Sat, 25th May, 2024 Alex Trevallion Park Rest Area, Walgett to Bowls Club RV Park, Molong, NSW (exploring Molong)

A lovely sunrise colour through the trees this morning. Just under 10 degrees so we can still put the heater on!! A few clouds about.

Packed up - well I did. Steve went outside to do something and then chatted with the neighbour.

Headed south on the Castlereagh Highway. Great mascot for Fairlands Station.

Signs on the creek and river overflows say Warrambool which means water overflow in local aboriginal language. It also means the Milky Way so that could prove a bit confusing.

Continued through the flat farming and grazing country with patches of scrub in between.

Passed Euroka Station which is where Frederick Wolseley, the creator of the shearing hand piece, came from. Then Wolseley Station.

110kph speed limit but it is too rough to do that even if we wanted too. Across swampy area and the speed drops down to 80 as they recognise it is too rough for higher speeds!

A bit further on we cross the Castlereagh River - another brown river, which is standard for all the rivers out this way.

No road kill about which is good so no crows or hawks either.

More emu couples in the paddocks. Spotted our first fox as it dashed across the road ahead of us and I got him in the photo too.

Hardly any traffic on this highway which is great. More emu couples - interesting partnership. The women as the bosses - get the man, lay the eggs then let them hatch and raise the kids while they go on to mate with the next chap they find.

Into Coonamble for a cuppa by a park. Steve is always checking the truck over whenever we stop and this time he found a few drips of oil on the auto transmission. Not good. We decided to push on to Dubbo, being a bigger town, to try and find a workshop that will allow Steve to work on the truck as the seal will have to be replaced. No sightseeing here - will have to come back one day as there are a few interesting things to see. Another John Murray artwork on the water tower (2017) as we continue on down the highway.

Pulled into the Oxley Rest Area to check the leak - no more drips! Checked out the information under the roof of the hut about John Oxley. He lead an exploration party with 16 men and 19 horses which crossed near here on 2 Aug, 1818.

After we had stopped for 10 minutes though a drip appeared.

Continued on. Interesting hills in the distance.

Over the Castlereagh River again and through a small township of Gulargambone - not sure how to go about pronouncing that. They have decorated the side of the road with corrugated iron in the shape of galahs and a big bullock team - missed the photo as we drove past.

Big goat farm south of town. Across the Castlereagh River again - narrow waterway and a big wide section of sand.

Travelling along the side of the river as we head southward. Some areas the river is close to the road and others it meanders off into the distance. Easy to spot with the big trees in the river bed.

Through a long area of Cypress Pines and other trees then back into the fields.

Into Gilgandra that we explored last year. Stopped for lunch by the river, which has gone under the sandy river bed here.

No more leaks so we decided to keep going on the Newell Highway to Dubbo. Up and down the rises as we near Dubbo, giving us nice views across the paddocks etc.

Dubbo’s elevation is 310m. I googled some mechanics and managed to find a couple open still but no one was willing to give us some space in their workshops. As the drip hasn’t worsened Steve decided to keep on to Orange then make some phone calls there.

Onto the Mitchell Highway toward Wellington which we had also checked out last year. Lovely area. Nice view as we near Wellington.

Massive solar farm.

Across the Macquarie River - old train bridge.

Into Wellington. We had a great time exploring this area last time.

Continued through following the Mitchell Highway around the corner at the Federal Hotel (1894).

Passed the turn off to Wellington Caves (which we haven’t checked out yet). They had flooding issues from the floods of 2022 but it now fully functional again. There is also a Japanese Garden there.

Up and down the hills through sheep and cattle country. Climbed up to over 500m elevation. Stopped for a cuppa at the rest stop near Bell River. A narrow waterway with high banks.

Wispy clouds appearing. Continued on and crossed Molong Creek three times - just like Bell Creek, narrow, windy and high banks.

Into Molong (elev 530m) - meaning Place of Many Rocks. There is an bicycle art trail to check out. All kinds of things in this yard.

Just got this one as we went around the bend.

Across the railway line then the bridge over Molong Creek and around to the Bowls Club. They have opened up the grassy car park to travellers as the club is closed to repairs after flooding. Some locals are playing croquet on the lawn.

Two other travellers are here so we parked up.

Rang Jodie to let them know we are on our way. They are both off work tomorrow so will spend the day with them. Sam is in Sydney so will miss seeing him.

Before it gets too cool we went for a walk. Lovely home hidden behind the trees on the other side of the road. It looks similar to the one beside it who has collected a lot of things with wheels in the front yard.

Back over the Molong Creek - looking along to a small weir.

Looking along the tracks to the old railway station.

Beside the track on the other side was a cute home still with Santa going down the chimney.

Nice railway station. Great information and photos out the front.

A rose garden and centre piece that was concrete made to look like timber slabs.

Across the road is the Freemasons Hotel (1911). Looking up the street.

Continued along the main road to the old silos built in 1920 then the others in 1938.

Some autumn colour as we head up to check out the mural on the water tower.

Great mural and information about the town’s story.

Back to the railway station then up the main street. A few buildings still suffering the effects of the flooding. Lots of interesting things and buildings to see as we meandered along.

Across to the Village Green. The info said the town had suffered flooding in 2005 too.

The Cobb & Co Coach House still remains but only the stone walls of the stables. The hotel that stood on the green was destroyed by fire.

Back onto the street is the old Bowler Cottage (1860s).

Next was the old butcher shop (1880s) where the Yarn Shop had history boards on display. The volunteers have been purchasing the historical buildings to preserve them.

Lots of old photos on the windows of the old grocer store.

The Town Hall (1922) then an old church (St John’s Anglican) and some perfumed roses.

Looking back down the street at the buildings.

Cooled off quickly as the sun set so back to the truck and put the heater on.

Rang Wendy and David for a catch up and to chat about the transmission leak.

Rang Jon so he could see if it was possible to work on the truck at their yard near Adelaide as it appears the leak isn’t getting any worse. He will check it out.