Rylstone, N.S.W.

Rylstone is a tiny town in the mid-west of New South Wales, over the Blue Mountains from Sydney and near Mudgee or Orange or Bathurst or Lithgow. Our dear friends James and Joanne whom we’re staying with have made us feel at home, giving us a bed inside and allowing us to park the van in their yard. Having a few days here, we’ve been able to get to know the town, the area and the locals. Today I even had a couple of hours on the local community radio station 2KRR after meeting presenter Dave in the pub. Something I never thought I’d be doing when embarking on this trip.

 

The studio of 2KRR FM, where I took over the airwaves for two hours on a Thursday afternoon.

The daily ritual of heading down the road to the pub at 5pm has been a great way to become familiar with the town and its people. There’s Marty who always has the same stool at the bar, Chris who’s renovating his house, Rob the builder, Andrew the barman whose wife is expecting, Sam who works for the Parks and Wildlife, Bob the plumber, and Dave the retired school teacher. People who live here have the same problems as anyone else – issues with local council regulations, not enough rain, too few customers to run their business, high petrol and grocery prices, youth unemployment and dam pesky cockatoos. What makes these little townships special is the friendly rapport from the locals – the firm handshake, the inquisitive opening question, and the ensuing conversation entailing your current situation and future plans. You become an instant friend.

 

On the Cudgegong River in Dunn's Swamp.

There are many sights worth seeing around Rylestone, many of them perhaps only known to a local. We were taken to Dunn’s Swamp, a flooded river (the Cudgegong) created when the local cement works built a weir in 1929 to provide fresh water to the factory. James’ boat took us upstream to see some spectacular rock formations and wonderful waterbird life. We then had a swim and a picnic in this idyllic surrounding. Then there was Sofala and Hill End, former gold mining towns from the 1850s. Hill End is now a designated heritage site with some fascinating buildings and history. Back then its population was 8,000; it’s now about 160. It was here in 1872 that Bernhardt Otto Holtermann discovered a rock that weighed 290 kgs of which 93 kgs was gold – the largest specimen of gold ever found in history. The main industry became concrete in the 20^th Century following the discovery of large deposits of lime, and the history of the last hundred years is dominated by displays of industrial machinery and advancements in  technology.

 

Hill End - like stepping back in time to the 1870s.

The Kandos Cement Factory ambulance from a hundred years ago, beautifully restored.

While in Rylstone, we witness rain. We have not seen rain for many months, certainly not in the three weeks of our trip so far. This was strange because the entire east coast of Australia has been experiencing many weeks of rain, even a cyclone (called “Debbie”) in far-north Queensland. We should be travelling through the affected area in a month’s time – we’ll see how far we can get. The Rylstone rain sounds and smells lovely to us, which may seem strange to anyone who has had too much in recent weeks.