Mudgee, NSW

Mudgee holds some fond memories for us. Way back in the late 1970s I used to get bulk wine from Huntington Estate for home bottling. More recently we had a works Ball in Mudgee – wonderful weekend. Since those times Mudgee had changed so much and is now one of the most popular places for a weekend out of Sydney. It will be so interesting to see what the modern Mudgee looks like.

Getting There

We were in Mudgee on the 15th to 19th December 2021

Blackheath > Mudgee (127kms)

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

History

Mudgee is full of Indigneous history, and was home to tribes from the Wiradjuri Nation, which extended from the Blue Mountains eastern ranges to the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers in the west, with the Murray River forming the southern border, and the Wellington plains and hills the northern border. About 7,000 Wiradjuri people lived in the Bathurst region, when it became the home of inland British rule and the first town settled west of the Blue Mountains.

The Wiradjuri nation was split and sub-split into many tribes. In Mudgee, the Mowgee clan extended over a 50km radius. The Mowgee women’s totem was the wedge tail eagle (Mullian) and the men’s totem the crow (Waggan). They settled around the Cudgegong River, using its resources for food and water.

The Mudgee district holds many sacred Aboriginal sites and cave painting, some sites with evidence of tool making. Some of the better known and accessible sites include Hands on Rocks, The Drip and Babyfoot Cave.

Many Mudgee districts were named after the local Wiradjuri tribal areas, including Mudgee itself (nest in the hills), Lue (Loowee, a chain of waterholes), Gulgong (a gully), Wollar (a rock water hole), to list just a few. Burrendong means darker than usual, and the Indigenous name of the Rylstone area was Combamolang.

The first British explorer in the vicinity of Mudgee was James Blackman. In 1821 he headed north to the Mudgee area from what is now Wallerawang, becoming the first British to cross the Cudgegong River. It is known that he had a slab building on the townsite by 1837.

Once Blackman proved the route passable, William Lawson, who had failed in an earlier attempt, travelled north to Mudgee where he found some excellent grazing land. Lawson had been a member of the first British party to cross the Blue Mountains in 1813 and was then commandant of Bathurst.

From then, Mudgee experienced a complex growth based on the inevitable conflicts with and eventual slaughter of the First Nations people, a gold rush, quality wool and merino studs, vineyards (introduced in 1858 by German immigrant, Adam Roth) and quality agricultural production.

To read more on the history of Mudgee, click here

Day 1 – Tuesday 14 December – To Mudgee

It was a very straightforward drive from Blackheath – through Mt Vic, then Lithgow, then up the Castlereigh Highway. But first I did a quick walk to Bridal Veil Falls to get some additional photos. This is reported on in the recent Blackheath post.

Somewhere north of about Cullen Bullen we saw a rock outcrop with a smaller one to the left. We both agree that the smaller one is a perfect presentation of a face – like that American thing we see on TV – the heads of past US Presidents.

The drive continued under some dramatic clouds.

We briefly called in to see Windamare Dam yet again, but did not linger. We both once worked in NSW Water Resources and knew it well.

We were soon as Mudgee and made for the van park. This is on the north side of town adjacent to the Cudgegong River. The park has sites at funny angles which might look strange but in fact make for more room at each site. There is a concrete slab for under the awning, and we were quickly setting up. The facilities are ok, if a bit dated. Our communications all worked well, including the TV.

After settling in we went into town to get the usual maps and brochures. Then we walked around town to look at the lovely old buildings we had seen on the drive through the town. My ex’s family came from Mudgee and I fondly remember some of the great old buildings here from past family visits. A couple of houses in particular I was on the lookout for – Aunt Bess’ home and Charles Spooner’s home which was a grand old house.

We also spied a Morris – bigger than the 1000, maybe a Major – looking in great condition.

Day 2 – Wednesday 15 December

It was a warm morning and we took a walk along the river, which was quite full after the rains. The track is a concrete path on the flat so it’s an easy walk. There are a number of sculptures along the pathway – interesting but difficult to interpret. Then we came to a suspension bridge to cross the river – cantilevered from one side and a max of 10 people at a time. And “Beware of Snakes” signs everywhere

We turned left and headed out on a loop walk. Straight away we saw the snake warning signs so were on instant alert. Not that we saw any. The most common snake is an Eastern brown, which can kill a human if not treated quickly. We kept away from the long grass.

At the loop we say a series of poles with varying items attached to the tops. We saw later that these were the Travelling Australia exhibit, and we had fun trying to guess what each one was. If we had walked around the loop in theopposite direction, we would have seen the “key” to the designs, but it was fun guessing what each was meant to be. Some were obvious, others, more obscure.

Back at the bridge Kerry decided to return to the van while I ploughed on. I had seen what looked like a new football stand and walked out to have a look at that – very impressive.

As well, behind that was another high quality sports field with what looks like a clubhouse on one side. There were also training pitches on one side and plenty of lighting around the area. All very impressive. Goes to show, I did not realise Mudgee was in a marginal seat.

I then walked out to the racecourse, sad that we had missed the last race-day. A fairly substantial travelling irrigator was ready to go on the field next door.

I crossed the river on the main road bridge from the north of town and turned left onto a lovely wide park with a concrete walkway. Great to see so many families out and about. Not far along I came to a weir on the river. I followed the river to the end of the park – Lawson Park. A couple of beautiful red gums at the end.

I walked back along the street and got a phots of a lovely home – now a BnB.

I returned to the river walk to get back to the van, with a couple more of the statues – at least one is easy to interpret.

After that we went into town to get our COVID booster shots at the local chemist. Whilst I was waiting I heard so many people come in to ask for a booster but being turned away. Apparently, we got the last booking and there would be no more shots provided to the chemist until early January. So much for “we have plenty of shots for everyone”. I had booked our boosters online the previous week.

Kerry was sore and suffered headaches after the jab. I was unaffected.

Day 3 – Thursday 16 – The Drip, Hands on Wall, Gulgong

It was a warm clear morning – nice day

We are going out of Mudgee to the north west to look at some natural features – Frog Rock, the Drip and Hands on Rock – and to explore Gulgong. It was a great day out and we were knocked out by The Drip – what an amazing place.

To read our experiences of the day, click here. It is too big to add it to this more general post. Photos are here.

Day 4 – Friday 17 December – Huntington Estate

Another nice day – very warm. I did my usual 10km walk and from then we rested, caught up with a few things and read our books.

In the afternoon we went to do the wine tasting at Huntington Estate. I had booked that the day before – the standard package of tasting 5 wines of my choice for $10. Kerry had decided that she would not be tasting as she only drinks bubbly. We choose Huntington Estate as back in the late 1970s we used to get wine bulk delivered and then bottled it ourselves. A few of us did this together so it was always a happy occasion, especially if we actually got some wine into some bottles.

I really liked the rose and the shiraz and ordered some of those. I also got a couple of bottles of the more expensive shiraz. The lovely lady serving gave us a good discount and a complementary bottle of bubbly.

Day 5 – Saturday 18 December – Putta Bucca

After my morning walk, I took Kerry back to look at some of the streets where there some lovely homes. She wanted to try to find the houses she remembered going to as a 20’s something. I had contacted my ex to get the addresses, but while he remembered Aunt Bess, he thought Charles’ house was on a corner, but he said both had been redeveloped. After checking the corners that he mentioned, I eventually found the wonderful old house. Charles was one of life’s gentlemen. A WWII vet with amazing interest in everything and incredible courtesy. What finally did it, was the fountain in the front garden (not shown in the photo below).

We also found Bess’ old home – which had been completely renovated.

Then we saw a elderly man siting on his front veranda. I had asked another local whether he remembered anyone from around here, and he suggested that we spoke to this other chap. There he was, sitting on his verandah, so we approached him. He was a bit vague, but his wife Yvonne came out to chat. She was one of Bess’ great friends and confirmed both Charles’ and Bess’ homes. I later spoke to Bess’ daughter Carole and she fondly remembered Yvonne too. I felt so pleased to have made those connections.

Here are some of the other lovely homes we saw – there were so many to choose from.

In the afternoon we drove to the Putta Bucca wetlands. Here there are a variety of paths around the lake, which is a flooded old quarry pit. We did a quick walk around – eyes peeled for snakes and trying to keep in the shade. The weather has gone from freezing Blackheath to a very hot and humid Mudgee.

Day 6 – Sunday 19 December – Ganguddy (Dunns Swamp), Rylstone and Kandos

Its a fine day, warm again, and we are heading south to see Banguddy – previously called Dunns Swamp – Rylstone and Kandos.

We had a great day out and we loved Banguddy. I was happy to have done the scramble up to the Pagoda Lookout.