Kangeroos Running Wild in the Streets!

Welcome to Hill End! We spent last Sunday with Richard and Cathy at a Bed Breakfast owned by Cathy's friend, Sue. My title of this blog is a little misleading. If there is one fact that the rotarians and other Australians want me to pass along to my American friends it is that they do NOT have kangeroos running loose on their streets, only in Hill End can you find that!!!! This is equivalent of them saying "everyone in Oklahoma rides a horse and lives in a teepee." The kangeroos are very similar to our deer in Oklahoma. Probably the only time to see them is early in the morning or just before sunset. It is also dangerous to drive down the country roads at this time. We counted 4 dead on the side of the road on our way to Hill End!

The highlight of our roo watching came when we watched 2 male kangeroos box! This is actually quite normal to see. They were standing on their hind legs taking shots at each other like they were boxing. They also jumped in the air, putting all their weight on their tails, and kicked at each other with their hind legs. Very exciting! Unfortunately, every picture we took of this turned out completely black! Sorry! This is the B & B were we stayed. It was as relaxing as it looks! It was built in the 1890's during the gold rush. Here is the webpage - you should check it out! http://users.bigpond.com/hillendbandb/ The community was booming during those days but as you can see times have changed. Today, there are only about 200 people left in the town. It makes Webbers Falls look like a metropolis!


This is one of several churches that Cristin photographed. She got some really neat shots. You can't see it from here, but the gate read "11th Commandment: Please shut the gate."

There was a group of gold miners staying at the Bed and Breakfast with us. They invited us out to take a look around where they were drilling. He showed us this sample. You can't see it but there is a tiny speck of gold inside the red circle. We could barely see it, but now we can say we've been gold mining. Too bad we didn't find any we could take home!

All in all, our Mudgee trip was a great experience and we enjoyed every second of it! Thank you to Caringbah Rotary for setting up such great adventures! Also, a big thanks to Richard and Cathy for letting us tag along!