Into New South Wales and heading home

We left Longwood with light rain falling as we joined the Hume Highway, heading north toward the New South Wales border. It had been many years since we last drove this route, and we were pleased to see that Wodonga and Albury now have a bypass road. We stopped briefly in Tarcutta for coffee and a toastie before continuing to Jugiong, where we planned to stay for two nights.

The site requests a donation, which we are happy to provide. Water taps and rubbish bins are spread throughout the area, and there is also a dump point. 

Surprisingly, there are two places here that serve delicious food. The first is The Sir George, which offers both accommodation and a restaurant, while the second is the Long Track Pantry, which serves seasonal dishes for breakfast and lunch.

Even though we were off the highway, we could still hear the hum of the trucks, but we both had a good night's sleep. 

We enjoyed our morning coffee at the Long Track Pantry so much that we decided to buy a kilo bag of their coffee. This way, we can continue to enjoy our morning coffee until we return home. We also purchased two meals they prepare on-site: butter chicken and slow-cooked lamb, which we'll enjoy on our way home, especially if the weather turns nasty, as has been predicted.

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

It was very cold on our second morning here at Juigong, -1.5 degrees. The van was positioned to catch the first rays, and the diesel heater ticked away, keeping us toasty and warm. 

After much discussion about extending our trip home or heading straight back, we decided we could be home in four more days.

On Thursday, June 5, we travelled through Young on the Olympic Way, turned west at Bathurst, and followed the Great Western Highway to camp at Lake Wallace, just outside Wallerawang and not far from Lithgow. This was a distance of 297 kilometres. We had stayed here in early January on our way south, and it's a large area where camping is free. The Butter Chicken we purchased at Juiong was divine, and there was enough food in the pack for two meals. Unfortunately, we didn't have rice but 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 join the Golden Highway, heading east toward Merriwa, our planned campsite for the night. However, due to the King's Birthday weekend, Merriwa was extremely busy, with campers everywhere and crowded streets. As a result, we decided to continue further east to one of our favourite spots at Jerry's Plains, an additional 80 kilometres away. We have three Bushtrackers camping here tonight.

On Saturday, June 7, we had initially planned to drive as far as Buladelah. However, after covering extra distance the previous day and considering our route along the Pacific Highway, which features a dual carriageway, we decided to head home instead. We made a brief stop for coffee and a sausage roll at a rest area just before Taree. It had been 5 months and 1 day since we left home in January.