Joy and Les: July 2013 - Has Winter Arrived in Bathurst Yet???

Has winter arrived in Bathurst yet? Well it is a logical question to ask and to answer it correctly we need to look at the recent overnight temperatures…

Off to the Bureau of Meteorology web site for the official answer. The coldest minimum we have had this month is -4.8 degrees with 8 of the 13 nights dropping below zero. BUT every day has reached at least 10 degrees with average of 13.4 maximum. On the 3^rd July we got to 17 degrees!! We have had colder minimum temps than normal as the average minimum in July is 0.2 degrees and we have averaged -1.3 degrees so far this month, but the maximum has been about 2 degrees warmer than the normal average. This was probably because we turned on the good weather for Joy’s sister and brother in law when they visited early this month.

But I am getting ahead of myself. What has been going on since the last blog in April?

We have finished unpacking (all except 2 boxes of “Les’ Sundry Stuff”) and have started putting our personal touches on the house. Spice racks in kitchen, hooks in bathroom, etc.

In early May we did a day trip to Hill End and did a 1 hour walk as well as checking out the lookouts.

Hill End Information Centre

Yes!!!it is a big seat!!!!

Lookout over Hill End Town

Hill End Local

The following weekend we had Joy’s mum come and stay for the Mother’s Day weekend so we headed off to Hill End again with lunch at the Royal Hotel, Hill End. Meal OK but Les’ Chicken Schnitzel was not cooked properly and had to be sent back. On the Monday that she went home we got our first rain in 3 ½ weeks and the garden certainly needed it (sounding like a true country person already).

At the end of May we had a few days back in Sydney to visit friends and after seeing the traffic and the crowds, as we both went into the city, we are more than happy to be living in the slower pace of Bathurst.

Joy went to a “Simple Living” workshop in Blackheath which helps with showing how to make home made things like soap, clothes detergent, environmentally friendly cleaners, etc.

In early June we had a few days at Bingle Tree Retreat to celebrate Les’ birthday (which was 8 weeks ago but we had been busy at the time moving house). We have been there a few times before and picked the cabin at the end which is the quietest. On the 2^nd day there was a camera crew filming some of “Home and Away” at the other end of the retreat, but we had been out that day so it did not really affect us. We did a walk in the Blue Mountains at Mt Wilson on the way there and parts were steep

There are lots of birds that come visiting, which we really enjoy.

Ready, JUMP

WASH

DRY

Spa Bath on the Verandah

Les cooked a hot breakfast on the BBQ

We went for a walk at Wiseman’s Ferry on the 2^nd day of the break, on a walk called Grass Tree Circuit, but to make it even better there were several waterfalls for Les to photograph!!

Old Grass Tree

Tall Gum Tree. You might be able to see the condensation running down the truck.

In mid June Joy spent a few days near Geelong with some girlfriends doing Scrapbooking leaving Les at home in Bathurst. Gave him a chance to catch up on some movies but also put together the compost bins.

Did the first visit to Maitland from Bathurst and went via Kandos, Denman and Muswellbrook. Very nice scenery and much better than the F3 freeway. Spent a few nights with friends in Maitland and then back home the same way stopping in Muswellbrook to buy about 20 tube stock plants for the garden.

We thought it was time to explore some of the local areas around Bathurst so we did a day trip to Ophir.

Road to Ophir

Ophir was the first place where gold was discovered in New South Wales. There is not much there but a picnic area and creek crossing but very nice anyway. We are already planning a return trip to do the walks there.

Ophir Mine Shaft

Road out of Ophir

From Ophir we went to Orange for lunch in the park, a quick visit to an orchid for apples (yes we have run out of home-grown apples) and then a drive to Mt Canobolas just outside of Orange. In all the trips to Parkes (via Orange) Les has never been to Mt Canobolas. The top was shrouded in mist but we got a bit of the view. Again we will be back to do some of the walks.

We have started planting extra / replacement plants and Joy managed to get 3 Grass Trees to sprout from 4 seeds sown. So we had the ceremonial planting. 2 are in the garden and 1 in an old Galvanised Toilet.

Grass Trees grow at the rate of about 1 inch per year so it will take a while for them to grow to tree height!!!!!

When Joy’s sister and brother in law and Joy’s mother came to visit we went for a drive to Kandos / Rylstone and then to Ferntree Gully. As we were running out of time we only did the lookout walk along the top but have marked in our diary to go back and do the gully walk which has over 100 steps to get back up to the top of the gully!

Ferntree Gully

As we were a bit late getting home we did not get time to take the clothes off the line so they stayed there overnight and in the morning they were covered in frost!!!

But it did turn out to be a beautiful day.

Watching the kangaroos in the back paddock!!

In early July, Joy did a day trip to Sydney and she picked one of the coldest days yet as can be seen by the frost on the front yard and the letterbox.

But we do have nice days where the sun shines and this make for a great outdoor area which also houses our green house. This has the tube stock that has not been planted as well as Les’ orchids and stag horns and lettuce, peas, carrots seeds and garlic and spring onion seedlings.

These will go in the vegetable gardens we are preparing at the moment.

So now back to the original question – Has winter arrived in Bathurst? Yes it has, but when it is sunny the back room warms up nicely. It can be 10 degrees outside but can get to almost 20 in the back room when the sun is shining. And when the sun shines on the greenhouse it can get to high 30s, not that we get in the greenhouse but the plants love the warmth.

And now that we have been in Bathurst for almost 3 months it is time to review how it has gone. In short – great. The move when smoothly and we would recommend Dawson’s Removalist to anyone. We have settled in well and so has Maggie. Joy does exercise class 1 day per week and has started playing tennis one day per week. We have started doing local drives to get to know the area better and we love the house and its northerly aspect. We have started making the yard more “native plants” and “vegetable garden” and have even more plans in the pipeline for a “more plants and less grass” type yard. Les has bought his lawn bowls shoes and is looking to join the bowling club soon. Joy is in the process of getting some of her craftythings in the local craft shop for sale. The pace of life is much slower and no traffic jams. It is only a 3 hour drive to Sydney to visit friends and if Joy goes for a day trip it is 1 hour drive and then 2 ½ hour train trip, during which she can do knitting, cross stitch or reading.

We have noticed that because we are higher than Bathurst township itself we often are clear of fog and they are still covered in fog. This happened today in that we were in sunshine by 9:30 and Bathurst was still foggy at 11:00 so it looks like we bought in just the right place!

So, any down sides to the move? Leaving friends is always hard but we still get to see them on a regular basis. It can be foggy in the morning (but then so can Sydney) and the longest the fog has hung around is about 1:00 pm. One job we do need to do most mornings in winter is get the condensation off the bedroom window. Most mornings the window has condensation on the inside as it is much warmer than outside, so Les uses a “Window Vacuum” to collect the condensation. Sometimes we have to do all the windows but most mornings just the bedroom. If it is not collected it causes mould which is not good for us or the house. The morning it was – 4.8 degrees some of the condensation froze on the inside of the window!! And yes we can collect a lot of condensation. This is just from a half of the bedroom window. Almost 200 mls, so for the whole window can be equal to a soft drink can of condensation.