So Anzac weekend has come and gone. I was lucky enough to be invited to visit my sister-in-laws parents new acquisition- a PUB!!! Trevor and Rose bought a pub in a little country town called Dunedoo, which is approximately half way between Dubbo and Mudgee, Western NSW.
After fighting the friday afternoon long weekend traffic west on Parramatta Road, the open road finally opened up around the Blue Mountains, and arrival into Dunedoo was about 11pm.
My sidekick for the weekend was Carly, but my brother and his wife's clan were all there, in total there was probably about 20 of us.
Having visited Taronga Zoo in Sydney a few weeks earlier, Carly and I were keen to visit Western Plains Zoo, so saturday saw us rise early at 5am so we could get to Dubbo for the "behind the scenes" tour of the zoo before public opening at 9am. It was definately worth missing a few zzzzzz's for.
After a long and fulfilling day at the zoo, and a quick stop for "Australia's best pie" at a Dubbo bakery, it was back to Dunedoo, where there had been plenty of hard work going on during the day to restore the Royal back to it's former beauty.
It was definately Beer'O'Clock, and before we knew it, day had turned to night, and night was not too far away from becoming day again. The plan was to get up for Dawn Service, but when the alarm went off at 5.30am, and the rain was firmly coming down outside, that plan was abandoned by all. A few more hours kip, a hearty bacon and eggs breakfast cooked by Rose, and it was off to Dunedoo Golf Club for some respectful glass raising to our fallen Anzacs, and some 2 Up.
Big Trev is right in with the locals, and was getting plenty of practice tossing the coins. After discovering the cheapest 6 packs anywhere in Australia ($12.90, I'll take 2 of those thanks bar-keep), it was back to the Pub for some more ales and the Anzac NRL clash.
Another large evening of NRL, English Premier League, and Underbelly, and it was bedtime again.
Monday came, and it was a picture perfect beautiful day. Unfortunately, half of it was going to be spent in the car, as the 5 hr drive back to Sydney was to come. Carly and I got an earlyish start and around 10.30am we arrived in Mudgee, where we visited 3 wineries, sampling some amazing wines and ports, and had a hearty pub lunch. Back on the road and after our second stop in Leura in the Blue Mountains, the traffic came to a slow grind. Eventually we made it back to Dulwich Hill, and the long weekend had unfortunately come to an end.
Thanks to Trevor and Rose for their hospitality at the soon to be restored Royal Hotel, I can't wait to get back out there and do some more exploring.
P.s. a few more pics from the weekend are on my Facebook-
