Visit to Burning Mountain.

 Peter had read a newspaper article about Burning Mountain, a tourist spot not far from the town we were house sitting in New South Wales. He had a hankering to go and see this place, where an underground coal seam had been burning for thousands of years.

We planned our day and allowed time to visit one or two little towns on the way. Our trip down the New England Highway was uneventful.  There was no hurry, we were out on one of our day trip excursions, looking around, stopping for the views if we wanted, taking a few photos, stopping for a coffee if we felt so inclined.

The sign for Burning Mountain came into view. There was a car park on the left so we pulled off the road and drove into the reserve.

‘There’s not much here,’ I commented.

‘No,’ said Peter, a bit perplexed. ‘I can’t see any smoke anywhere.’
‘Let’s check out this information board,’ I said, ‘there must be some information here.’
We looked at the information board with some surprise.

 There certainly was some information but what we read did not impress us. The burning mountain was a long way off, we had to walk for about an hour or more to get there, it looked like it was quite a hilly hike, and we were absolutely unprepared to do any long distance walking. I just had some casual sandals on, and we had no spare water or food to take on a hike. The picture below is the beginning of the walk.

We looked at each other and giggled. What a pair of dopes. So much for being prepared. So much for researching the area. Peters highly anticipated visit to the burning coal seam suddenly became a non-event.

Of course, with our updated knowledge we have done some more research, and there is a website for the Burning Mountain, which makes it clear that a long hike is involved. Here is a quote from their website:

“Allow up to 2 hours for your return journey, and this walk will reward you with spectacular views over the Upper Hunter Valley and the chance to explore the burning head of the underground coal seam.

Follow this interesting path through a variety of landscapes and see the influence of the burning underground coal seam on vegetation. Take time to peruse the information panels and discover the fascinating story of Burning Mountain.

There are various resting places along the walk and at the summit there's a raised boardwalk to protect you from the deep cracks and crevices. This walk has some uphill sections.”

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkCulture.aspx?id=N0503

 We did have a lovely day out, and saw some cute little towns, one being a little place called Wingen.  It was one of those little towns with a pub and not much else.

Being unsure how to pronounce the name of this little town, we thought it must be pronounced with a hard ‘g’as in ‘gate’. But no, when talking to some locals they pronounced the ‘g’ like a ‘j’, as in ‘jar’. Ah, whinging, as in complaining. Hence some of the funny names on the pub there. Most pubs sell beer, and of course a few bottles of wine. Note the sign here for wingen and wining. Someone there has a sense of humour.

The moral of the story? Do some research before you head off. Lol.