Outback NSW Trip

In 10 days we travelled 2500 kilometres which included 6 caravan parks and 1 station. 

The map of our trip. This excludes our 
travels in and around towns

During our adventures we were able to explore and stay in towns such as Gilgandra, Lightning Ridge, Brewarrina, Bourke, Nyngan, Parkes and Orange with a few notable stops including Mudgee, Come By Chance, Gundabooka National Park, Louth, Cobar, Forbes and Bathurst.

We spent much of our first day driving towards Gilgandra with only two stops. The first was in Lithgow so that we could do a grocery shop and the second for lunch in Mudgee. The first night we stayed at Gilgandra Caravan Park. Ironically, we actually were staying at the same caravan park as my Grandparents, which neither of us realised until I rang to see how they were on their trip.

On the second day, our trip really began. We headed towards Lightning Ridge, but took a detour via Come By Chance, because of its name. To get to this very small town (which has only 4 or 5 buildings in the town including two houses and a pub), we had to drive nearly 100kms through cattle stations and dirt roads. This was an amazing start to the trip as we not only got off the bitumen but were also able to see a few emus along the way. When we arrived in Lightning Ridge, the first thing we did was we went to the information centre for some advice on what to do in town. This is a great tip for anyone adventuring through new towns, as the lady at the centre gave us a full rundown of the town and provided us with a sheet that outlined the attractions, opening hours as well as the cost. After setting up at Lorne Station, we headed out to experience the Artisan Baths which are naturally heated pools from the Artisan Basin. The water pumped through a pipe over 2kms underground and floats between 40 and 46 degrees celsius. We finished the day heading up the Green Car Door Tour (one of 4 self-guided tours in town, which as the name suggests is directed by green car doors) to watch the sunset over the highest point in town.

Amigo's Castle

Our third day was spent exploring the rest of Lightning Ridge which included 2 mines (one 133 steps down that was machine dug and the other 30 steps underground that were dug by hand), a swim at the local swimming pool (which I cannot explain how refreshing it was after walking around in 35+ degree heat all day), the last 3 car door tours, Amigo’s and Ridge's Castle as well as visiting a few local art galleries. 

Day 4 we headed towards the small town of Brewarrina which has a rich Aboriginal heritage. While at school, my girlfriend and her best friend went up to Brewarrina on an immersion trip to St Patrick’s (the local catholic primary school), and since then, they wanted to go back and give me a tour. While we were there we went down to the fish traps, which was a traditional gathering spot for four different Indigenous tribes to meet and exchange food/materials. The way the rocks were placed allowed for fish to be trapped (hence the name) and kept alive until they were needed. While in Brewarrina we stayed at Beds on the Barwon, which was situated on the Barwon River.

The next day we drove only an hour down the road to Bourke where we stayed at Kidmans Caravan park. However, due to reaching Bourke on the public holiday, a lot of the town was closed. We were still able to get a rundown of the history from the information centre, as well as setting out to see some of the historical sites in town.

 
Day 6 was the longest day of our entire trip. We began by leaving Bourke to see the Fred Hollows Grave, which is a stone carved into the shape of an eye. We then headed south to the Gundabooka National Park, which is home to a few pieces of traditional rock art that are over a thousand years old. This was the start of over 200kms of red dirt roads as we headed toward Louth. Louth is a small town which is famous for the Mary Matthews Monument. In 1896, Thomas Matthews (the founder of Louth) built the 7.6m tall headstone for his deceased wife. On the 19th of August (the anniversary of her death), the headstone casts a light towards the doorstep of where the house once stood. We then finished the day after over 5 hours of driving (not including our stops) at Riverside Caravan Park in Nyngan, a lovely camp right on the Bogan River.

Gundabooka National Park

     

     Gundabooka National    
   Park

 

      

      Mary Mathews Monument   
    in Louth

  

Big Bogan in
Nyngan

The next morning after stopping for some tourist photos in front of the Big Bogan, he headed down to Parkes. We visited the Historical Museum which is next to the information centre, and learnt some of the history of Parkes as well as see farming equipment from the early to mid 20th century. 

We spent the following two nights in Parkes at the Spice Caravan Park. For the 8th day, our adventures were exploring Parkes and Forbes. After walking through both towns, we headed back to Parkes to explore the CSIRO Radio Telescope to learn the history behind it and how it was used during the 1969 moon landing.

For our last night on the road, we stayed in Orange. The information centre strongly suggested that we do a scenic drive around Lake and Mount Canobolas. This drive included seeing a variety of wineries as well as driving to the peak of the mountain. We really enjoyed our short stay in Orange as it is a beautiful country town that has plenty to offer. We finished our trip with a lunch stop in Bathurst and a lap around Mount Panorama. The Dmax had a great time towing a trailer along the track while abiding by the 60km speed limit haha. 

And that brings us to the end of our NSW Outback adventure for October 2020. We had an absolutely amazing time travelling along and seeing what a beautiful country we live in. My favourite stop along the way would be our time at Lightning Ridge. The town is well set up to accommodate for tourists, while also not being too over commercialised at the same time. For something different compared to the rest of the trip, I also enjoyed staying at Lorne Station rather than at a caravan park, even though the station has become its own caravan park, it was still a great bush retreat.

Do you know of any notable Northern NSW outback attractions that we may have missed along the way? or where is next on your bucket list?