It was cold when the alarm sounded at 7:00am and a quick look out of the door revealed that it was snowing.
Snowing is not really the right term (sleet would be a better description) but we did have snow laying on the ground at the point where it had hit the side of the caravan.
We were not sure if we would stay an extra day at Macquarie Woods but the presence of the snow and a forecast for further cold weather made the decision to move to Hill End (and power for heating) very easy.
We packed up and with our friends, departed Macquarie Woods around 9:30am. The sleet increased in intensity and we were both happy to be back on solid ground before the gravel roads deteriorated due to the continuing sleet/rain.
The drive back to Bathurst was uneventful and we allowed the GPS to take us around the outskirts of Bathurst and to the road to Hill End.
The drive from Bathurst to Hill End is a hilly but pretty drive. It also takes us through an area of NSW where a lot of “Her” relatives lived in the 1800’s. On a recent trip to Hill End, we stopped in the cemetery at Turondale and took photographs of the graves of “Her” relatives. Just past Turondale is a bridge crossing a river that was built by Tom Cole, who was one of her distant relatives.
Later in the morning we arrived at a cold Hill End and were able to secure the last two powered sites in the Village campground. The site that was available for us was too uneven and we parked behind the site and ran our power and water from the site. The campground was covered in kangaroo poo and we were told that snow had fallen earlier in the day. “He” did the right thing and used our spade (taken with us for digging up gold nuggets!) and moved most of the kangaroo poo to leave a clear path to our car and the roadway that appeared to be free of droppings.
Another couple arrived later in the morning and “He” provided transport so the second camp site in Hill End could be checked. The second site was empty but we noted that there was only bare ground and not a blade of grass in sight.
We had lunch and then with our friends, took to the car to take pictures of Hill End and several lookouts that provide views of the township and also the mining areas.
Our first stop was to take some pictures of an old church and we followed that stop with a stop of the Visitor’s Centre where we obtained some maps of the area and had a discussion with the delightful staff member.
After leaving the Visitor’s Centre, the first lookout we called at was Bald Hill lookout which offers stunning views of historic Hill End’s countryside. Camera were used to take many pictures of the township.
We then headed to the Beaufoy Merlin lookout which also offers spectacular views and is an excellent vantage point to see the true scale of former mining activities. Also known as ‘Merlin’s lookout’, Beaufoy Merlin lookout is a great spot to look out over the area once known as “the richest quarter mile in the world”.
Returning to the camp ground, our friends invited us into their RV for happy hour and an excellent evening meal of mince and noodles. We sampled several liqueurs after our meal. “She” managed to have a slight fall on the return to our caravan as there was no lighting in the campground and “She” discovered a point in the uneven road.