Day 23 – 9,790 KM. Town 40. The trip from Megalong was a pleasant hike around the Blue Mountains up and down hills along foggy roads and I soon arrive at my next destination Kurrajong, and the Kurrajong Radio Museum.
Yes, we have fog in Australia too.
The Kurrajong Radio Museum apparently displays many aspects of radio history and is run by Ian O’Toole – call sign VK2ZIO. Sadly, despite it being 10.20 and open signs clearly displayed, I rang the bell and waited…and waited… for someone to let me in to the establishment. Unfortunately it did not happen.
Kurrajong
Instead, I drive a bit further down the hill and take my customary photo alongside the “Kurrajong” road sign and take in the sound of bell birds and goats! I then turn off the “Bells Line of Road” into the village of Kurrajong which is pleasant enough with its houses surrounded by greenery in well spaced plots and a small, but comprehensive, shopping centre.
The Bells Line of Road is worthy of a comment. The early Australian settlers struggled to find a route across the Blue Mountains but William Lawson together with Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth made a successful crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813, which is now the major road to the west – the Great Western Highway.
However another early explorer, Archibald Bell discovered an alternative route by following Aboriginal women escaping from the Springwood tribe which had kidnapped them in 1823. The road was little more than a track used as a stock route but by 1841 convict labour had built the road through Kurrajong. The present road, with easier grades, was opened in 1901 and further improved during WWII. It is this which is known as the rather lengthily named “Bells Line of Road”.
And this draws to a conclusion another sector of my trip, and with the trip back to Terrigal a total of 9,910KM travelled.
Until next time – over and out.
Kurrajong Shopping Village
