We have made our way down from Inglewood (a contraction of ‘Ingol’ apparently for ‘cypress pine’ and ‘wood’ for the English ‘clump of trees’) to Tumut, after stopovers in Coonabarabran and Forbes. On the way to Coonabarabran we had a short stop beside the Newell Highway at Kiga Bore, a desolate spot amongst the rock and roadside dirt. The bore is surrounded by wattle trees and what is known as ‘sweet acacia’, a low growing very woody spiny shrub.

It’s the sort of place though that grows on you, some ducks swim around, maybe they use the partially submerged truck tyre as a resting spot. The water is a little grimy around the edges, maybe fertiliser run off from the surrounding cotton fields. But the scene makes a nice photo in the sunshine!

Coonabarabran is a favourite stop over for us, a great no frills campground that is never crowded and with plenty of room.

Moving on the next morning we pass through Dubbo, stopping for a roadside lunch. Between Dubbo and Parkes is Peak Hill which has a long gold mining heritage. We paused here for afternoon tea and took the opportunity to check out the old gold mining complex. Quite a sight looking down into the open pit, with it’s copper blue water lake in the bottom of the pit.

In Forbes we stayed beside the Lachlan River at the Apex Caravan Park, nice park location wise but a little squeezy. We will be back here at Forbes on our way home to Brisbane following the Lachlan River. The Lachlan is the major tributary of the Murrumbidgee, but more of that on the return trip. Homealone’s brother Stuart and wife Maree were coincidentally in Forbes staying with Maree’s father Bob and we had an evening roast lamb dinner with them. Very enjoyable indeed. Timing is everything they say!

The next morning it was off to Tumut via Grenfell and Young, the NSW cherry capital. Cherries were finished for the season but the autumn foliage was on full show around town.
Tumut is a busy little town and we decided to head further south along the Snowy Mountains Highway to a free campsite beside the Tumut River.

The camp is a few kilometres below the Blowering Reservoir, and the river is a small trickle of what it once would have been. It is known as the mighty Tumut!

Great spot for the night before heading further south to the source of the Murrumbidgee.