We left Hay on the Cobb Hwy which heads almost due north towards Ivanhoe in far west central NSW. The road traverses the great Hay Plain, past the spot where we had sat watching the sunset a few days back. We are headed for Booligal where the Lachlan is more like a river.

Along the way we stop off at the abandoned One Tree Hotel, built here back in 1862 as a Cobb & Co staging post and as a ‘watering’ hole for passers by. It was renovated a bit over the years but is now fenced off, warning visitors off the private property. CCTV camera warnings seem out of place out here!

At Booligal we left the Cobb Hwy to go across country following the Lachlan Valley Way to Hillston.

As soon as we left the Hay Shire the bitumen stopped and we were onto the gravel, the adjoining shire is sealing it slowly from their end. Maybe they will meet one day! Anyway it is a little flood damaged, not too bad but we still needed to be cautious of the conditions. The road is some distance back from the river. Properties line it preventing public access. Our map though showed a short side trip to see the river, along the Whealbah gravel road. So away we went past farmland with all sorts of crops; grains, beetroot and potatoes prominent as well as sheep and cattle. But not a soul to be seen, we had been passed by a ute going the other way before turning off on the side track.

After crossing the bridge and taking another picture of the river (one wonders why because they are starting to look a bit the same these river pictures!) some room was needed to turn around and go back to the main drag. Allthego is always cautious about doing this, particularly when things are a bit damp on the road verges. You don’t want to get caught in a boggy spot and get stuck. But guess what? Allthego went just that little bit wider than he should and ahhhhhh.

The mud was like soft red clay, really tacky and sticky. The van on the back wasn’t really helping either. When venturing out into these sorts of places you need to come prepared. So, out came the long handled shovel and max traxs. These were great and after about an hour of mucking around we were away ok on the way to Hillston, a bit lucky I suppose as it could have been worse.

We stopped overnight at the van park in Hillston. The Lachlan does a big S bend here through the town and is quite wide with plenty of water. The town has only just had its water tower painted with a mural, quite a spectacular sight.

Next morning we continued along the Lachlan Valley Way to Lake Cargelligo.

The free camp here at Froggy Hollow overlooks the lake. The lake is fed by the Lachlan in times of flood. We have found it very full after the recent heavy rains. A fellow camper said that when they were here last here they had set up on ground about 30 metres out into the lake.

Like Hillston, the water tower here also has a mural and some other street art adorns buildings along the main street. We had a fire as the sun set, lamb chops sizzled away. Rather good!

In the morning we were greeted by a magnificent sunrise over the lake.

Time to leave though for our next stopover at Cowra.