Merriwagga & Gum Bend Lake

Our stay at Gogeldrie continued to be very pleasant. Darryl caught a fish, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and spoilt ourselves at Whitton

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Unfortunately, the sunset heralded more rain, but we still managed to keep the fire going, and enjoyed our evening albeit a little damp! Our day to Whitton was full of surprises. It’s the oldest town in the area, but has a beautiful picnic area with sculptures in front of an amazing Anzac tribute on the water tower. 

Then a few kms out of town is the Whitton Malt House which is a world class facility with accommodation, function areas, restaurant and bar, golf driving range, a lake with waterfalls and swinging bridge - all in beautiful lawns and gardens.  We were really blown away - even though people had told us it was pretty good. 

We enjoyed yummy cod & chips - made up for our fishermen not catching a cod for us. 

We’d certainly recommend anyone visit there if you’re anywhere near Darlington Point, Leeton or Griffith.

We packed up Saturday morning and travelled a whole 106km to a little town Merriwagga which is between Hillston and Griffith. We stayed at the old school camp site which was also quiet and relaxing.

It’s owned and operated by Kel, a friendly local who passed on much information to us. The place was so clean and tidy, it’s a credit to him. At his recommendation we dined at the local pub, which has the highest bar in the Southern Hemisphere and the stools were gigantic -  Darryl felt like ‘Dicky Knee’ peering over the bar to order drinks. The meal was excellent so we were spoilt again. We studied the maps and learned things around Ivanhoe and Menindee are still wet with roads closed so we’ve really given up on Lake Menindee for now. So we instead, headed east. We had morning tea at Hillston by a lake and the Lachlan River and then lunch at Lake Cargelligo.

Now we’re still on the water theme and are at a free camp spot out of Condobolin at Gum Bend lake. It’s a beautiful spot with new ammenities, a walking track around the lake, picnic facilities and shelters. Not bad for a donation!! No doubt we’ll get the maps out again and determine where our next location will be. Meanwhile, we’ll tour around here a bit and get to know more about this area. 

We trust all is well for family and friends and send our love to all. ❌❌