Wine, wine and more wine in MUDGEE

23rd February 2012

After being bailed up by Len and Norm who just loved a chat while we were trying pack up. Len gave us few hints for free stay which included staying in cemeteries (not going to happen), tennis courts, behind community halls etc, they have been travelling for around 9 years around Australia.

Today we headed off to Mudgee. On the way we found an old gold mining town called Sofala, this was like going back in time. This place was built around the late 1800s and it doesn't look like much has changed since then. We bumped into a sunshine coast couple who were also new to travel, we spent quite some time just chatting and having a laugh. The biggest thing we notice is how friendly everyone is.

We lobbed into Mudgee and parked the van and headed to a cellar door nearby. It looks like Mudgee have branched out and now do not concentrate solely on reds. Bought some whites and some beautiful cheeses before heading back for a historical walk. Not as old as Bathurst nor does it have the history so we headed to a nice wine bar to catchup with some locals. Then we continued up the road and enjoyed a schooner each at the Lawson Park Hotel.

The next day Trice’s nagging must have gotten to me because I spent the morning writing the blog from day 1 and sorting out photos, it was the closest I have been to work for over 2 months and I was not excited.
 After lunch off we headed to a town some 30 klm from here that we were told had a great museum and was a very interesting old town. 


Well.....

What a jewel, this place was absolutely amazing. If you look at the old $10 note with Henry Lawson, the buildings in the background belong to Gulgong,they call this town the $10 town. The Pioneers Museum was established in 1962 and is using the original buildings from the 1870s, some have been moved there but mostly they are where they were built, the area for the museum is 1.25 acres covering 41 different displays. We spent 3 hours there and ran out of time, The museum traces the history of Gulgong and surrounding districts from the pioneering days through the "roaring days" of the gold rush period right through to the present time. We enjoyed  going over Sight and Sound, Printing, Bakeries, Butchers, Hospital, clothing Military etc etc etc and a ton of machinery, it was a truly amazing trip back in time. We came back along the tourist drive surrounded by wineries and beautiful green country. Oh what the heck lets have Thai and a bottle of wine for dinner to celebrate a great day.