Mar 16. Orange and a change of Plan

The Covid 19 situation caught up to us in Orange.  After a night of thinking about what we were going to do, we decided that we could not carry on so we spent most of the morning trying to get through to Aeroplan to change our flights from the 24th to something earlier.  Not surprisingly everyone else had the same idea and we could not get an answer.  Instead we used more points to book one way flights leaving Sydney Wednesday (Mar 18th).  That would give us time to get back to Sydney on prepare to go.

We also negotiated to cancel the stay at the Cobb and Co. Hotel in Mudgee and shorten our stay in the de Russie Boutique Hotel in Orange.   Both hotels were very understanding and ultimately accommodated our request.

The de Russie Boutique Hotel  is a fully renovated place very close to the Central Business District in Orange.  We were very comfortable them and would stay their again.

In the afternoon we drove out to the Borrodell Vineyard that had been recommended to us.  It has a restaurant and accommodation and is a lovely place. Unfortunately even thought it was open there was one around other than a tradesman who told us they did not serve lunch. It was a bit spooky with everything set out for tasting but no one around.  We walked around a took a few pictures of the beautiful views and then drove back to town.  We passed other wineries that were closed. 

We finished the left over Chinese food from the night before as our lunch and then talked up and down the main street of Orange to check out the stores. There is a significant downtown with lots of stores and restaurants. 

Orange has a population of about 40 thousand and has always served the surrounding agricultural community. A significance gold find in the 1850's brought some prosperity and there are some fine old building that have survived from this period.  Although there is lots of fruit grown in the area it too cold because of altitude to grow Oranges.

The friendly staff at the de Russie recommended a couple of restaurants for supper and called ahead to the Zona for us.  It was a three minute walk away and we were pleased with our meal.

We had a nice bottle of local Pinot that we also enjoyed. 

Once back at the hotel we finished packing and made had a early evening. News on the TV was all about the virus and reactions in Australia to it.  There were still only a few cases, schools were still open although major sporting events were being cancelled.