Family trip to Bathurst

Day 1 - Friday

We left Wollongong early Friday afternoon so that we could get to Bathrust before bed. There were no issues on the road, and the journey didnt take as long as expected. We had a little rain going over Bells Line Of Road, but not too much.

Day 2 - Saturday

Today we got up bright and early and headed out for a day of offroad driving around the Garden Of Stone national park. After leaving the Bathurst area, the weather started to clear to a winderful spring day.

We travelled some of the back roads via Portland to eventually get to Cullen Bullen which was our gateway to a day of adventure! It appeared as though we were not the only people that we out for a day of driving as there was a rather large group parked down the track while we were airing down. Fortunately by the time we had moved on, they were well ahead of us.

The sun continued to shine brightly on us for the rest of the day which gave us a chance to see this areas real beauty. Eventually we caught up with a group of two vehicles, a Hilux and a Forester - yes a Forester. Unfortunately we came across them at a rather tricky section where the Forester had no chance of getting through without some serious assistance. So we stopped and helped them with the winching activity, which ended up with a rather nasty smelling clutch!

At this stage we decided to go past the road car and continue on ahead. We eventually found the amazing lookout over the Wolgan Valley. Jack and Sarah didnt want to get too colse to the edge, but were still able to admire the fantastic views.

After finishing up here, we continued down the track again, and once again caught up the party of two. They were once again surveying a rather difficult section which was pretty much the last challenge before crossing the bitumen. Once again, we passed them here to continue on our way. Down the road a little further we arrived at Black Fellows Hand Rock where we admired the Aboriginal paintings before heading a little further down the track for our lunch.

We stopped at a great little canyon which provided shelter from the sun and some fun rock climbing for Graham and Jack.

After lunch, we pushed on down the track to the famous Pagoda Rock formations. Took a bit of finding as I hadnt been out this way for some time, but we eventually got there and walked the final 100m down to the rock formations and took the obligatory photos.

This was pretty much the last stop for us before returning to the highway at the Zig Zag railway and heading back to Bathurst.

Day 3 - Sunday

In the morning we rose to another great looking day before heading into Bathurst for Olivias day of confirmation.