A lunch break to remember

Our holiday in New South Wales

September 2007

Weddin Mountains National Park

From Forbes we travelled south towards Grenfell. We didn’t go all the way into the town but turned off a few kilometres short of the town. We took the road into the nearby Weddin Mountains National Park. We had visited this park on our trip through this region three years ago and remembered that we’d enjoyed the experience.

Weddin Mountains National Park

We arrived a little late for lunch but we survived the extended wait. In the picnic and camping area the rangers have set up picnic tables, toilets, barbecues and some walking trails through the park. It is a pleasant spot to spend an hour or two or even several days camping. The bird life is quite good too. After lunch we had a chat to a man camping there for several nights.

Hideaway cave of bushranger Ben Hall

A feature of the park is the location of the hideaway of bushranger Ben Hall. The cave can be easily seen from the picnic ground. There is also a walking trail to the cave. We didn’t go on any walks through the park as we were running a little late at this stage. Despite the lateness of the hour, however, we just had to stop on the way out.

The trees bordering the exit road burst into bird song as we were leaving, so I just had to stop. I saw or heard many Brown Songlarks singing loudly, a White-winged Triller joined in the fun along with a Grey Fantail, a Rufous Whistler, Noisy Miners, Apostlebirds and several male Red-capped Robins hassling each other. All the time a majestic Wedge-tail Eagle soared overhead and the local White-winged Choughs joined in the chorus of birdsong. Meanwhile my wife was getting excited over the plants flowering near the roadside, including the native orchids shown in the photo below.

It was a lunch break to remember.

Weddin Mountains National Park - native orchids