Mudgee

Having decided to forego the delights of Singleton, the next stop on my road trip was the intriguingly named town of Mudgee, some 200km inland into the country. The drive was pretty scenic, going through sandstone gorges, lush fertile valleys giving way to cultivated vineyards. Looking up the town's name, I found it is derived from the Wiradjuri language, and named by the Aborginal Wiradjuri clan who lived there originally. However, reading on about the history of the town revealed a horrendous tale of mass genocide at the hands of the early British Colonial Settlers who slaughtered hundreds of the Wiradjuri, burned their bodies and claimed the land as their own. It makes me so ashamed how the British treated the indigenous people, and time after time on this trip I have been shocked to read of such atrocities.

The site of the first Mudgee township was surveyed in 1837 and the first land sales occurred in August 1838. By 1841 there were 36 dwellings, three hotels, a hospital, a post office, two stores and an Anglican church. The police station moved from Menah in the mid-1840s and an Anglican school was established in that decade. In 1851 the population of Mudgee was 200. This skyrocketed with the discovery of gold nearby, which led to a gold rush and the town grew rapidly as a result.

Walking around the town today it still feels a bit "Wild West". I couldn't help notice that almost every car seemed to be a pick-up truck, or "Ute" as I think they call them here. And there was a sign in my motel room requesting that work boots were taken off and left outside!

I went for a walk around the town which still has a lot of 19th century buildings with iron verandahs and a certain rustic charm to it. At one end of the town was Lawson park in which a number of arty statues had been placed. I thought that it would make a good parkrun course, and when I checked later I found that the path I had been walking on was already part of Mudgee parkrun course! And then I saw a sign warning me that snakes had been seen in the area - I wondered if the RD briefing had to warn parkrunners to look out for snakes!Read more