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Saturday 1st February
The team headed out this morning, after a 7.00am rise, toward a reserve some 22 kilometres from Merriwa, about half-way to Cassilis.
The ride was quite warm again and roadside water only occurred once at a creek on the way to the reserve. The reserve was very dry, with little pick and there was no water at all in the dam.
The horses were all fed and watered from the truck, and then all the crew, with the exception of Ian, who was on journal duties again, prepared to head down the road to Cassilis for tonight's rodeo. The locals reckon that the rodeo is a really good one and every year there is usually a good number of riders for the excellent bucking stock that the contractors supply.
After the crew left, Ian was amazed by the number of carloads of people driving past camp, tooting their horns and yelling out "G'Day!". It appeared as if nearly everyone on his or her way to the rodeo knew about the ride. Having fed the horses and completed a heap of typing, Ian turned in at 11.00pm, the rest of the crew arriving in a very excited state over an hour later.
It turned out that the Cassilis Rodeo had been an outstanding success, with an amazing amount of money raised. Merchandise sales had been very good, donations and Art Union Sales excellent, and the charity auction – UNBELIEVABLE.
The rodeo committee invited Dan to speak to the crowd from the centre of the arena, immediately after the second round of the open bullriding, and then presented a cheque for $1000.00 on behalf of the rodeo committee.
Dan took the opportunity to introduce the rest of the team, who then became "spotters" at all points of the arena as he auctioned a signed Year of the Outback flag. The first flag was purchased by the rodeo committee, who paid a massive $1625.00, who then allowed Dan to sell another flag to the losing bidders, (our new friends Jeff and Donna Perry and Bert Francis) for $1600.00. Added to the sale of two of our very rare "Campfires" flags, the total from flag sales alone topped $4,000.00!
After what could only be described as one of the best nights of the ride, the total raised was $10,000.00! An absolutely amazing and brilliant result for the size of the town and huge thanks must go to the Cassilis rodeo committee for its fantastic support of the ride.
Sunday 2nd February
After the excitement of the rodeo last night, it was back to earth with a 20-kilometre ride into Cassilis. Again, it was a warm day, but the changing scenery was amazing, with rolling hills and plenty of homesteads by the way. It turned out that we were riding past some very famous, or infamous, depending on one's perspective, landmarks.
Thomas Kenneally's book "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" was based on true events that took place around the Cassilis area, where Jackie Underwood went on a murderous spree in the early part of the century. This was one of the most sensational crimes in the area and later a movie of the same name as the book was filmed on location.
The team set up at the Cassilis Showgrounds, where the rodeo committee was very busy dismantling the temporary yards. The horses were placed in the temporary arena and fed and watered prior to the team, again excluding Ian, headed off to Turill for a family fun night at the local community centre.
Quite a number of locals turned out to see the team, and the evening raised just over $1000.
Cassillis is a very old area of New South Wales, being settled in the 1820's, with much of the early settlement being convicts.
Several of the towns historic buildings are built from locally sourced sandstone, and the local gaol used to be underground, with only the guards quarters being above the grounds surface. Sadly, the old gaol collapsed some thirty years ago, however the police station, courthouse and original hotel are still standing, along with the old parsonage and early churches. The church graveyards tell the story of many tragedies in the early days of settlement - many of the headstones honouring people who died before the age of twenty-five!
Monday 3rd February
As we are making such great time, today has been set aside as a day off! Rob Tindall had dropped down to camp yesterday and offered to take some of the crew on a tour of a couple of local woolsheds, demonstrating the old and the new. Rob is the Manager at Dalkieth Hereford Stud, which is located at the top of the hill behind Cassilis, and has been in the area for a good number of years.
Bruce and Ian took a drive back to Merriwa to pick up a grey mare that had been donated to the ride. She turned out to be a quiet type and loaded and travelled back nice and easily.
Lucas and Colin went back to Mudgee to grab some supplies for camp, whilst Dan and Caroline stopped back in camp. Caroline gave Moby a well deserved tidy up, and cooked a camp oven roast for tea. Dan borrowed the bowling club office (about 30 metres from the rodeo grounds) to check email messages and work on the schedule of events for the weeks ahead. It was at this time that a phone call was received from the publican at the Ulan Hotel (where we are due in two days time). In the hectic pace of the past weeks activities, Yola had forgotten about the pub function at Ulan that she had organised, so it was in the car and off again for yet another night of fundraising.
Bruce, Dale and Ian headed out to look at the woolsheds with Rob Tindall a little after 3.00pm, and were amazed at the first shed, located on Ballentine, just out of Cassilis on the Golden Highway. The construction is a work of art, with the whole shed resting on cut logs, lying on their sides! Large trees had been felled to form bearers for the floor, and also the main posts. We are all still scratching our heads trying to work out how the massive supporting posts were lifted to the top of the bearers and then balanced whilst the rest of the framing took place. The shed is massive and had two big presses for keeping up with the fleeces when shearing was in full swing. As best as we can make it, the shed appears to have had twenty stands in its heyday. The nails in the floorboards were all handmade, testimony to the sheds age at around 140 years!
Next stop was the old shed at Dalkieth, which dates back 1909. This shed is smaller and has had some considerable modifications since its original construction, but still has the original steam engine (to drive the original mechanised shearing plant) in exceptional original condition. It also has another old Ferrier Woolpress in working order.
On the way back through Cassilis Rob gave an excellent running commentary on the older buildings in town and then stopped at the old sandstone pub, which has been lovingly restored by Hans, the current owner. A background in the building trade has allowed Hans to preserve the character of the place, whilst tastefully modernising the accommodation area in the upstairs section of the hotel. The pub is a must see, if only for the thickness of the old, solid timber doors.
The final stop was the new multi-purpose shed, Rotherwood, which is an astounding construction at the Dalkieth Hereford Stud. The shed serves as an undercover livestock selling complex, machinery shed, shearing shed, office area, and sometimes party and wedding venue! The selling area features suspended seating that can be raised and lowered as required. There is enough space to shelter 3000 head of sheep prior to shearing if the need arises.
John and Yola headed into the Ulan Hotel to attend the function that had been organised in advance, and raised almost $1000.00 for the evening. They had achieved a great result from a small area. The rest of the team would get to meet the Ulan Locals when they ride into town in two days time.
Tuesday 4th February
The team headed out today for the ride into Turill. It was one of the more scenic days on the ride so far, with plenty of trees, narrow roadsides and undulating countryside.
The ride was uneventful, and was completed in a matter of a couple of hours, with the horses covering the distance very comfortably.
The camp was set up at the Community Centre, which was a great spot, nestled below an old wooden church, and across the road from the local "one stop shop", which serves as a petrol station/post office and general store. We met Elza Pascoe who operates the store.
The number of wombat holes that seemed to be everywhere amazed us. There were about four holes in the actual grounds of the community centre and we had noticed many more along the road on the way in.
Our great mate Bianca Jones returned to take her place as our newest team member, and immediately got busy helping out around camp. Bianca has already endeared herself to the team with her perpetual smile and great work ethic.
After a quick feed, again cooked to perfection by Caroline and Col, Bianca, Luke, Colin and Dan headed across to Gulgong to make arrangements for functions to be held in town there, and to take care of the banking.
The rest of the team carried out a few housekeeping chores, including washing of clothes and saddlecloths and catching up with journals.
Wednesday 5th February
Another really good ride today, into the township of Ulan. The riders stopped and talked to several locals along the way, and passed both the open cut and underground coal mines that provide almost all the employment around the area.
We again noticed a large number of wombat holes and several carcasses on the roadside, indicating that there must be a large population of wombats in the area, certainly many more than we have seen anywhere else on the ride so far.
The horses were left at the Travelling Stock Reserve and after they had received a good feed, camp was made behind the Ulan Hotel.
The team headed out in three different directions selling art union tickets to places along the roadside, with varying degrees of success, Bruce and Ian headed toward Mudgee, Bianca and Luke toward Cassilis , and Dan and Caz taking the cake by selling eight tickets toward Gulgong!
The crew arrived back at the Ulan Hotel having sold more that 15 tickets and spirits were high. The Ulan Hotel has a great atmosphere, and it turned out to be a very good night again. The pub put on a great feed for the team and afterwards Dan pulled out the guitar and played acoustically with almost everyone in the pub joining in the singing through to the wee small hours of the morning. What a great night out… Luke was the last man standing at 3.30am and could not remember going to bed.
Thursday 6th February
After climbing out at 7.00am the team had a really nice ride of 22 kilometres from Ulan to Gulgong. Col and Ian rode together for some of the way, and were soon joined by Dan, riding in to sell art union tickets to farms along the way. Most of the visits were not successful in terms of ticket sales, but plenty of donations were made by roadside landowners.
Yola and John had made good time in front and dropped some lunch back to the Col, Dan and Ian as they were riding along the road, still busily dropping into properties. The team camped at the showgrounds, much to the consternation of the caretaker, who had not been notified of our arrival. It had turned out that he had gone through school with Dan’s father Warwick, and everything was sorted out fairly quickly. The showgrounds are on the far side of town to the Ulan road, so the riders got to see first hand the narrow streets for which Gulgong is famous. The streets are so narrow that if cars are parked on one side of the street, vehicles travelling in opposite directions have to give way to one another! Much of Gulgong is heritage listed, so many of the older buildings are beautifully preserved and the town has a definite charm and character.
The horses were placed in the stockyards at the showgrounds, which offered good water, but absolutely no pick as sheep had been placed in the grounds to clean up all the long grass prior to the upcoming show (March 1st and 2nd).
The team headed out to spend the evening at the Gulgong Bowling Club and several of the team had a social bowl, with Dan and Caroline pulling off amazing shots in front of the video camera! In all truth, Ian was so busy congratulating Dan on his form in getting his bowl so close to the Jack, that he missed Caroline’s best bowl dislodging Dan’s on the very next throw!
It turned out to be a great evening, with several hundred dollars raised for the social bowling night and with merchandise sales thrown in.
Friday 7th February
It was a fairly early start this morning, not riding but organising fliers for the Mudgee and Gulgong functions, and selling art union tickets. Ian, Bruce and Dale dropped brochures throughout Gulgong and then headed to Mudgee in the afternoon to do the same thing.
Dan, Caroline, Lucas, Colin and Bianca spent the morning and early afternoon visiting businesses in town selling Art Union tickets and obtaining donations for Saturday night in Gulgong.
The team headed into Mudgee at 6.00pm for a function at the Lawson Park Hotel. It was a fair night raising about $2000 for the evening. Ian caught up with Fleur Bannister, whom he had met twice before on the trip at Winton and Longreach – it turns out that Fleur is a cancer survivor, who makes her home half way between Mudgee and Gulgong, and will ride with us on Monday and Tuesday. Tonight, many of Dan’s family had made the journey up from Albury and Wagga to spend the weekend helping the team and re-visiting where they had grown up. There were approximately twenty of them in total, so the Phegan’s had hit Gulgong in full force.
After a good night out, the team made their way home, ready for another big function back in Gulgong tomorrow night.
Saturday 8th February
Another early start to get organised for the cattle drive down the main street of Gulgong, this time using borrowed cattle. Dan, Col and Tim had met a farmer, Pete, about five kilometres out the road look at his cattle to see whether they would be quiet enough for a parade. They drafted off the cattle that looked like they may be troublesome (mainly steers) and left the quieter older cows and calves for the parade. After about an hour and a half of working with the cattle, it was time to go back to camp and get organised for the parade. As Col and Dan had to take possession of the cattle (both physical and legal) at 9.30am, they left the rest of the team to prepare for the parade and rode to the far side of town where the cattle were waiting.
It turned out to be an excellent exercise in planning and co-ordination while Col, Ian and other guest riders held the cattle on the other side of town, Dan left his horse with Col and borrowed Kev O’Malley’s car (our great mate and local ranger!) to zip up to town to make sure Caroline was ready with the video camera, there were plenty of people armed with donation buckets, road blocks were in place, and the meeting point was organised where the support vehicles and guest riders would meet behind the cattle prior to the parade down the main street.
It was a big job getting the cattle and riders to the right place at the right time and then pushing the cattle down the narrow streets of Gulgong.
Many of the town residents turned out to see the spectacle and everything went to plan; much to the relief of all. The cattle went along quietly and there were plenty of local riders along to help us with any errant beasts.
It took a fair while to get the cattle back around to where they belonged, but they were seasoned walkers and did the seven or so kilometres around the back of town easily in a couple of hours.
In a sensational storm, rain finally arrived in Gulgong in the mid-afternoon. Ian giggled like an idiot as the rain began to soak he and Bruce as they were feeding the horses. The wind had come up and the big drops of rain were blowing almost parallel to the ground, kicking up puffs of dust with every drop that hit mother earth.
Warwick, Mick, Pam, Terry, Anne, John, Elizabeth, James, Chris, Jessie, and Tom Phegan had arrived the night before for their reunion with old schoolmates and friends. It turned out to be a night to be remembered at the Bowling Club, as the locals turned out in force to enjoy a great night’s entertainment. On his 27th birthday, Dan put in a great performance singing, Warwick, Dan’s dad, was in his element as guest auctioneer for the charity auction, and everyone had a great night dancing and singing into the wee small hours. Maybe the rain earlier in the day had lifted everyone’s spirits.
On a personal note from Dan, it was probably his most memorable birthday. The ride through Gulgong was organised almost three years ago and not long after, it was realised it would be a Saturday night and his birthday. Not only had he pushed cattle through Herbert Street in Gulgong without and problems (and the possibility of problems had caused some considerable silent worry), but Herbert was the name of the grandfather whom he was riding for; Gulgong is where his father’s family grew up; Add the fact that Dan’s mount for the day, "Toppy", was the horse he left Darwin on, and had broke in himself after breeding him from bloodlines owned by his late grandfather; "Toppy" is branded "FP" (Freyer/Phegan), his family’s racing brand. Throw in a little late rain before the night’s very successful function, and the day was perfect!
At midnight, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Caroline, as it was now officially her birthday!
Sunday 9th February
As Sunday is a traditionally quiet day in the smaller towns, there is not a lot of opportunity to do much fundraising. This being the case, and last night being a pretty big one for the Phegan gathering, it was decided that the team should have a day off. It was back into civilian clothes for most of the team and everyone just did their own thing.
Ian went with Fleur to Mudgee Pony Club and guest instructed for the afternoon, before heading off to dinner with Bruce and Dale at Brent and Barb Bannister's (Fleur’s brother and sister-in-law) place. It was very nice to sit down at a house and enjoy a meal for something different.
Colin sold one of the older donated horses, "Follow-on", to the great people from Gulgong Gold Molasses.
Dan and Caroline caught up on some cash counting from the past few days fundraising, and caught up on some much needed sleep, whilst Lucas, Bianca, Ali and Col all headed down to the local hotel to do some fundraising, socialising and art union ticket sales there.
The horses had a great day off, resting in the yards and getting several feeds of Copra Cool Fuel™ and lucerne hay through the day, enjoying the cooler weather.
Monday 10th February
The team today rode from Gulgong to Mudgee, a distance of some 26 kilometres. The team riders were joined by Fleur and Chris on their respective horses, who were both keen to ride the entire distance to town. Again the riders were on a mission, as a street parade was scheduled for 11.30am. The riders actually arrived a few minutes early and had almost a half-hour to spare before the police escort arrived - we had met one of the officers during our stay in Bathurst!
The parade continued uneventfully and the Mayor, Denis Yeo, received the riders with a civic welcome and lunch. The team's thanks go to the Mudgee Shire councillors and staff for the warm reception afforded the team and guest riders, and the great refreshments after a warm days ride.
After the parade and reception, the riders returned to the showgrounds to feed and water the horses, before heading off in different directions to take care of a pile of little jobs that had been building over the past couple of days.
The afternoon was really muggy and the clouds built up looking like rain, and sure enough, later in the evening, the rain arrived yet again.
Whilst working all afternoon on town’s functions and contacting people ahead on the road, Dan took an hour out to meet Joe Weatherley in a nursing home. Dan’s father had gone to school with Joe’s son, Jerry. Jerry had told Dan not to miss out on the chance of hearing Joe recite one of his original poems. Joe was bound by oxygen hoses, but recited several poems perfectly.
Tuesday 11th February
The horses had been a little restless last night, with the storms around and the cooler air. Fleur awoke to find her horse, "Legend", with a badly cut back leg, which appeared to have happened by kicking out at a horse on the other side of the yard fence. A trip to the vet revealed a small cut to the tendon sheath, but no damage to the tendon itself, thankfully.
Fleur had her heart set on riding for the two days, so she accepted the offer to ride one of the team’s donated horses, for the latter half of the day.
The ride took us from the showgrounds at Mudgee through to a Travelling Stock Reserve at the top of a very large hill, about 12 kilometres north of Ilford. The going was hot and the horses found the steeper hills a challenge, with every ounce of their road fitness now being put to the test.
After the riders had headed out, "Snort" managed to escape onto the road near the showground – he is proving an expert at sneaking off at every opportunity – but he was quickly recaptured and secured prior to getting on the truck for the ride to the next camp.
Dan, Col and Lucas headed back into town to catch up on some more loose ends, and checked the account balances for the donations so far. Not including art union ticket sales, the total now stands at $302,000.00 – the team celebrated the arrival of the great news, but know we are still a long way to go before the team achieves the magical $500,000.00 target!
We were shocked to hear that a fatal shooting had occurred whilst Dan, Col and Lucas were in town. They had dropped in at the Lawson Park Hotel and were receiving a donation from Des the publican when everything happened. Details are sketchy, but it appears that a man had been shot at close range through the groin.
Bianca and Ali headed down to the nearby lake for a swim, and whilst they were there, Lucas and Fleur discovered that an echidna that has been spotted earlier in the day, was in fact, quite dead – the victim of what looked to be a car wheel. For a bit of fun for the video camera, a prank was set up which involved the use of a little fishing line and strategically placing the echidna in Bianca’s car. Unfortunately, it did not prove as big a shock as anticipated – but we did get a lovely photo of Ali holding and patting what she still believed was a real live echidna!
Jeff and Donna Perry came out to camp again with their kids, along with Bert Francis. Bert took part in a lawnmower ride around Australia, also raising money for cancer research the previous year.
The team had a fantastic meal tonight; Caroline cooked up a storm with one of the best roasts so far, and most of the team turned in fairly early, as the ride tomorrow was going to be around 40 kilometres
Wednesday 12th February
A humid and warm day, covering just under 40 kilometres to Sofala. Sofala is an amazing Gold Rush town with many historic buildings dating back well over a century.
The hills that lay along today’s route were steep, and the horses were feeling the pinch a little, as they have been so used to comparatively flat going... rumour has it that the steepest section of road in NSW (1 in 7 grade) is on the outskirts of town, which we rode down today.
The team headed into the pub for some video footage and photographs; "Reg" (Dan’s horse) managed to prop himself at the bar to become one of the first equine customers in years!
After that the crew headed up to the showgrounds to do some work getting ready for the function tonight. Tim Phegan has returned to camp today and will help us for the next two months until we get home. No doubt he will be very welcome in camp, as he has boundless energy levels, and a great sense of humour.
Bianca had a beaut day, selling five art union tickets to one household at $100 a ticket! Jim McKibbin arrived in the afternoon, towing his horse across from his home on the Oberon side of Bathurst. We haven't seen Jim since Kynuna Station back in Queensland about four months ago! Jim was working as a "ringer" at Kynuna and it was great to catch up and quite a few celebratory beers consumed in his health!
Thursday 13th February
A much cooler and cloudier day today - team decided to cover the 45 kilometres to Bathurst, taking in the historic hamlets of Wattle Tree and Peel on the way.
The road from Sofala to Bathurst is very hilly, so the horses worked as hard again today as yesterday.
Bianca managed to suffer a nasty little pinch to her forearm when Lucas opened the trailer door as "Bancs" was reaching over the top of it. Jim McKibbin came for the ride and rode his yet-to-be-named horse the entire distance without fault; the campfires team changed mounts halfway through the ride. Mount Panorama was a welcome site as we neared town and knew that the showground was only a matter of minutes away.
It seems that we have a huge entourage of vehicles now, with our normal support vehicles (three trucks and two 4wd’s) plus Bianca's and Ali's cars, Dan's Patrol, and Jims Toyota and float.
The riders expected to get wet during the day, but the rain held off to just a couple of light drizzles. By the time they reached the showgrounds, it was decidedly humid and warm, and the horses really enjoyed a good hosing off with cool water.
The team got organised for an evening at the movies, which was being hosted by the Metro 5 Cinema. The sneak preview of "Maid in Manhattan" had been organised as a fundraiser for Campfires and about forty people turned out for the screening. Not a bad movie at the end of the day and a good watch (a bit of a tear-jerker for the ladies too - a very happy ending!). Those attending made some very nice donations and grabbed some merchandise. Tim and Bianca went out and did some fundraising at hotels afterwards, raising in the vicinity of $500 from raffles.
Friday 14th February
As the crew wasn't expected in Bathurst today, it provided an excellent opportunity to head out and sell some Art Union tickets. Most of the crew split up into teams of two, and covered different areas of the town. We have all become quite adept at selling tickets with a face value of $100.00 each!
Dan, Caroline, Lucas, Col and Bianca headed out to Orange to cover pubs and raise some further donations. The five of them had agreed that they would not make the journey home until at least $1000 had been raised. By midnight they had well and truly reached their target, and turned their heads for home.
Tim, Ian, John and Yola stayed on in Bathurst to conduct pub raffles around the numerous hotels in town. This job was made a little easier by the fact that Charles Sturt Uni students are all arriving back in town for the new semester.
Bruce and Dale headed down to the Metro 5 cinema complex to man our merchandise stall. The team at the theatre was very supportive of our efforts and made us feel very welcome, and the patrons also were generous in their donations and purchases of merchandise.
The team all converged back to camp around midnight, after a long and scattered day throughout the district.
Saturday 15th February
One thing that the team can say about Bathurst was that the Council support for the ride was absolutely fantastic. Not only did they allow us to refuel our vehicles, and camp at the showgrounds, but council staff had also organised a number of functions to assist us with fundraising.
Today we received an official Council welcome at the showgrounds prior to heading off on a street parade with the Pony Club members participating in both the welcome and the parade. The riders were mounted at the welcome, and then acted as unmounted charity collectors during the street parade.
The police escort was excellent, as it was the first to use two vehicles to alternate between blocking traffic, and leading the parade.
After the parade had wound its way back to the showgrounds, the Pony Club then had a games day in the afternoon, along with dog trials and live music, all organised courtesy of the Bathurst City Council.
To cap off a really busy day, the team then headed out for a family night at the Family Hotel at 7.00pm. Unfortunately, the pub had changed management during the time the function was organised, so the night was not the success we had hoped for. It turned out to be a great social night though. We also met Harry and Mark from Grenfell, who are really keen to help us out (and talked us into taking a detour from our route to visit their town) and a local truck driver that often sees Ian’s mate Dicko at work in Wodonga!
A good sized storm swept across the city, bringing the usual thunder and lightning show, and much needed rains to the city. Unfortunately, the rain was not as wide spread as it appeared and many surrounding rural areas, desperately in need of rain, missed out.
Sunday 16th February
This morning Dan and Caroline headed out a little later than they intended; they were bound for Albury on a mission to confirm function venues and ensure that things are in place with the councils and venues along the route.
Bruce, Dale, Yola and John headed out to Annie and Bill Gowing’s place for a social gathering raising money for our cause. A number of local’s turned out to support our cause and Jim’s McKibbin’s parents also attended. The weather meant that the planned outdoor barbeque had to be relocated indoors, but in any event it turned out to be a very nice afternoon for all those who attended.
As it was a Sunday and most businesses were closed, the team took time to catch up on some of the domestic chores, such as cleaning out the trucks, washing and saddle cleaning.
Fleur drove down from Mudgee, arriving in time to give us a hand over the next couple of days in Bathurst.
By 10.00pm Dan and Caz made it home to their respective family farms and in the morning could not believe how dry the country was back at home. They had certainly never seen it so dry in their lifetimes.
Monday 17th February
The whole team headed to Orange to sell Art Union tickets. Fleur’s ute broke down due to another electrical gremlin, and required a trip to the local Ford dealership to get repairs done. The boys at Clancy Ford took care of the problem, although it would take all day to track it down and cure it! In the meantime, a hire car got Fleur across to Orange.
The crew covered every possible opportunity to sell Art Union tickets and obtain items for our next charity auction. It was a tougher day than we all imagined, but at the end we had managed to sell forty-five art union tickets and gathered quite a few great donations for auction.
On the way back the crew dropped into the hotel at Lucknow to try and catch the local television news, which would be carrying a story that was filmed yesterday at the showgrounds, but we would be disappointed, as the story did not appear.
We did get to meet Russell, who was a former NZ jet fighter pilot and later a Qantas captain, who had retired to the area. A great bloke who finished our day off nicely by purchasing another ticket.
The team returned to Bathurst justifiably happy after an excellent day.
Tuesday 18th February
The first job today was Luke and Tim returning to Orange with the grey mare that had been sold – being a thoroughbred, she was feeling the pinch with the miles and not holding her condition as well as we expected. The decision was made to sell her to a good home, and the proceeds will go to the cause.
Meanwhile, Bianca, Col, Ian and Fleur headed out to sell tickets around Bathurst and made a beeline for the industrial area’s for the day. Another good day for selling the tickets, as we sold almost 20 tickets between us.
Dan and Caz returned to Bathurst after a busy couple of days travelling to Albury and back. They had dropped into every town along the route, confirming venues of functions and locations for the camps, both in and outside towns.
The campsite was cleaned up ready for tomorrow’s departure toward Blaney, and we hoped that the rain would stay away for next day or so.
Wednesday 19th February
Jim McKibbin joined us this morning for the ride to Newbridge, some twenty-five kilometres out, where camp was set up at the showgrounds. Caroline stayed in Bathurst for a while to take care of some washing and banking.
About 10 kilometres out of Bathurst, we passed through the village of Perthville, which lies in a picturesque spot surrounded by small hills and clear, open paddocks. The ride from Perthville to Newbridge was reasonably hilly, with fairly narrow shoulders on the edge of the road for us to ride along. Once in Newbridge, the local publicans were obliging enough to allow the horses into the bar for some photo’s, that could be used for publicity and talking points later on.
The horses behaved impeccably, given the small confines of the bar area and the tiny doorways through which Dan, Ian and Col rode. There was not enough room to turn a horse around in the bar area, so the horses had to be ridden through the bar and out the back door, turned around, and then ridden back through, and not a single bit of bad manners from any of them!
Ian and Bruce headed back into Bathurst, as it had been organised for a small group to go to the trots to raise some more money. The Trotting Club Committee was excellent in their assistance, allowing Bruce, Dale and Ian to conduct a raffle and sell Art Union tickets, as well as speak about the aims of the ride over the public address system.
Meanwhile, Julie and Les hosted the remainder of the team at Newbridge Hotel for the evening, and it turned out to be great night, albeit for the late finish!
Thursday 20th February
The crew remained split overnight, with Ian, Bruce and Dale spending their final night at the Bathurst Showgrounds, while the balance of the team awoke at Newbridge.
Yola had mentioned that there was a golf day being held at the Bathurst Golf Club, so Luke rang Ian and asked if he and his folks could take care of it, instead of anyone else driving back from Newbridge, which they agreed to do.
It turned out to be a pretty small affair, with a few golfers coming and going after their rounds, raising about $300 for the day. Ian found a free telephone line at the local Council for a couple of hours, sending emails to Gulgong and Cowra media, posting out receipts to donors that had requested them, and paying bills.
After the golf day had finished, Bruce, Dale and Ian headed back out to Newbridge for the evening.
Lucas and Tim headed back into Bathurst where they experienced the hospitality, character and ambience of the surrounding local hotels, before heading back out to Newbridge.
Les and Julie invited the team to the Newbridge Hotel for dinner, so everyone headed down for a meal, a couple of drinks, and the obligatory odd game of pool.
As Dan, Ian and Lucas were headed back from the Hotel a phone message came through. It was Tony Myer, CEO of Akta-Vite, calling from Queensland. He and his travelling companions would be dropping in tomorrow to catch up with the ride and needed to know where to meet us. Dan got on the blower straight away and left another message - "We'll be in Blayney - looking forward to catching up with you!"
Friday 21st February
The rain returned with a vengeance overnight and the team listened to the sound of the rain on their respective roofs – Lucas, Bianca, Ian and Tim had unrolled their swags under the shelter of one of the sheds and Lucas' snoring drowned out the rain intermittently!
The riders faced a short twelve-kilometre ride, which turned out quite miserable as rides go. The rain was blowing in at right angles for most of the time, making big hats and dryzabones less effective than they would otherwise be. As we approached Blayney, the cloud cover was so low that we were actually in the clouds as they blew through!
The riders were really glad to reach town, as they were all soaked through by the that time, the wind was cuttingly cold and the chance of some dry clothes and a warm shower growing closer by the minute. The rain had not quite finished just yet though, and the heaviest downpour was saved for the final kilometre and a half through town and up to the showgrounds!
Plans for a street parade in Blaney were put on hold, as the rain was quite heavy, and it transpired that the really heavy downpour with strong winds made the parade impossible.
The riders arrived at the showground completely soaked through, but attended to the horses first, as they were obviously feeling the cooler conditions every bit as much as the riders.
Dan, Ian and Col agreed that their 'Driza-bones' should be renamed 'Wet-as-Shags' until such time as they have another treatment to make them waterproof again. Even the boys' right boots were full of water, as the rain had been blowing in from that side.
The showgrounds were quite bare of grass, so any water falling immediately began running off.
It wasn't long before the trucks arrived, so everyone could dress themselves in some dry clothing.
As the route taken by the riders went under a very low railway bridge, the trucks had to take an alternative route that was considerably longer. It turned out that the hills on the alternative route were very steep. Nearing the top of one of the steepest inclines, the truck (Moby) stalled and the assistance of a local farmer and his tractor was needed to tow the truck up the remainder of slope!
The rain had set in, but had slowed to a steady drizzle by the time evening arrived and the crew headed down to the Tatts Hotel for tonight’s function.
Tony Myer, the CEO of Akta-Vite, the ride’s main sponsor arrived with his travelling companions. Nick (Tony’s son), Jack and Robbo had been travelling with Tony and had enjoyed an eleven-hour drive down from central Queensland to meet up with the team in Blayney. It was great meeting up with Tony again, as we had not seen him since before leaving Albury, and Jack was a real character, having lived on the land for years on stations in Queensland and properties in Victoria.
Danny sang the longest set of his life, over two and a half hours all up, to keep the crowd singing and dancing until after midnight. The earlier charity auction had been a great success raising some $1300.00 for night.
Tony and his mates had an early start in the morning, so they headed off a little earlier than the rest of the crew, who hung around until "stumps" and helped pack all the remaining gear in the support vehicle.
Saturday 22nd February
Christian, from the Starlight Café, had kindly offered the team breakfast at last night’s function, so the offer was taken up just after 9.00am. A sensational feed of bacon, eggs and toast awaited the team, all cooked to perfection by Christian.
It was a fairly casual morning, with the team trying to stay out of the mud that seemed to be everywhere. Bruce worked on Col’s black horse and "Chevy’s" feet, giving them an overdue tidy up.
Bruce and Dale shouted Ian lunch at Hang Sing restaurant, which is renowned as the "best in the west" insofar as Chinese restaurants go. Bruce and Dale had eaten at the restaurant years before and the present owners are still there after 40 years of operation!!
Bianca and Col spent afternoon in Rockley, as the rodeo there had been cancelled due to the heavy rains, they decided to run a raffle at the pub and sell art union tickets to those who were in town for the rodeo. Dan, Tim and Lucas went to Cowra for the meeting of the local Harley Owners Group (HOG) chapter. The boys had met "Sarge" at the Newbridge Hotel, and he had invited them to go to Cowra for the annual HOG’s get together. The HOG is a terrific bunch of people, and around $1200.00 was raised for the evening.
Bruce, Dale and Ian headed down to Lyndhurst pub for the disco evening. It was there that they met John James (no relation), who owned the Lyndhurst Hotel, and we again discovered what a small world it is. Bruce and Dale met Geoff Thompson in the hotel, a teacher who had taught their nephew at primary school at Bowral, and also knew Ian’s mate Nick Sheumack in New York! He passed on the news that Nick and his wife had recently had a baby; Ian was very surprised, as he did not know that they were even expecting! The disco was quite a small affair, so a raffle was conducted and George (another local) bought one of the denim shirts.
Dan, Tim and Luke pulled in for a quick look at Lyndhurst on the way back to Blayney and seeing the small remaining crowd, continued back to camp, followed closely by Bruce, Dale and Ian.
All in all it turned out to be a pretty good day, with a reasonable amount of money raised from all the locations.
Sunday 23rd February
The weather today finally cleared, but a chilly wind had taken the place of the rain and clouds. Ian spent the day in camp to write journals, whilst the rest of the crew had respective jobs to take care of throughout the day.
In the evening, most of the team headed down to Lyndhurst Hotel for what was hoped to be a good social night with the locals. They arrived home early and adjourned to bed, as there was no real crowd down at the pub, aside from the "Campfires" team.
Monday 24th February
After we were woken early by the local trotting trainer – who seems keen to wake everyone about 4.30am with the noisiest exercising rig ever made, the team saddled and rode the horses to Lyndhurst showground. The riders were again accompanied by a cool and strong wind.
The team passed the historic town of Carcoar, which has been heritage classified in its entirety. Ian was stopped talking to a motorist, when another car pulled over. Penny King introduced herself and mentioned that she lived at "Coombing Park" at Carcoar.
Coombing Park is one of the only properties still owned by descendants of the original Cobb & Co partnership, which originally purchased the property in 1881 on a walk-in walkout basis. William Whitney was one of the original partners in Cobb & Co, and the King’s are direct descendants of his. Many of the company artefacts, furniture, carriages and artwork from the 1880’s is still on display there.
After arriving at the Lyndhurst Showground, Col, Ian and Bianca went back to roadworks near Carcoar to collect donations from stopped vehicles. In the two hours they were there, thay met people from Albury, and others who had met members of the team in Kynuna and Darwin!
For their efforts, they raised almost $750.00 from two hours work before they were hunted away by the site safety officer. We must give special thanks to the flagmen who looked after us so well at either end of the roadworks, and trust that they did not get into much trouble for letting is raise some donations.
Bruce and Dale headed into Cowra and distributed fliers about the upcoming events, whilst Dan and Caroline headed in to take care of the banking. Bruce and Dale also caught up with Bruce’s old school mate, Allan Vorias, and Bill and Lorraine Golsby for whom Bruce had worked from 1966 right through to the 1980’s.
Tuesday 25th February
No shifting of camp today and the horses enjoyed another day off the road. The team headed to Parkes and Forbes selling Art Union Tickets.
The morning was spent in Forbes, before the team grabbed a quick bite to eat, jumped in the cars, and headed off to Parkes for the afternoon. It was akin to a military operation, with the "troops" spreading out throughout town to approach businesses and individuals who may be prepared to donate $100.00 with the chance of winning a Landcruiser Wagon, travel or cash prizes. All up, the team sold an amazing 70 tickets, which equates to $7000.00! An excellent result for the day.
The team returned to Cowra in the evening and had dinner at the Imperial Hotel. Tim, Dan, Lucas, John and Col signed up for the pool competition, but did not manage a win against the locals. The tired and happy crew returned in dribs and drabs to the camp, ready for another move closer to our destination tomorrow.
Wednesday 26th February
The riders had a relatively short day of 20 kilometres to "Burley", the property owned by the Golsby family, and where Bruce worked when Ian and his brother Ken were born.
Tim and Luke headed down to Wombat to distribute fliers and Col, Bianca, Dan and Caroline headed into Cowra to finalise the arrangements for the street parade and function at the Lachlan Hotel.
Ian, Bruce and Dale spent time with the Golsby’s, catching up on a few yarns and travelling out to feed cattle in the paddocks.
After the recent rains, the country around here is just starting to kick on again. The locals reckon that the paddocks were literally dirt pans, although now one would never guess it. Lucerne paddocks have been the best performers, but the sight of green grass everywhere certainly makes for a positive feel throughout the area.
John and Yola headed across to the Woodstock Hotel to do some fundraising there.
In the late afternoon and evening, we were inundated with visitors from down Albury and Mitta way. The first group to arrive was Dennis, Les, Peter and Frank from Mitta, bringing with them enough horses for them to ride into Cowra. Next, Vin and Rose Griffiths (Dan’s uncle and aunt) and their daughter Stacey arrived, travelling home to Albury after a trip to Armidale, and finally Greg Wood also appeared in camp, after travelling up from Albury.
Les had made a beautiful wood plaque commemorating the ride. He had engraved our ride logo, along with the individual signatures of the crew with a router! We all agreed that a piece of work such as this should become the centrepiece of a museum exhibit – along with other memorabilia of the ride.
Dan pulled out the guitar in the evening, and Bill and Lorraine came down from the house to join the team and visitors for a singalong around the back of Dan’s truck. It was a great evening and a great way to wind down the day.
Thursday 27th February
The team and guest riders bid farewell to Bill and Lorraine and rode out at 8.00am, heading for Cowra.
The riders arrived just in time for the scheduled street parade, and after riding down the main street of Cowra, were received at the Council Chambers by Councillor Robert Bridges, Bruce’s cousin!
As soon as the parade was finished, the riders continued over the bridge crossing the Lachlan River toward the showground. We realised at this time that a long queue of traffic had formed behind the precession of horses and riders, and no doubt the drivers were a lot happier once the slow moving horses had pulled off into the showgrounds.
In the afternoon, the team headed out to sell tickets throughout town, and Ian ran into Katrina Smith, another cousin, at the photo lab where she works. Katrina boards with her aunt and uncle, Welbury and Joe Carlisle, and Bruce and Dale headed around to their place for dinner in the evening.
Allan Vorias was kind enough to invite Ian to the local Rotary Club meeting, providing the opportunity to speak to the gathered members about the ride. At the conclusion of the meeting, the club passed Ian’s hat around, resulting in donations totalling just over $200.00.
Meanwhile, Dan, Bianca, Luke, Tim and Colin headed to the Cowra Bowling Club to conduct some further fundraising, before heading down to the Lachlan Valley Hotel, to catch up with Woody and the Mitta boys. The group raised a total of $700 for their efforts.
Friday 28th February
The team spent the day selling Art Union tickets and obtaining donations for the charity auction this evening at the Lachlan Hotel.
Friday turned out to be a particularly long day, covering all the remaining businesses in town and seeking out a good number of donations prior to heading off to the hotel. Ian spent a little over an hour sending off media releases, and then preparing fliers to be distributed in Wombat later in the week. The Cowra Shire was very helpful in their assistance, allowing the team to use their facilities at pretty short notice.
It started to rain again – yet another town in which it had rained during our visit, keeping our record close to one hundred percent. It was only a storm downpour and did not last very long, but it was certainly enough to keep the grass kicking along.
The evening at the Lachlan Hotel was a lot of fun for everyone that attended, with a good turn out in the beer garden at the rear of the building. The auction raised almost $2000.00, and Dan was again in fine form playing his full repertoire of songs, much to the enjoyment of those who ventured onto the dance floor. The night was really well supported by the Cowra Pony Club, who will be joining us on Sunday as we ride from Cowra.
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