To Hill End
Wednesday. Day 5.
Well, we’ve filled the Pajero up with sand and covered it in mud, and most of the time it’s been raining. But our next destination will be a lot drier. We’re heading south-west to the old gold rush town of Hill End.
We’re not looking for gold dust, just dust. But before that we need coffee and diesel, so that’s what we do when we get to Scone, our first stop today. The boys check out the surf shop (yes, the surf shop) and we set up our route on the satnav. It’s a clear day.
We look around Scone for a while then set off on a longer drive - over the dividing range and down to Sofala on the other side.
Going up the winding hills, it doesn’t feel like we’re in a big 4WD. The turbo makes it agile and responsive – it’s fine leaving it in automatic but we’re enjoying the manual shift. The car is a nice ride at higher speeds and we like the grip going through corners. Rohan reminds us (again) that he brought his L-plates, but only two of us can drive on this trip.
The car also gives us an all round sense of safety on the open road. Partly because of the road sensing and stability control, and partly because of the strength of the body. The height and visibility add to the feeling too.
We’re interested in the fuel economy, so we’re recording the amount of diesel we use over the trip.
Rohan and Dylan spend the drive watching DVDs, eating, playing with the audio system, sharing the iPod, not sharing the iPod, pointing out who left their iPod at home, and discovering how to plug the iPod into the audio system. That’s ok - most of their music we like.
The DVDs, on the other hand…no, never mind. But having a DVD with a 9” screen and headphones in the back transforms a family car on a long drive. We could’ve brought the PlayStation too but we decided DVDs and music were enough.
We reach Sofala mid afternoon. It’s very dry out here and the river has stopped flowing. (What a contrast to the Barrington River yesterday.) We see why they call it an historic town, and some of the shops and houses are gems.
Our final drive today is to Hill End, on a sealed/unsealed road, and now we kick up some dust. We arrive in time for a vivid sunset and we stay at the Hill End Lodge, an impressive new motel designed in an older outback style. It’s a surprise to find it in a small and very old town, but it seems there’s a reason. In a place that was at the heart of the 1870s gold rush era, they’re finding gold again.
Thursday. Day 6.
Another clear day. We walk around the town for a couple of hours – but you don’t notice time out here. The pub dates back to the gold rush days, it still has accommodation and there are shops that look just as old. The trees are huge and there’s a riot of colour in autumn.
We lower the tyres again and set off on a drive we’ve been looking forward to. It’s the Bridle Track, the route that the gold miners from Hill End took to Bathurst back in the 1870s.
Today it’s a well known 4WD trail – not a hard one, but it needs careful driving. Parts of it are steep and shaly, in dry conditions the surface is loose, and after rain it’s slippery.
Most of the track is only wide enough for one car - so if you meet one coming the other way, one of you has to reverse until you find space to pass. That would get interesting if you’re on one of the blind corners on the mountain side, with 1,000 foot drop-offs to the valley floor below.
The first stretch takes us on a twisting descent, and we take it fairly slowly. I’m watching the loose surface, the others are watching the drop-off. The car’s in 4WD High Range and we’re kicking up a big dust cloud behind.
At the bottom the track meets the Turon River. It’s low at the moment, without enough water to flow over the causeway. (In heavy rain it’s a dangerous crossing and 4WDs have been swept off.)
At a spot called Root Hog, the Bridle Track and Macquarie River come together. It’s a lot prettier than its name, and as always the sound of a river in the bush is hypnotic.
A bit further on we leave the track and drive down to a flat patch at the river’s edge. Dylan, who hates snakes, peers into the long grass. Two minutes later we’ve launched the kayak, Rohan is telling Dylan about water snakes and Jillian is looking for deep holes where trout might live.
Dylan and I take the kayak for a while, then the boys paddle it upstream and disappear around a bend. They’re back an hour later, having carried it over a couple of sets of gentle rapids and explored more of the river. They see the beauty of this river valley, and wish we could camp here.
After lunch they kayak some more and we all do some fishing, but still no luck. It’s good practice at least, standing on a rock in the middle of a river.
Slowly we pack up and get in the car. We get back up on the track and check out an old mine shaft we’d spotted earlier. The boys take a torch in – it extends about 80 metres into the mountain.
We head off again and it’s a great drive along the river for about 15km. We pass a couple of families with 4WDs and tents set up at the river’s edge. At Monaghan’s Bluff the track takes us up high above the valley again, it gets narrow again, and we look for cars coming the other way. Dylan is quiet for 17 minutes.
About 30km from the start at Hill End, the track becomes a sealed surface.
We reach Bathurst late in the afternoon, where we top up the tank and the tyres. Then it’s on to Oberon, and we decide to keep going through to Goulburn.
Just on nightfall a kangaroo runs on to the road and freezes in the headlights. We’re doing 90. I brake firmly but not too hard, and the car stops without slewing. Lucky kangaroo.
We arrive in Goulburn, find a motel, then go out for dinner. It’s been a great day and a long day. Tomorrow we’ll be back on the coast.
