Right near the kangaroos actually is a famous Australian race track... Mount Panorama.. which holds the famous race each October called the Bathurst 1000 this race means all of the Central West (where we are living currently) is flooded with people for a weekend and Australia shuts down because on Sunday everyone is watching the races. Sara told us there was a couple times she went out when she lived in Blayney (population 3000) there was like no one out.. it was literally like a ghost town... well now's our time to take a little part in something very famously Australian... :-)
Here I am in front of the Mount Panorama gate... you can see in the background the sign on the side of the mountain (which is the close up in the picture above)...
Here's the starting gate... although we started from the other side so there are no pictures of us there sadly...
...and here's some pictures of us going around the track...
...at the top of the mountain Sara took a very quick photo to show the view from the top of the mountain (which is right above that white sign that says Mount Panorama)...
After we took a ride on the track we got out of the car and visited a now famous statue of Peter Brock who won the panorama races a record 9 wins before he died in a car crash in 2006, very soon after Steve Irwin died actually! Here we are in front of his statue...
...here's a better photo of it...
...we also learned a bit more about the race track. They have some huge signs along the side of the gate (which I'm standing in front of in one of the first pictures)... Sara couldn't get a good photo so she'll just write out what it says:
Shortly you will be on Mount Panorama. A 60kph scenic drive offering spectacular views of Bathurst and surrounding country side. The last true public road racing circuit left in Australia. Twice each year it is of special significance to the motor car and bike racing enthusiasts rising almost 200 metres and falling through a succession of bends, it has heart-in-mouth appeal to drivers and spectators alike.
With motor racing in Bathurst as early as 1911, the Vale Circuit for motor cycles was opened in 1931 and when abandoned, a scenic road albeit a race circuit, was constructed to the Bald Hills, now Mount Panorama.
The home of the toughest and most famous car race in the Southern Hemisphere, the Toohey's 1000, it is a unique test of man and machine with every driver striving to do the perfect lap.
This has changed somewhat from the first Australian long distance classic, the 500 miler at Phillip Island in the early sixties, shifting Bathurst in 1963. The Bathurst City Council, Australian Racing Drivers Club, ATN Chanel 7 and sponsors alike have been involved in this phenomenon of excitement, spectacle and human drama, Australia's greatest motor race the Toohey's 1000.
Since 1938 the Easter Australian Grand Prix for motor cycles has been held here. To every Australian motor cycle enthusiast Bathurst has the most magic of all, even though in 1989 the Grand Prix went to Phillip Island and in 1991 to Eastern Creek.
It's amazing how much I learned today about Bathurst and the most famous part of Bathurst... this last weekend we actually watched a race at Mount Panorama, it was some kind of 12-hour race... how crazy is that... can you picture going around that thing for 12 hours. I think I'd go crazy! Well I'll update again soon! Miss you mom! <3
