We started with a wander around the main streets and checked out the grass on the sloping roof of the Regional Museum. Lots of old buildings to see.
Mount Canobolas was closed due to road repairs. We did do the loop drive around Lake Canobolas.
Was a beautiful day but icy cold. Never realised the altitude of Orange at 863m!!! (coldest day of the entire trip)
Spent time in beautiful Cook Park. The autumn leaves were STUNNING!!
In the park, they have amazing flower/plant displays in the conservatory and when we were there it was filled with begonias.
STUNNING !!! (three ! rating)
But my fave experience was chatting with the volunteer ladies in the Arts and Crafts shop in Cook Park (Kev – “they have knitted chooks!”). They told me about a wonderful lady in her 90s who knitted alpaca beanies in the nursing home up the road and when she finished each beanie, she would walk with her walking frame to the shop with beanies to sell. Her beanies were lovely and soft and of course I purchased one of them :).
Jen grew up in Orange and lived on a farm in Ophir. So after a picnic lunch in Cook Park, we drove out to Ophir to see the farm and surrounds. I am a bit of a fan of the tourist information centres. They gave us a map to Ophir and marked on it some walks and waterfalls (which we would not have found without the map). We found the farm and their old shearing shed.
It ended up taking us about two hours on a circuit road to Ophir with a few gravel roads (Jen was driving VERY cautiously – even on the sealed roads!!!). We enjoyed a few walks and did find a lovely bush waterfall.
At Ophir (which is a sign on a rock and a carpark next to the creek), we spoke to a local couple who encouraged us to walk up a small hill at the far side of the carpark. At the top of the hill (less than 100m from the carpark) we found an unmarked open mine shaft you could walk into.
It went in about 50m before branching and continuing. We needed to use our mobile phones to light the way. Super interesting and unusual to find this mine shaft with no signpost or warnings etc.
Spent the rest of the arvo retail shopping. Found lots of warm clothes but prices were surprisingly high. Jen and I ended up in a bargain shop ….. Best and Less –
where we found matching dressing gowns for $15 each and Ugg boots for $2. Best bargain EVER!! Worth a visit if you have arrived in Orange unprepared for the icy chill!!
Back to the cottage for rest and relaxation, WARMTH!!! dinner and a movie!!