The BOG Muster, a Week in Rydal

After our quick trip to Maroochydore for the caravan service we ventured south to join the Bushtracker Owners Group at their annual Muster.  This year it has been held at Rydal in the Upper Hunter Valley, about 15 kms from Lithgow.

Our travels southward were uneventful with overnight camps in beautiful locations.  It's magpie season so we were on the lookout for dive-bombing magpies when we were outside.  Some were very territorial so we ventured out armed with a hat and stick for protection. The first night we spent at Federation Park, just south of Toowoomba on the alternate route from Toowoomba to Warwick.

Then we travelled along the New England Highway through rolling hills to Guyra, about 50 kms north of Armidale.  At the top of the range, Guyra can be very cold in the winter.  We camped at Mother of Ducks Lagoon which is a picturesque waterbird sanctuary.  We saw many nesting waterhens, swans and cranes.  There are also long necked turtles in the lagoon but we didn't see any.

Day 3 saw us driving through the coal mining areas of the Upper Hunter Valley with the Blue Mountains in the background.  About 4pm we pulled into the Rydal Showground where the BOG Muster was in full swing with almost 50 caravans in attendance.  We set up camp and were warmly welcomed into the "Bushtracker Family".

Over the next week we learned a lot about our new caravan and picked up many hints from the seasoned travellers.  We also took the opportunity to try out all of our new "toys" and put up the awning and annexe for the first time.  It was a great opportunity for the experienced caravanners to cast an eye over our handiwork and offer suggestions.  The committee had organised plenty for us to do and we were certainly kept busy with social activities which included a dance, games night, trivia night, camp oven cook-off and a dinner as well as the daily "happy hour' around the campfire.  


On Friday we toured the Mount Piper Power Station with its 250m high chimney and huge cooling towers and saw electricity generation first hand.

Rydal in September is beautiful as the "Daffodils in Rydal" festival is underway.  There are many patches of bright yellow blooms and several gardens are open for tourists to enjoy.  

We were treated to the music of the Lithgow Pipe Band as they practised in the showground before marching through the town on Saturday afternoon.  The community spirit in this small town (population about 70) is amazing and we were all invited to a sausage sizzle on the final night of both the Daffodil Festival and our Muster.  The weather has been kind to us with cold nights and clear sunny days with only one day of rain.  We were grateful for the very effective heater in our caravan as the temperature plummeted when the sun went down.  The sunny mornings meant that we had plenty of power as the solar cells charged up the batteries during the day.

Any shopping was done in nearby Lithgow where the magnolia street trees were in full bloom.  Lithgow was the home town of champion sprinter Marjorie Jackson - The Lithgow Flash - and there is a statue of her in the town.

At the Muster's end, we packed up, said goodbye to our new friends and hit the road again.  The 2013 Muster will be in Alice Springs and we are planning to be there. After leaving Rydal we travelled about 80km to Carcoar Dam.  We have set up our camp overlooking the dam with waterhens and cows for entertainment.  There is a wind farm on the top of the nearby hills.  Looking out of our window is like looking at a beautiful rural landscape painting.

The view from our front door is certainly worth looking at.