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#1
6th April 2008, 10:22 PM
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Trip Report Sydney - Orange - Sydney
For a change this trip report is by car and not aircraft, however I found time to check out Orange airport and the NSW Ambulance helicopter base, and Bathurst airport on the way home. The actual purpose was to visit my niece, who works at the Newcrest Gold Mine which was hosting an open day today (Sunday).
We departed Sydney at 0730 and headed out the M2 and M7 for Richmond which is now a very fast trip. From Richmond it was over the Bell road to Lithgow and Bathurst for morning tea. It is only another 30 minutes to Orange making it 3.5hrs driving time for the complete trip. The Bell road has seen little change in 30 years however the rest of the road is not to bad with reasonable overtaking lanes in the right places. We spent the afternoon driving around the local wineries and fruit farms, sampled a few whites (the reds are fairly average) and drove to the top of Mt Condobolis which provides an impressive view of the whole area. On the way back we stopped in at a Cider farm where they make the cider from true cider apples and the original English technique. They have been producing still ciders so far, but will be releasing a sparkling cider in the next month. The still cider was not bad, and with some tasty cheese selections would be quite interesting. Before dinner we walked around the local parks which was very pleasant. Sunday morning I took a quick trip out to Orane airport as I plan to fly there myself in the next month. I have flown out there twice already, but each time it was only for a touch and go and then back to Bankstown. This morning I had a change to look around the terminal, apron, taxiways etc so I would be more aware of the layout for my next visit. The REX Saab 340 was parked next to the terminal prepared for boarding, but I was interested to see another REX Saab 340 out of sight in the hanger area. This one was registered N388AE and I am not familiar with the story behind this aircraft (there may have been some information on the old board from memory). REX Sabb 340 VH-RXS  Cessna Syylane RG IIVH-SFS  Aerostar 601 VH-LEO  Terminal and main apron at Orange  Rex Saab 340 N388AE  At 1115 we joined a bus for the tour of the gold mine, about 20 minutes south of town. Like Bathurst, there is a fairly long history of gold mining in the area, and this mine has an open cut and underground operation. The first stop was at the heavy equipment display where there were around a dozen pieces of machinery, from the massive "Haul Trucks" with a capacity of 230tonnes, to more compact underground veicles. From here it was onto the open cut mine which is simply the biggest hole you will ever see. This open cut is so deep the massive Haul Trucks look like toys when they are being loaded at the bottom. The final stop was at the mill were they crush the ore with steel ballls inside a massive rotary tumbler. They go through 34 tonnes of steel ballls per day and extract about 2.6 grams of gold from each tonne of ore from the underground mine and about 1 gram from the open cut. Caterpillar 793C Haul Truck  Caterpillar 793C Haul Truck  The Cadia open cut mine  The mill crushing the ore  The conveyor belt feeding the mill  On the way home we stopped at the Orange NSW Ambulance helicopter base where Bell 412 VH-BZH was parked. It was there on Saturday morning when we arrived, but departed during the afternoon. At Bathurst we stopped in at the airport and found a Carribou and Army personnel involved in some sort of operation. The Carribou had just shut down, but the troops had vehicles, tents and camoufalged facilities erected within the airport grounds. There were a few other interesting aircraft around and I managed to capture a few even though the sun was not the best direction wise. From Baturst the weather deteriorated slightly with some showers around Bell and back down onto the plains at Richmond. A quick trip but I managed to cover everything from wineries to gold mines and aircraft.
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Joined 1999 @www16Right FlightDiary Airliners Web QR Retired PPL C150/172 PA28-161/181 Pitts S-2B SIM: 12Hr QF B767 B744 CX B742 Nikon D100-D200-D300-D500 Last edited by Grahame Hutchison; 6th April 2008 at 10:49 PM. 
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#2
6th April 2008, 10:27 PM
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A few more photographs....
Bell 412 VH-BZH  VH-DRA  A4-228  DHA-3 Mk II VH-ADN  Cassutt Sport Racer V-ITI  Mig (by 2)  REX Sab 340 VH-ZLH  Army Operation  Army Operation  Army Operation 
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Joined 1999 @www16Right FlightDiary Airliners Web QR Retired PPL C150/172 PA28-161/181 Pitts S-2B SIM: 12Hr QF B767 B744 CX B742 Nikon D100-D200-D300-D500 Last edited by Grahame Hutchison; 6th April 2008 at 10:50 PM.
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