Nundle Here We Come

After work yesterday we left home for an early start to our weekend in Nundle for Girls Day in the Country. The weather wasn't nice and sunny, with the interesting hills behind Rylstone being shrouded in cloud. 

I was looking forward to seeing the big cliff going down into my favouring Bylong Valley bathed in beautiful afternoon light. Maybe next time. 

Our destination for the night was the little village of Bylong. The setting is rather picturesque. There is a popular rest area there with plenty of room for camping. There were two other vans there as well. 

The neighbours weren't too noisy. The only disturbance during the night was coal trains in the distance. 

Another view of our campsite. 

We had to stop and take another photo as the area is so scenic. 

While we were stopped we noticed a cave high up in the cliffs. The Valley is littered with caves. 

We even got to see one of the coal trains.  

Yes, we waved to the driver and he waved back. We lost count of the carriages at about 75. 

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Wallabadah. There is a pretty picnic and camping ground near the creek. It would be a nice place to camp overnight. 

The campground is right next to the First Fleet Memorial Garden.  The camping fees go towards the upkeep of the garden. 

Firstly there is a list of everyone who came out on the First Fleet. 

Then there is a plaque for each ship. 

Finally each passenger on a ship is listed on tablets. It took one man five years to carve all the names. I found my two First Fleet ancestors. 

We finally arrived at Nundle at about three o'clock. It was a very leisurely trip up. 

I've never seen the mill running on my previous visits, so it was good to see this time. I may have also purchased a cardy. There is nothing like wool to keep you toasty warm. 

The grounds of the mill are nice too, with an interesting old Chev truck similar to the one my grandparents had.

Wool presses were also a work of art in the past.

And that just about filled up our day. We are now settled in at the caravan park. The weather is cool and we had some gentle rain in the early evening. 

I'll leave you with the rainbow we saw at tea time. I wonder if there is a pot of gold at the end of it?  You never know, as Nundle was founded because of gold.