Day 1
It has been 17 years since I last visited Hill End. Jessica had just been born and I remember taking the 2 boys away alone. I especially remember the trip because I had a dirty fuel issue in my old Landrover Defender and we had to keep pulling over, taking the filter off, shake it out, fill it up and go again. So some are going to laugh but this time we took a Toyota, albeit a RAV 4.
Loryn and Ellie hadn’t visited Hill End before although they have been through close areas like Bathurst, Sofala and the beautiful Bylong Valley. I think the weather leading up to our visit (read: lots of snow) was a little worrying for Loryn, but the reality ended up being a fairly mild “extended” weekend. We did our normal after work run down to Les & Helen (Loryn’s parents) which allowed us an easy getaway on the Friday.
We decided to take our time and explore some of the many lookouts and stops through the Blue Mountains. Heading along the Great Western Hwy our first stop was just outside of Wentworth at Lincoln’s Rock.
Continuing up the road a few minutes we pulled into the Jamison and Wentworth Falls lookouts
We were skipping a number of other lookouts primarily because we had visited them over the last few years. We continued up to Blackheath and headed out to the Evans and Valley View lookouts.
The weather had turn a tad crap on us by then, so we had a late bite to eat for lunch and continued to Lithgow. It is amazing how quickly you lose time when you start doing a number of stops.
We turned off at Kelso on the outskirts of Bathurst and headed up to Sofala. The Bridal Track isn’t quite open at this time although there is some great news about it being worked on at the moment (can’t wait). A quick (toilet) stop at Sofala being that it was a late Friday afternoon and we have visited here before (read – nothing was open).
A relatively quick run climbing up to Hill End resulted in us putting our feet up and relaxing. We were basically the only ones at our accommodation for the night (Hill End Lodge) so we were able to enjoy a feed and a quiet drink before retiring for the night.
Day 2
So there’s this rooster, and it starts at around 0400h outside the doors of some blocks and it works its way around all of the accommodation blocks. It was 0700h by the time it got to us, so I’m loath to complain too much. But ….. there was a moment it was going to be rooster soup for breakfast!!!
Anyway we decided we had better get up, or was that Ellie decided we were getting up. I can’t quite remember, but the photos show I must have got out of bed! We started with coffee at the Cafe and then proceeded to just wander. Anyway, photos tell a better story than I do.
We noticed that the campgrounds are really good now days. You could throw a swag down or even take your caravan. The Village Campground and Glendora Campground looked spot on. I still prefer down on the Turon River (Bridle Track), but that’s not accessible for a lot of people.
After a busy morning we decided to stop and have a feed (washed down of course).
After lunch we headed a tad further afield, heading out Hill End Rd to Ullamalla Rd. This is the shortcut way through to Orange via Dixons Long Point Crossing. It is a gravel road and currently the water level at the crossing dictates whether you need an AWD, 4WD (with snorkel) or impassable. I have heard that there is a bit of work happening in this area so it may become more accessible in the near future.
That will most likely become another trip for us in the future – come up via the Bridal Track and go out that way (that’s what I did last time). For now though, we only travelled as far as the Cornish Quartz roasting pits and then worked out way back slowly towards Hill End.
Arriving back in Hill End we continued exploring
And we finished off the day back at the accommodation with another nice meal
Day 3
A relaxed morning and on the road around 0900h. We decided to head out via Turondale Rd instead of backtracking to Sofala. The run to Bathurst was really good and it was a pleasant surprise to find that it is bitumen the full length now.
We decided to stop into the Railway Museum as it was closed last time we visited. Ellie absolutely loved it
We headed back on to the road across to Lithgow where we explored for a while prior to fuelling up and having lunch
The run back to Les & Helen’s was relatively painless which was a little surprising considering the combination of Bells Line of Road and wet weather.
We stopped in for a few hours to have dinner prior to our four hour run home. Overall it was a tad fresh but very enjoyable break. Certainly well worth the 72 hours away from home.