Deck the halls, jingle bells, it’s almost Christmas. So, one last destination, one last post for 2024. Knowing that access to the mine at Newnes was off the table, I wasn’t sure where I’d be heading next. But, first things first. I had to climb out of the Capertee Valley. Having hitched up the night before, I slipped quietly out of the campground with the moon still hovering in the early morning sky.
About 40 minutes later, I pulled into Capertee village with some decisions to make. The slide-out on the van had stopped working. I suspected something minor. But as you know, anything more complicated than a screw driver is above my pay grade. As well, my ‘don’t look, don’t find’ policy, had been working well for the past four years…… more or less. Luck was in, and I jagged an appointment with Jayco in Orange the following Tuesday. That then solved the problem of where to next. The one reasonably direct route would take me through the historic gold mining town of Sofala. I hoped that I could find a spot for the next four days.
I don’t know how I missed this on the drive into Sofala – hidden in plain sight is my excuse. After wandering around Sofala for an hour and then some speculative camp spotting, I decided, as they say to ‘read the instructions’. And there it was, just on the other side of the river, not five minutes from town. I’d just been looking the other way.
Sofala is in a deep valley on the Turon River and it’s real quiet down there. You’d find more activity at a colonial theme park, but there’s no shortage of visitors. Sofala is after all, the oldest inhabited gold mining town in Australia and it’s easy to find remnants of it’s past glory.
Even though those heady days are long gone, it doesn’t stop the hopeful from trying their luck panning in the river.
I really had nothing planned for the weekend, other than to start typing up the latest adventure. but something WAS going on on the other side of the bridge. Sofala was a waypoint on what’s known as an Alpine Car Rally. A much more ‘civilized’ affair than the Shitbox Rally in Boulia, this event is a time trial over several hundred kilometres, featuring expensive hobbies driven by ‘chaps’ and ‘ladies’. I will admit that these vehicles certainly were worthy of a good hard look.
As there were penalties for arriving early, I had plenty of time to inspect the parked vehicles waiting their time to check in. Definitely a less rowdy bunch and no Blues Brothers blaring from roof top speakers this time. And that was indeed the highlight of the weekend. There is a museum and historic points of interest plus the obligatory cafe, general store and second hand emporium. A visit is recommended. You can also visit the historic goldmining town of Hill End just up the road and that would make a good day trip.
That brings to my adventures to an end, loyal readers, for this year. Just some stats for 2024. The website has had visitors and subscribers from 35 countries. While not in the same league as Taylor Swift or any minor celebrity you care to name, the page views have increase by 145% over last year to some 4000, which is purely by word of mouth or an accidental discovery.
For my overseas readers, this is probably as close to visiting Australia as your gonna get. Your Facebook friends are probably in the same boat. So please, send them an absolutely free Christmas pressie, this link, www.tooraktractorandajunko.com with your thoughts and give them a chance to subscribe for free, and explorer this fantastic country from the comfort of their happy place.
I wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas in these dark times. Whatever the rest of the world is doing, I’ll be back mid February next year. First up, a seven week stint in Tasmania and then, wherever the wind blows. Thank you for your support -it’s really valued and appreciated.
Postscript: The slide-out problem was indeed minor -just loose wiring. The Jayco crew in Orange were excellent.