Day 5 Wednesday 18/6/2025 Lithgow to Cassilis minus 1 to 13, cold

Another chilly morning and we have 4 handsome grey turkeys gobbling about our door. Obviously, the guinea fowls have spread the word that there are a couple of suckers in the caravan park. Below us the farm paddocks are white with frost. Trying our best to hit the road we come within millimetres of taking out a gum tree at the front gate. It’s then that we need to do a bit of ‘fancy footwork’ to get out of any more trouble.

This morning, we pass several large collieries and 2 power stations. We’re heading up through the Wogan Valley. Does anyone out there know how to pronounce Cullen Bullen?

We take a detour as I’ve often wondered what the towns of Kandos and Rylstone look like. Woody reckons that I batted a century with Carcoar but I’m now out for 3 ducks with Lithgow, Kandos and Rylstone. I reckon there’s a pretty good chance that he’s missed their inner beauty.

Back on track, we stop for lunch at Mudgee. It is a favourite of ours and today it is very busy. We find a deliciously good ham and cheese toastie at a small laneway shop but we can’t wait to get out of the hustle and bustle of town.

Unsure of the most direct route and not wanting to go out for another duck, I choose the road through historic Gulgong and up through Ulan which is another coal mining operation, both open cut and underground. We’ve lost count of the coal mines now.

Cassilis bowling Club is just a short hop off the Golden Highway and nestled beside an old stone church and graveyard, oh and a stockyard. It was recommended to us by Double or Nuthin’ and Shirley Temple a while back. The bowling green is no longer in use except as a beer garden complete with fire pits, that’s creative. We back up to a fence with the Munmurra River below us.

There’s a new toilet and shower block. Woody tries to top up our water tanks as the hose is bound to be frozen again in the morning, but our small leak suddenly turns to a gush leaving a pool of water on the ground. In desperation we find a repairer in Murwillumbah who can squeeze us in next week. Phew.

At 4:30 we wander over to the greenless Bowls Club and pay our camping fee as instructed. The bar is quite cosy and there’s a steady stream of locals popping in for beers and…bottles of milk! Meals are served here later in the week. On other nights frozen meals can be purchased…along with…beer and milk.

Dinner in the van for us is a chicken schnitzel wrapped in a toasted Turkish roll.

I wore a T shirt for an hour today, that’s promising.

And spotted today: Willy Wally Road.

Accom: $20.00, Fuel: $65.17, Towing Kms: 207kms. Toilets, showers, power, water.