In October I took a few days off for a short trip to Bathurst and Lithgow. No particular reason, other than that I hadn’t been there for a long time and there were things I wanted to see. Still many more things I haven’t got to (and would like to), so another trip is kicking around in the back of my mind. If anyone has any great suggestions of things to see and/or do in the Bathurst/Lithgow area, please drop me a line!

Eating out in Bathurst

I based myself in Bathurst for this trip (that was where affordable accommodation was!). As is my usual practice on these trips, I carried my own snacks and packed lunch each day, as I could never be certain of finding coeliac-safe food. For this reason, my experience of eating out for a coeliac was limited to evening meals – and since I was charging the car, I limited myself to places in the vicinity of the charges in the centre of town.

The Bathurst RSL Club came well recommended for gluten-free options, and I discovered that they had a fairly comprehensive separate gluten-free menu (which included schnitzels and parmigiana). I was sold! Several of the other suggested gluten-free options appeared to be quite expensive or had limited menus, but I did also go to Tamarin Indian Restaurant, which was very nice food and not unreasonably priced. I did intend to go back to the Tamarin a second night, but unfortunately they had not updated their webpage to say they were not opening 7 nights anymore, and the night I went the second time was the night they were closed. So I actually ended up eating at the RSL Club 4 nights. I did buy membership, and I think I might have made my membership money back just on the food discount.

Places

I’ll cover these in individual blog posts:

• Hill End Village
• Abercrombie House
• Lithgow sightseeing
• Zig Zag railway
• Glow Worm Tunnel (in Wollemi National Park)
• Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens

I will update these to links as I publish the blogs.

I also went to see a few other things, which do not warrant individual posts either because there isn’t much to say, or because they are not terribly photogenic.

Derelict House, on way to Hill End

On the drive out to Hill End, we passed this derelict house (possibly old shearers quarters, perhaps?). On the way home, I stopped and took a few photos.

Bathurst Rail Museum

I also went to Bathurst Rail Museum. It isn’t a railway museum about the railway rolling stock and machinery, but rather about the people that worked on the railways, and how that changed over the years. Well worth the visit, but don’t go expecting to see old trains. The cafe (accessible from both inside and outside the museum) has an old passenger carriage that has been converted into their dining area, but that was about it.

One of the big (literally) features of the museum, however, is a model railway layout recreating the railway line from Bathurst to Tarana (towards Sydney, but not as far as Lithgow). For someone who comes from a (former) railway modelling family, that was an impressive layout. LOTS of work went into making it…

Links

• Bathurst Rail Museum (website)

Disclaimer

We attended the Bathurst Rail Museum as full fee-paying guests. Our hosts were not advised that we are semi-professional photographers or bloggers before or during our visit. It is our understanding that the tours and information we received were as normally provided to any member of the public.

The derelict building portrayed in this post is on private land. All photos were taken from the roadside and we did not at any point enter the property. If you go looking for this building, please respect the fact that this is private property and do not trespass.

The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone, and any errors in it are also all mine. Any recommendations made in this post are unpaid and are based entirely on my experiences during my visit. Your experience may differ, and I cannot be responsible for that.