TRACKING THROUGH THE SNOW TO NYNGAN ON THE BOGAN

4th August 2015

We took the advice of the tourist agent again the next day, 4^th of August, and stuck to touring the countryside rather than walking.  The history of Bathurst is extremely interesting, both from a settlement point of view and the gold mining days and both are very evident in the Old gold mining towns of Sofala and Hill End.

Sofala is the oldest surviving gold town and during the 1850’s it had a main street which was 16Kms long and housed tens of thousands of hopeful gold seekers or merchants and purveyors of food to keep the miners happy. Although this town is still inhabited by many and the old buildings are evidently restored or still lived in, we decided to make our way over the mountain range to the famous historic site of Hill End on the River Turon.

 This beautiful site has been protected and many buildings have been restored to represent them as they were in the 1870’s. As you walk down the main street, you can envisage the activity and life as it once was because the buildings still standing have been faithfully and accurately restored. 

The last pub (one of 52 during the town’s heyday) still offers accommodation, meals and drinks, and just down the road, side by side are elegant houses, shops ,slab huts and the old Presbyterian Church painted by Russell Drysdale.

5^th August 2015.

 The weather has not improved!  Yesterday the mercury did not get above 6 degrees all day, even in the sun! 

It was time to move on. I know we are supposed to be heading north to the warmer weather, but we do have to drive through this cold spell to get there. And we did as evidenced by the temperature gauge in the car.  2 degrees as we drove through Orange

 and I kid you not!!!!!    SNOW.

We finally arrived at NYNGAN , gateway to the outback, and settled on the banks of the BOGAN River. Its much warmer here. 13  degrees Celsius. So we have decided to camp here for a few days and Blob on the Banks of the Bogan River.

THE BOGAN CAMP