Have you ever known Sunny Corner to be sunny? Well today did not disappoint. Yes the weather was cloudy and overcast. I did see the sun try and peek through a couple of times. You could see by the wet roads that the area had had some rain. The temperature at Lithgow was 10deg C. By the way, we changed the name of the trip to “Turon”. There is no “sun “in Turon.
We were meeting on the highway at 8am just past ‘Maccas’. About 10 km from Lithgow I heard Pilgrim 1 on the air but I could not talk to him. I reached Lithgow at five to eight but had to make a short stop and arrived five minutes late. Everyone was there but I was not last. The DaCosta family stopped at ‘Maccas’ and joined us at 8:30. We headed off up to Capertee Rest area to meet the McCreas and Patersons. They were nowhere to be seen. Calls to Greg went to voice mail. After a short time we saw Greg’s vehicle coming up the road from the Royal Capertee Hotel and Terry was not far behind. Peter handed out maps and briefed us on the trip. He then prayed for us and we started our journey up the road.
We turned left into Turon Gates Rd and stopped a short way up the road to let down our tyres. Another group came up the road but turned around a couple of times. Must be lost. We did not see them again. We headed into the park and you could see patches of blue sky ahead of us. The dirt road surface is good but there are some pot holes full of water to miss. We were still in two wheel drive country and now descending down to the Turon River. As we travelled along the river front, Peter pointed out some tracks up the hill where the National Parks have closed off and planted trees. We reached the river crossing but had to wait for a group of bike riders to go first. Terry was before me and as I crossed I could see a crowd gathered on the other side of the river. There were people in bike gear and some with cameras. Belinda photographed a great shot of my crossing.
We went on a short distance and stopped for morning tea along the river front. As usual, out came all sorts of goodies. Belinda’s Anzac slice tasted great. We also had some time to get to know some new people and hand out some TRAX business cards. After morning tea, we travelled along the river front back to the crossing and back onto the main trail. At one point the river had broken it’s bank and we had a nice little puddle to navigate. Back on the main track, there was only a sign that was left for “River Ron’s” hut. The NP had totally removed it
As we were travelling along, you could see that the bush was regenerating after the recent bush fires. We came to a big open field called Woolshed Flat and stopped to check out the old mine shafts. Everyone was interested in the information board and Greg mentioned this could be a good place for the TRAX Christmas party.
On the other side of the field, we came to a closed gate. The message came back to close it and Neil offered to do the honours with the help of Riley or was that Tate. Any way the gate was left as we found it.
We were on the Pinnacle Fire Trail and following the ridge line through the bush. Open pasture greeted us as we reached a high point and stopped to take in the views. You could see for miles in all directions. The sky was full of with little grey bottomed clouds and the blue breaking through..
Along the trail were some interesting mud holes. I remember one where some of the group stopped to take photos. You had to keep to the right but on leaving, one of the ruts grabbed my wheel and kicked me back in. What a splash!!!.
A must see on this trip is The Pinnacle. A large rock and everyone was climbing all over it. Even the grandparents. What a couple of show off’s. Glad no one was injured but good fun.
Our next stop was for lunch. We crossed Dark Corner Creek and Greg was on the other side directing me to keep right. Others had bottomed out coming down. The track on the other side went to the left and our lunch clearing, or you could go straight ahead up a steep incline. Right where Greg was standing. The creek we crossed joined with Daylight Creek on the other side of the lunch clearing and both creeks had a good flow after all the rain. Being Tail End Charlie, I was last to park and only just off the track. While we were having lunch two vehicles came through. Thank goodness I left them enough room. As usual, we all had a good feed and you should have seen what they were cooking up.
After lunch I led the convoy, as Peter was locked in. We travelled up the hill and along the track until I found a suitable place where Peter could take over again.
Going along we came to the top of a steep hill and there was another vehicle waiting. He allowed us to go past and I did not see him follow me down. We shortly came to an intersection and went straight ahead. Peter determined we were up the wrong track and should have turned left. We all turned around. Being Tail End Charlie I arrived back first and parked to the side only see our friend go past. He stopped and offered to lead us out. We graciously accepted.
Our last obstacle before reaching the Sunny Corner pine forests was a small creek crossing. The landscape was totally different to what I was expecting. Large areas of the pine forest only had young trees and you could see for miles (old school). Green hills and pastures were off to the left. The country side was pretty as a picture.
Our new friend was going a different way and pulled over. We said thank you, had our own good byes and I hope we meet him again on the tracks.
We went on a short way and then pulled over as we were getting close to the black top. Everyone pumped up their tyres and had a bit of afternoon tea. Some of us were investigating the mushrooms / toadstools in pine forest. Neil prayed for us and we said our good byes. I was last to leave.
That trip was like a roller coaster ride. Up hill and down dale. Low first and gentle on the brake, let the vehicle meander down the hills. A little bit of right foot to get up the hills. And to top it off, I was greeted by a beautiful rainbow, back on the black top. What a way to end the trip.
See you on the next one.