01-10-2025: Back to Mudgee

It was a beautiful morning for a walk to the cafe. I really like this routine, not only for the cappuccino, but for the exercise and watching the comings and goings along the main street of Rylstone. Louis is chatty with everyone and it’s nice to see him as a part of the community. Rylstone is such a lovely, historic town with many beautiful buildings.

There are lots of the trees pictured above all along the main street and down around the show grounds. I thought they were sycamore trees as they have a similar distinctive bark and the little round seed balls. But they are not sycamores. The are Liquidambar, also know as Sweetgum. Now it makes sense that they are a type of gum tree, as various types of gum trees are all over Australia that have this distinctive bark.

Banjo has a grooming appointment today and the groomer is pretty close to Mudgee, so after our morning walk to the cafe and a cappuccino, Lou and I set off to the groomers. Christine is holding the fort down doing her investing research.

It really is a lovely drive to Mudgee through the countryside. The area is known
for its wineries, stunning landscape, and historic villages, and is strongly supported by the mining, tourism, construction and agricultural industries. The central tablelands area starts on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, referenced as the Blue Mountains. Around Rylstone you can see volcanic peaks off in the distance. All around the craggy peaks you can see basalt lava flows and sandstone outcroppings. But for the most part, the landscape shows fertile agricultural areas where sheep and cattle graze.

After we dropped Banjo off at the groomers, Lou and I went into Mudgee. We stopped for a cup of coffee. I then wanted to go to a pharmacy and get some cold medicine and more cough syrup. With that accomplished, we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and then returned to the groomer to pick up Banjo.

Along the road to Mudgee I’ve noticed this very small chapel just off the road in a stand of trees. I’ve always been curious about it. I asked Lou if we could stop so I could take a look. We weren’t sure of the exact location, but when I saw a large manor house off the road in the distance, I felt sure that somehow the manor house and chapel might be connected, and sure enough, just past the manor house came the chapel. I got out of the car to take a look.

There was a sign near the road that named the location as Havilah. The name apparently comes from the Bible. A clergyman found some specks of gold in the nearby creek. In Genesis, Havilah was an area rich in gold, and so the area was named Havilah. The homestead and thousands of hectares were purchased in 1881 by Henry Charles White. When he died in 1905, his son Henry Hunter White, had the chapel built in memory of his father. In 1908, White donated the chapel to the Anglican Church. It’s a lovely little chapel and I would have loved to see the inside. The chapel is named the Havilah Memorial Church.

I did a little research because I was curious about the family. Come to find out, the sixth generation of Whites remains on the homestead, which is called Havilah North since division of the property. The main business for the Whites is cattle and they have raised prize-winning bulls for generations. Also for generations, the family has raised race horses. It’s fun to be able to do this research and know that the White family remains on the homestead.

Back at Lou’s we tackled more dismantling of the Christmas decorations. We spent hours taking ornaments and strings of light off all the bushes and trees. We packed up many displays from around the front of the house and Lou took down the big strings of light that he set up to look like big sails around his flag poles. Again, I say it’s a good thing Lou has that big shed because he needs the space to store all his, and the church’s, Christmas decorations.

We had a light dinner of quiche and salad and afterwards, I was again so tired I could barely keep myself sitting upright. So, I went to bed. Because I was feeling so lousy, I did take another COVID test just be be sure I didn’t have COVID. Nope, just a bad cold. The cold medicine is helping to dry me up a bit, so hopefully I’ll get a better night’s sleep tonight.

One thought on “01-10-2025: Back to Mudgee”

  1. Beautiful pictures. Waht a pretty town.
    So sorry to hear that you’re sick. It sucks to travel when you’re sick, but it sounds like you are soldiering through it

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