Into New South Wales and heading home

We departed Longwood under light rain, joining the Hume Highway heading north toward the New South Wales border. It had been years since our last drive on this route, and we were glad to see that Wodonga and Albury now feature bypass roads. We made a quick stop in Tarcutta for coffee and a toastie, then proceeded to Jugiong, where we intended to stay for two nights.

The site requests a donation, which we are happy to provide. Water taps and rubbish bins are located throughout the area, along with a dump point.

Interestingly, there are two spots here that serve excellent food. The first is The Sir George, offering both accommodation and a restaurant, while the second is the Long Track Pantry, serving seasonal breakfast and lunch dishes.

Although we were away from the highway, the hum of trucks was still audible, but we both managed a good night's sleep.

We loved our morning coffee at the Long Track Pantry so much that we decided to buy a kilogram bag of their coffee. This way, we can enjoy our morning brew until we get home. We also purchased two on-site meals: butter chicken and slow-cooked lamb, which we'll enjoy on our journey home—especially if the weather becomes stormy, as forecasted.

Today's lunch at The Sir George consisted of a wood-fired pizza and Stone and Wood beers.

On our second morning at Juigong, it was pretty cold, with temperatures dropping to -1.5 °C. We positioned the van to catch the first sunlight, while the diesel heater kept us warm and comfortable.

After debating whether to extend our trip or head straight home, we decided we could be back in four days.

On Thursday, June 5, we travelled through Young along the Olympic Way, turned west at Bathurst, and took the Great Western Highway to camp at Lake Wallace, just outside Wallerawang and near Lithgow. 

The trip covered 297 kilometres. We had previously camped here in early January during our southward journey, and it's a large, free camping area. The butter chicken we bought at Juigong was delicious, and the pack provided enough for two meals. Although we didn't have rice, we enjoyed it with pasta from our pantry.

It was extremely cold overnight, with this morning's temperature at -3.5 degrees.

On Friday, June 6, we travelled north along the Castlereagh Highway to Mudgee. From there, we took a minor road through Ulan to connect with the Golden Highway, heading east toward Merriwa, where we initially planned to camp overnight.

However, due to the King's Birthday weekend, Merriwa was extremely crowded, with many campers and busy streets. Therefore, we decided to keep going further east to Jerry's Plains, a favourite spot of ours, which is 80 kilometres farther. Tonight, three Bushtrackers are camping there.

On Saturday, 7 June, we initially planned to drive to Buladelah. However, after travelling additional miles the day before and noting that the Pacific Highway has a dual carriageway, we chose to return home. We stopped briefly at a rest area just before Taree for coffee and a sausage roll. It had been five months and one day since we left home in January.