It was misty with fine rain as we left the house, went down the M2 and through the lush greenness of the bush near Richmond, up Bell’s line of road through to Lithgow. We drove past Bilpin and Mt Tomah, places that I had visited so many years ago with Betty and Jean. Everything looked the same, except this time all was enveloped in thick fog.
We drove through Lithgow, a small but tidy town surrounded on all sides by towering mountains. Soon the mountains dropped away as we headed towards Mudgee and the land became more and more barren. Other than low shrubs and the odd tree, there was little vegetation and even fewer animals. Though most of the land was still fenced, we wondered who the land belonged to and what it was actually used for.
Coming up to Mudgee, we passed a handful of wineries with plenty of green grapes. Then it was flat again with little to see. We stopped for lunch by the roadside at a rest station just outside Dubbo, feeling like we were being slowly roasted in the heat. The last part from Dubbo to Cobar was long and drowsy, the roads terribly straight and with almost nothing to distract one from the monotony of driving straight. I forced myself to look at the kilometre countdown numbers as we drove along, pinching myself to stay awake.
Eventually we got to Cobar and felt a great sense of achievement that we survived our first day. There wasn’t much to see in Cobar, other than an old mine across the road from the motel. It was like an artificially dug out lake which had dried, but with tall fences all around, which makes one wonder what they actually did mine there. On the main street there are a few old fashioned pubs, some more than a century old. There are also a few quaint shops, including a quilt shop and a tea room! Too bad pretty much everything was closed on a Sunday except the petrol station.
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