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Friday, 6 July 2018

Sydney, N.S.W.

As we headed north to the Sunshine Coast, the temptation to visit old friends was too great, even though we had only visited them a year before. The itinerary repeated itself from our previous journey northbound with a stay in Rylstone with James and Joanne, and a cruise on the Hawkesbury River with Mike and Denise.

We explored more of the Rylstone area that we hadn’t done last year, including a couple of wineries and the township of Mudgee. The fabulous Pioneer Museum at Gulgong was a huge place, covering an entire block. Room after room of clothes, kitchen appliances, and household items like radios, televisions, cameras and telephones, while outside were tractors, horse-drawn carriages and steam engines, all from bygone eras. It took us three hours to see it all, as we were transported back in time.

There was also a tour underground of the magnificent Jenolan Caves. Although a massive system of many kilometers of tunnels and caverns, the one small section that we visited was astounding. A world within a world.


The possibility of another cruise on the Hawkesbury was a luring temptation as we left the van at Rylstone and ventured into Sydney to see Mike and Denise. It’s a great lifestyle living on the water – quiet and peaceful amid beautiful scenery – all conducive to relaxation, conversation, and old friends catching up. The boat was moored at a marina within the Ku-ring-ai Chase National Park, which is north of the city, and is surrounded by hills covered in dense forest that obscures any view of the large metropolis beyond. We could just hear the gentle hum of the city in the still night air. There’s a John Williamson song that encapsulates these few days perfectly – “Hawkesbury River lovin’, good Aussie wine. Working hard at being lazy, no bait on the line”. Just a beautiful few days,


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