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Bathurst 2015


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Where"s your sense of adventure gone - V8s not as much fun in the turns and slower on the straights. Ask Bren , she loves being a bike *****

I must still have a sense of adventure

I bought a house 1900km away, on a whim

Then gave up a job, so i could spend money on said house

I think they call that "putting your money where your mouth is"

either that, or "your a looney bar stud"

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You squeezed into that room 3 years ago

First in best dressed.

Sneaky buggers that arrive early :)

 

I enjoyed the stranger's room this year, thanks for the inheritance. Good luck getting it back  :P

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I am going up to visit Terry & Lindy this Friday and staying for the weekend. I am taking my mother up there too. I am hoping to lend a hand with any building work or other odd jobs where they could utilise my free labour. I am really looking forward to visiting them again.

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I am going up to visit Terry & Lindy this Friday and staying for the weekend. I am taking my mother up there too. I am hoping to lend a hand with any building work or other odd jobs where they could utilise my free labour. I am really looking forward to visiting them again.

 

Is she good with a hammer?

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The war memorial at Lithgow on the way into town down that steep hill.

 

 

Four days of pure relaxation including sightseeing in surrounding historic towns with Lindy driving my Mum (Maureen) and myself to take it all in. I am attaching quite a few photos as well. I didn't get to help Terry with any building work as such, this time around, but I did manage to do some physical moving of furniture up and down the stairs for them while I was there. I also got to buy them all dinner last Friday night which made me feel good.

 

 

The front of the house taken from below the fountain.

 

 

Part of the garden near the front driveway.

 

 

The Daphnes smell glorious that skirt the steps leading down into the front formal garden.

 

 

The garden is huge. Due credit to both Terry and Lindy for creating this paradise in the short time they have lived here.

 

 

Terry has been unable to do anything for the past 2 months since the Bathurst GTG 2015 weekend in October. His back is slowly recovering and I have promised to go up again in January to stay for a week to help out where I can with anything that needs doing around their property. I want to help him with building work, specifically; I have discovered that Terry is very much independent and stubborn. But he showed me how to restore wooden furniture items properly and I think that is a good start for me.

 

 

The shed which will eventually be removed at the LHS of the house.

 

I elected to stay on a mattress on the floor downstairs in that hallway to the big lounge room because it's easier to take a piss outside on the grass in the middle of the night, rather than walk up all the stairs. Also, I didn't think I had earned the right to stay in a bedroom yet. Mum chose to sleep upstairs in one of the double bedrooms. I haven't seen her so relaxed and enjoying herself in years. She took no notice of Terry's antics which included a massive, loud fart at the kitchen table while we were eating breakfast. I couldn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes which just encourages him even more.

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, after nursing a slight hangover, I wanted Maureen's impressions of Terry's sound rig. The first thing that she commented on was the dead quiet of the room. This seemed to impress Terry alot (I had said nothing to her previously about the acoustics of the room or the room treatment.) She proceeded to listen to Mahler's 3rd Symphony. Then we listened to some EDM for about an hour. The music was quite loud and Maureen was in aural nirvana. I can't remember the artists playing but Terry has good taste in current music. The sound diffusers really work magic in that room with its 17ft high ceilings.

 

 

 

On Saturday night, we talked for a few hours over dinner at the kitchen table, sharing stories about ourselves and having a good time. Lindy discovered that Maureen was a history buff like herself. It was decided that on Sunday, the three of us would go for a sightseeing drive. Our first stop was an historic cemetery which contained early graves from locals of the Bathurst area. Some of the inscriptions were quite moving. We had lunch underneath a massive pine tree at the cemetery's entrance.

 

 

We then visited Newbridge, which is a delightful little town south of Bathurst. It consists of a small village with a few streets that contain historic houses, a renovated train station, a hotel, a few shops and a community hall. I asked if we could have a look inside the hall as there appeared to be antiques and locally produced/sourced arts 'n' crafts. We bought jams, a few mugs, a few CDs (for $2 each), soft toys (for my dog, Gemma,) bits and pieces. We spent about an hour there.

 

 

We then headed north west (I think) to drive through Blayney, another beautiful township, to visit Carcoar. It is nestled in a valley and has steep hillocks on all sides. You could feel as if you had travelled back to the 1800s minus the cars on its streets. History surrounds you in these small towns. We visited the Carcoar Hospital which is now a local historical museum. Lindy did a bit of 4WDing in town as she drove over a culvert in the road, which she didn't see before the car lurched precariously off the road. It was very funny. There are quite a few antique stores here. And many historic buildings such as The Capitol Theatre, an old Bank, various old hotels including one that now serves as a B&B. The gardens attached next door to it are spectacular.

 

The historic hosptial at Carcoar.

 

Lindy (left) and Maureen (right) underneath the garden arbor at Carcoar.

The buildings in the background on the hill are the district train station. They look like a model railway from this vantage point.

Main street through Carcoar.

 

We then made our way out to Milthorpe. This particular town, I noticed, had a lot of interesting early colonial architecture. All the streets are wide and have big gutters. There is a cafe that was the focus of our visit: their cakes. The cakes. Are divine. The service is exceptional. Maureen, Lindy and I will be making several repeat visits to Milthorpe to savor more of those amazing dessert creations, in regular future trips up to Bathurst.

 

Side street in Milthorpe.

The Velvet Rope cake.

 

We then made our way back through Blayney via some back roads to the house. There are historic homesteads in nearly every direction surrounding Bathurst. Some are derelict; I find them the most fascinating of all as there is history within their walls and stories accompanying that history waiting to be discovered by the building's possible next tenants. Many houses are painstakingly restored by their current owners which must give Terry and Lindy ideas to help with their own historic house restoration.

 

 

On Monday, after a very full weekend of eating more meat than I usually do in a month, drinking nearly a case of XXXX Bitter (which I now proudly drink), red wine, litres of tea, playing card games at night into the late hours, walking around the extensive gardens, taking in all the historical sights, breathing in the clean, clear district air and laughing more than I have in a long time, it was time to leave. Maureen is always welcome to stay. Lindy and Terry are laid-back, willing hosts who don't see anything as a problem. It's a place to stay where there are no rules. The hospitality and warm welcome is second to none.

 

(L-R) Lindy, Terry and Maureen. It's so difficult to get a picture taken of Terry.

 

I was reluctant to leave. I think I have covered all the good bits. I gave Lindy 2 jars of my home made Spicy Mustard Pickles as a small token of appreciation; Terry was given a handful of classical CDs (which the bastard would not accept for free) and I also included the Lou Reed Anthology which contains a rare 1974 Australian concert ticket.) Next time I will cook some recipes of my own, while I am up there, early in 2016. We all had a blast.

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