A simple pack, since we spent the night in a carvan park cabin, saw us on the road earlier than usual for us.
We headed for a return trip to Bathurst and Mudgee. Some food shopping at Bathurst.
On the road between Bathurst and Mudgee is a historic hamlet - Sofala. This is a gold mine town that is still occupied and gold diggings are still active. This small historic hamlet is worth the stop, it holds the magic of a bygone era, a time of bushrangers, hard work and a simpler life. We had a wander around the streets soaking up the relaxed atmostphere, blokes at the table in front of the pub, the post office come shop come former telephone exchange had a set of 'stocks' out the front for public use and other historic tools and equipment.
Mudgee saw us dropping into a winery, though I was looking for the winery that hosts "Poet's Corner" wines, to no avail., after that we were in search of a nights camping, and noted Coolah Tops National Park about an hour away.
The township of Coolah is apparently known for being the place with the "Black Stump", while I thought that place was in Blackall, Queensland. "Beyond the Blackstump" is an Australian saying, pertaining to being an imaginery point beyond which no normal person would usually travel. However, Coolah had a severe bush fire and the only thing standing at the the end of it was a single 'black stump' so they took it as an icon.
Grabbing ice (Mudgee had no ice!) we headed up to the Coolah Tops National Park. Being in the back blocks of no-where, beyond the 'black stump' so to speak, we thought we'd be the only ones here, but alas, no, while it was not too busy, there were other campers there, bugger.
Grabbed a nice site and enjoyed happy hour before starting dinner. My son and I took a walk into the scrub to see the giant grass tree. As luck would have it, nesting in the side of a gum tree right beside our camp, were crimson rosella's, check out the photo below. This is a lovely camp ground, one bush toilet, and a shelter shed, but otherwise, it's just quiet bush, thank goodness all the other campers also were enjoying the quiet.
Camp: The Barracks campground - Coolah Tops National Park
GPS: No GPS taken.
Weather: Cool and pleasant.
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