Coonabarabran

We stayed two nights at Gulgong after our marathon trip on Saturday. Yesterday we had a lazy morning and as the weather had cleared and we could actually see some blue sky we went for a drive to Mudgee. We wanted to check out a couple of the wineries, previously we'd had a bottle of wine from the Robert Oakley Winery and had enjoyed it, so after a visit to the Information Centre to find out the location of their cellar door sales we enjoyed a tasting, and left with a stock for the caravan. We were surprised at the number of Wineries in the Mudgee area and the considerable area the vineyards covered. We had planned to go to a couple of others but after consuming a variety of wines at the Robert Oakley Winery we were feeling quiet mellow and decided to return to Gulgong. I was offered a job there after I mentioned I had done cellar doors sales, Bazza was keen to leave me behind.

Today the weather was still overcast and cool with threatening rain clouds as we headed further north through Dunedoo, Gilgandra and the onto Coonabarabran. We stopped at Gilgandra for lunch and visited the Information Centre where they have a great museum and displays of the 1915 Coo-ee March from Gilgandra to Sydney. During World War 1, a recruitment march to Sydney began in Gilgandra. The march was known as the Coo-ee March, after the distinct call of "coo-ee" they shouted at each town along their journey to attract recruits. Twenty-six men left Gilgandra on 10 October 1915 and by the time they reached Sydney just over one month later on 12 November, the numbers had swelled to 263 recruits.