rabbits but we enjoyed our day anyway.   

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ROYAL HOTEL HILL END

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We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then wandered over to the old pub for a coldie out in the back beer garden.

Reading the Google Reviews for the Royal Hotel, I would have to agree that the Publican or Bar Manager that didn't really want to be here.  There was no greeting, in fact he really didn't have anything much at all to say to us which we found to be rather rude.  In out of the way places like this, survival is based heavily on Reviews so my advice would be to at least smile and offer a friendly greeting, even if you are having a bad day.  Your visitors just might cheer you up. 

Thank goodness we stayed just for a coldie and not lunch.  At least the little sparrows in the beer garden kept us entertained.

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Tookie was glad to get out of the backpack and enjoy the shade & sparrows too.

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MERLIN LOOKOUT

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Well worth a visit if checking out the old Hill End Gold Mining Village.  Just a short drive up the hill out of town, Merlin Lookout provides a great view overlooking the countryside.

This is also a fantastic photo opportunity.  I put my camera on a tripod and used a 10sec release timer to capture a photo of us on the seat.  If you forget your tripod, don't worry, as there is a bollard here with a screw for your camera to do the same.

A visit to Hill End is not complete unless you drive up to the lookout for your own unique photo.

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ORANGE TO GULGONG SCENERY

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Hubby enjoyed the scenery between Orange and Gulgong with its rolling green hills.  That is the sort of scenery that my dad used to like.  I guess coming from England it reminded him of home.

I prefer woodland.

We passed huge solar power and wind farms.  So at least we can see first hand that there is something being done to releive the impact of global warming.  However, sadly we were also disappointed to see coal still being extracted from the ground.  No pics of that.

On our journies I do however notice different sights that some take for granted, like whispy or billowing white clouds.  See photos below. 

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