The Gong to Orange

Pop and Grandson time

With two Sons, two Grandsons, two Granddaughters (one who we had never seen before), and a Daughter-in-law all living in Primbee just south of Wollongong we detoured along the south NSW coast to Primbee staying a night at Bodella State Forest and two nights at Milton Showgrounds on route.  The weather when we were at Primbee was absolutely miserable with gale force winds blowing straight up from Antarctica so there was no fishing in the son’s new boat but we had five great nights with family.  With drinks, darts, family dinners and catch-up time with the Grandies - the five days went quickly.

After leaving Wollongong we headed up Mt. Ousley, out the back of Sydney and up through the Blue Mountains – pretty steep in sections but after our trip through the Snowy Mountains the trusty Pajero hardly flinched at the steep inclines.

My two girls and their three sisters

Noting there was no clouds or mist we decided to do a short detour in Katoomba and head out to Echo Point and do the tourist thing with a photo or two of the most photographed bit of rock in Australia – the “Three Sisters”. Pretty quiet day on a Wednesday only a few thousand overseas tourists, twenty busses and packed walkways.

There's trout in there (apparently)

After the photo shoot we headed to Lake Wallace a great free camp just outside Lithgow – Lakeside camping with clean dunnies, dump point and TV reception – nice spot. I had brought a trout lure to catch one of the stocked Lake Wallace trout but that Antarctic blast had followed us from Wollongong so with a max of 13C and min of 1C overnight we bunkered down with the diesel heater in the van earning its keep.  We thought “it can’t get much colder than this” – WRONG – we were yet to get to Orange!

Magnificent view from Mt. Canobolas - yesterday

Orange is a large inland City a 1000M above sea level - a really pretty place in late autumn with the yellows and reds of the deciduous trees creating a colorful backdrop to the City. We stayed at Linda’s nieces place where her Niece, Husband and Family made us feel welcome and at home.  Molly even had a friend to play with!  We joined the family for Saturday soccer, a kick-boxing match and a nice dinner at the local Bowls Club –  a good day out.

Before wrapping up this blog I have to mention that Lake Wallace was a sauna compared to Orange – maximum temperatures of around 10C and overnight minimums of around 0C had us shivering in our several layers of clothing we wore everyday – not even winter yet!

Made a short movie - link is HERE