I departed Bankstown (Sydney) mid morning for lunch at Mudgee.
50 minutes away in the RV-6. Intended to drop in to the Blue Wren Winery on the other side of the road from the Mudgee airport, but they were closed for new years day. Luckily for us, Brad from Hangar House helped us out by loaning us his car so we could drive in to town to eat.
http://www.hangarhouse.com.au -- We'll definitely be back, looks like a great place to spend a few nights.
Returning to Sydney in the afternoon at 7500 with a nice tailwind, the clear weather we experienced on the way out had been overrun by smoke from the bushfires at Girribung Creek and MacDonald River. No visible horizon between Katoomba and Penrith. Clearly still VMC, but murky and grey, like flying under an upturned bowl. Lookout supplemented with flight following from Sydney Center.
Mudgee is a three and a half hour drive from Sydney, and you'd never do it as a day trip, so there's much eyerolling at the office when colleagues ask, "What'd you do on New Years Day?" and I tell them I went to Mudgee for lunch
- mark