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| Main street Millthorpe |
I am over in Sydney for a month, ostensibly to see the Tour de France free to air on SBS, but in reality it is to spend time with Bev.
I have been doing this for the past three years and typically we go away somewhere new for a few days. It is always difficult at this time of the year as school holidays are on and it means places are more expensive. However, for the most part the central west is not a popular place because it is cold and can even sometimes snow. This time we decided to go to Millthorpe. Millthorpe is a little heritage village about 15 minutes south of Orange.
The trip from Sydney takes about three and half hours driving via the Blue Mountains.
We arrived there on Monday 12 July. It was a very nice day in Sydney when we left, with the predicted high to be 20 degrees. The temperature plummeted as we climbed into the Blue Mountains so that when we stopped for lunch in Leura it was around 8 degrees. Very much puffer territory.
It was a similar temperature when we arrived at our studio in Millthorpe. The cloud had rolled in and there was a rather cold wind blowing. Our studio, called The Speckled Nest, is very cute but is deficient in light, WIFI, and smart TV. The latter is very small and is like viewing a TV when we were young. Fifty years ago they were small, in black and white and typically sat in the corner of the lounge or living room a long way from the viewers. That did not bother me at the time as I loved TV.
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| Outside our cottage |
All that has changed and I enjoy being immersed in a programme in the same way as going to the movies.
With no streaming TV and nothing on linear TV we had a lovely evening playing games.
Tuesday
It took us a while to get going in the morning. There is something nice about not having to be anywhere in particular at a specific time. We wandered to down to a rather nice café called The Providore where we had an excellent coffee and a little treat.
Then we went for a walk around part of the village to get several views of the heritage railway station. It is incredibly well maintained although it does not seem to be functional any longer other than as a place for passengers to alight or depart on a train. According to an information board the train service is once a day from Sydney returning to Sydney later in the afternoon, The service had recommenced in 2019. I suspect it must have been a freight line only for a while, although in the early days it would have been the main transport link to Sydney.
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| The historic railway station at Millthorpe |
Millthorpe grew around the railway station and a flour mill established in the late 19th century. The years from 1900 to 1960 were the golden years of the village. This extract summarises a little of its history:
The railway station and siding became the beating heart of Millthorpe’s success, connecting local agricultural producers with expanding markets in Sydney. The Mill depended on rail, as did farmers and merchants eager to supply the state’s growing urban appetite.
Millthorpe rose to become one of the largest rail centres in NSW, exporting flour, chaff, and later potatoes. It was during this golden age of agriculture and commerce that the village’s built character was truly forged. Elegant and functional buildings sprang up - many of which still line the streets today - serving commercial, agricultural, and civic needs.
Commerce thrived with the establishment of a butter factory in 1894, a jam factory in 1922, and a freezing works that exported rabbits. The village also boasted one of the state’s busiest freight-handling centres, alongside essential services like banks, a post office, schools, churches, and telephone facilities - everything required for a thriving rural hub.
All this seems to have come to a halt around 1960. I assume changes in the market and alternative and more efficient ways of getting produce processed and to the market were determinants of decline in the commerce.
It is now largely a tourist destination. Fortunately, most of the old buildings still remain. Apart from tarmac I suspect it does not look too different from the late 19th century although the shops are selling different things nowadays.
We continued on a long loop around the village, and it was interesting to see there is quite a bit of development on the outskirts of the village with some very large lifestyle homes being built.
After lunch we visited a local winery outlet, Angullong, where we tasted a very nice range of wines. We were hosted by the owner of the vineyard who is in her mid-eighties and sharp as a tack. She was very engaging. Her granddaughter, who was home from university was helping out.
The wines were very interesting and they grew a range of Italian red and white grapes because, we assume, that’s the wine she enjoys most. One of the better wines was an interesting blend of grapes that was called Harriet, which is the matriarch’s name.
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| Cacoar |
Later we drove to Blayney and then to another heritage village called Cacoar. It was very pretty but with fading light and it being rather cold we did not spend much time there.
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| As if this was still operating in Cacoar |
That night we went to the local pub for dinner. The meal was typical pub food, well cooked and very large. They, too, seemed to pride themselves on using a lot of local produce
Wednesday - GPS sends us the wrong way
It was time to do a bit more exploring. We visited The Providore for our morning fix of coffee and a little pastry. The made a very very nice fruit loaf.
Mount Canobolus and is an extinct volcano, it is also the high point in this area rising to about 4000 ft above sea level. Apparently it regularly gets snow. While it had been cold it had not been snowy cold. It had been recommended as a place to visit.
We plugged the destination into Apple Maps and followed its directions. It took us to the southern side of the mountain and before long it had us climbing up a gravel road that looked like it was mainly used by logging trucks. For a while we were the only car on the road taking it slowly up the unknown road. We let a 4WD vehicle pass us and shortly after we encountered a rather damp stretch of clay. Bev was unsure about going through it being concerned that we might get stuck. So I turned around the car and headed back the way we came. A truck had passed earlier and we caught up to it. By this time we were thinking perhaps this was the wrong way to the summit. Then a few minutes later the 4WD that had passed us caught up to us. We wondered at that point whether the road had become unpassable.
Later in
Orange we were talking to a woman in the Information Centre about our little
adventure and she said that other people had been sent by Maps up a similar road as
us. It seemed later, when we did drive up
to the summit, that the only way there was on the sealed road we eventually followed. The view was fairly restricted due to trees
stopping us seeing much of the surrounding area. It was also bitterly cold up there due to a
stiff southerly. 
At the top of Mt Conobolus - it was very cold
While we were in Orange we visited the local Art Gallery where there was a rather interesting exhibition by a local artist. It was an installation that involved a huge number of coloured balls on filaments of nylon strung across half the room and filling the room. It was fascinating. All in all we had interesting day.
Thursday - Returning to Sydney
It had been very cold overnight but by the time we got up if there was any ice on the car it had well and truly disappeared. It was a sunny day and while cool mid-morning it was very pleasant to walk to another rather nice café nearby.
It was another four drive back to Sydney. This time we went through Bilpin which is an apple growing area on the eastern flanks of the Blue Mountains. Near Bilpin we stopped so that Bev could get an apple pie for which the area is renowned for. They grow apples in this area. I guess the cooler days allow for them to thrive.
Below are some photos of Millthorpe that I liked.
Looking over Millthorpe at dusk
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