Day 95 Friday 11/8/2023 Mt Hope to Jerilderie, becoming cloudy 2 – 16

There are 4 vans camped at the hall and another 8 campsites on the common. The amenities here are old but clean and there is soap!

It’s a cold clear morning, and a kangaroo hops about the scrub behind us. Walking around the hall, I’m fascinated by the rough old wooden stumps and wonder how long they’ve been doing their job.

Fifty kilometres north of Hillston there is a sudden change in agriculture, to crops of wheat, canola, almonds and pecans. Heading into Griffith we stop at our favourite fruit stall and pick up a $3 bag of oranges and at Elle’s suggestion of soup-making, a $3 pumpkin.

Arriving in Griffith is good for the soul. We score parking spaces on the main street, Banna Avenue, right opposite our lunch destination, Bertoldo’s Bakery. Bertoldo’s, where we are seduced by the Lasagna Pie and Salami, Rocket and Mozzarella toasties…and bloody good coffee. Although it’s only 15 degrees it’s warm sitting outside in the sun.

Continuing our fuel stop we top up with diesel on the way to De Bortoli’s Winery. As always there are some interesting boxes of wine in the ‘specials room’ and we take pot luck with a few cartons though we do have a bit of a laugh trying to fit Elle’s into Betty the motor home’s storage locker. Ours will be stacked under the bed tonight.

We skirt the Griffith suburbs to prevent being tempted by any more taste treats and pick up the Kidman Way again passing through vineyards and citrus groves we reach Darlington Point and cross the Murrumbidgee River, is that 2 yellow rosellas on the bridge?

Back in the Riverina we join the Newell Highway and arrive at Jerilderie. You know Jerilderie, the town that bushranger Ned Kelly once held up. Yep, held up the whole town. Anyway, I digress, we pull into Elle’s favourite, Jerilderie Motel & Caravan Park and are directed to sites down the back overlooking Billabong Creek. Gosh there’s a chill in the air and everything is so green.

For our final dinner of the trip, we walk next door to one of El Prado’s favourite Chinese restaurants, the Jerilderie Sports Club. Every time we went past here, he would tell us how good the food was. We have a drink in the bar and grab a table in the restaurant and as Elle warns us the decor is rather plastic. Plastic tablecloths, plastic placemats, plastic flowers. You’ve gotta love it. And the place is packed. The queue to order stretches the length of the room. As Elle waits in line to order she’s trying to memorise Mongolian Lamb, Satay Chicken, Fried Rice…Mongolian Chicken…the guy next to her is trying to put her off muttering “Spaghetti Bolognaise, Spaghetti Bolognaise”, cheeky bugger. Heaped plates of food arrive, and it’s delicious. We waddle home well sated.

Accom: $38.00

Fuel: $129.26 (211.9c/l)

Towing Kms: 350kms