Our trip distance today was around the 120k mark so we had no pressure for an early start. As a result of an early night, we both awoke early, took our time in getting ready but we were still ready to leave at 9:00am.
We took a detour into Bathurst with the intent of purchasing other items that had been left behind but none of the supermarkets opened before 10:00am. We decided to head to Mudgee but just after leaving Bathurst, we found an IGA that was open.
Our route to Mudgee would take us through Sofala where it was intended to look for some gold. As a result of recent rain, the country is absolutely lush and we cannot recall seeing so much green in this part of the state.
The road from Bathurst to Mudgee is well maintained and was easily handled by the motor home.
“She” has a book of family history that details distant relatives living in the area around Sofala. We decided to stop at the local cemetery and see what we could find. The cemetery was awash with water from the recent rain but we were able too find a dry path. “He” walked up to one grave and uttered “bloody hell” as the first grave chosen was a name that was known to us. Whilst “He” searched the top end of the cemetery without finding anymore grave of significance, “She” managed to find a group of graves where relatives were buried. It was a emotional time and the pictures we have taken of the grave stones will be added to our family tree records and hopefully future generations will be enriched by this information.
We had a quick look around Sofala including a look at some historical records in a local tea house. The Turon River was carrying a large volume of water so we decided not to look for gold. It was unlikely that the locals would steer us in the right direction. We have decided that we will devote a long weekend to a trip back to this area as we are aware of living relatives in the Wattle Flat area. Next time we will look for gold.
We continued on to Mudgee and stopped in a car park for lunch. After a quick walk down the main street, we headed to the caravan park that would be our home for the next three nights. Upon arriving, we discovered that there are seventeen (17) motor homes travelling on the safari. We were the third to arrive.
After introducing ourselves, we spent the afternoon watching the St George V Manly game (thanks St George, the Tigers still live!) before having happy hour with one of the other couples. We had steak and salad for dinner and then watch more television before heading to bed around 10:30pm.
We did have another surprise today, our satellite television card had been disabled. Fortunately all that is required too reactivate the card is to have the system on, call a 1300 number and enter the serial number of the card. Optus transmit a signal to the satellite and the card is reactivated within three minutes. We now have our connection back.