Nadine Travels West

17/05/2026

Chapter 2026: Welcome to the Next Chapter – First Novel Era

To anyone new here and to those who have been following along for a while, welcome back to Nadine Travels West. I wanted to share a little recap of what I’ve achieved since starting Nadine Travels West on 9 October 2021 along with what I have planned moving forward.

This has always been about more than just one thing for me. It is my creative outlet. When I started Nadine Travels West in 2021 with a simple love for travel, history and old buildings, I wanted a space to share my photography and the places I discovered and found interesting. Over time it has slowly grown into something that reflects my life as it changes and evolves.

Since starting Nadine Travels West in October 2021:
• Began with 0 followers and simply a space to share travel, history and old places
• Grew to over 700+ followers on Instagram
• Built a Facebook community
• Expanded into YouTube with Project Nade, reaching over 400+ subscribers
• Most viewed YouTube video: Road Trip – Peak Hill Holden – Untouched EH with 11K+ views

This space is where I share stories from road trips in Aussie classic cars, forgotten places, rural and remote Australia, history and moments captured along the way. It has never been perfectly structured, just honestly lived and shared.
Anyone who has searched how to grow a following online will know the advice about structure, schedule, sticking to one niche and not overcomplicating things. I always felt what I shared was a little scattered, planning trips on days off without a fixed structure for uploading content.

I really want to get back into sharing what I love and reconnect with the community I’ve built online. In October 2021 I started the page with no followers, shared it to my personal account and slowly family and friends began following along. I then created a website to write blog posts for each location I visited. After that I created an Instagram account and that is where things really took off. In doing so I may have neglected the page and website simply because I did not yet know how to manage it all together.

So in this next chapter I want to try new things and bring everything back together and better connected.

This is also a space that now connects across platforms. So what you can expect to see:
• History and Old Buildings
• Travel and Australian Road Trips
• Classic Cars including finding old Holden dealerships and Australian motoring history
• Novel in the making, sharing the process of writing a novel as a novice and the story and places that inspire it

You can also find me here:
Instagram .travels.west
YouTube Project Nade
There is also a website for Nadine Travels West currently being rebuilt in the background which will return later this year when it is ready.

This is not a restart. It is a continuation.
Thank you for being here whether you have just found this page or have been here since the beginning. I am looking forward to sharing the next chapter.

Nadine

29/04/2026

14/03/2026

HEADS UP: Hartley District Progress Association advise.

Due to successful negotiations with Transport NSW by the HDPA committee, new signage has been erected at the traffic lights intersection in Lithgow.

Further announcement from Transport NSW dated 13/3/26.....
The NSW Government has announced extra rail, coach and bus services to support Blue Mountains and Central West communities, with specialist engineers advising the closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass will remain in place for at least three months.

Transport for NSW needs at least two weeks of specialist geotechnical testing and 3D imaging carried out with no passing traffic to understand the full extent of the damage. Any remediation required to make the road safe for vehicles would take at least a further two months. Our aim is to reopen the Great Western Highway at Mitchells Causeway as soon as we can, but we cannot compromise on road safety.

Traffic control
Transport is currently reviewing all opportunities to improve traffic flow and directional signage in the Lithgow area, in conjunction with Lithgow City Council. We are reviewing the directional signage and traffic control to ensure that not only locals, but visitors also can access the Hartley region and the western section of Mount Victoria.

"Road closed" signs will be replaced with "road closed ahead", and the detour signs at the intersection of Main Street and the Great Western Highway will be updated to advertise that businesses ahead on the highway
are open.

Keeping Darling Causeway open
Transport is monitoring the detour via Darling Causeway and Chifley Road, with resources on standby to ensure incidents like breakdowns are cleared quickly so traffic can flow smoothly. Patching work that was underway on Chifley Road near Dargan has been temporarily finalised to allow traffic full access to the detour route.

Maintenance crews are actively monitoring and patching both Darling Causeway and Chifley Road to ensure that both roads are able to cater to the increased traffic.

Hartley Vale Road
Hartley Vale Road is a local road managed by Lithgow City Council and Blue Mountains City Council.

When residents reported an increased number of vehicles were using their road to avoid heavy traffic on Chifley Road, Transport met with both councils to discuss options. Transport supported the councils’ decision to close the section of Hartley Vale Road to all motorists except residents and emergency services.

Stay safe on the roads
We realise that the closure is frustrating for everyone and is significantly impacting travel times around the region.
For the safety of all road users and our crews, we ask you to please obey the directions of traffic signage and controllers, and to drive safely and to the conditions. Our number one priority is for you to arrive at your destination safely. Road safety is a shared responsibility. You can help make our roads safer by making safe decisions on the road and sharing the road with other road users.

You can view the incident details at https://www.livetraffic.com/incidentdetails/267022. If you are using the LiveTraffic app on a smart device, you can select the incident and click 'follow' to receive a notification every time
the incident is updated with new information. If you would like to receive additional SMS notifications with updates, please email us at [email protected]. In the meantime, thank you for your patience as we complete these critical road repairs, and have a safe weekend.

Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding these works or other projects in the Blue Mountains, please call 1800 953 777, and select option 4, or email us at [email protected]. Transport for NSW P 1800 953 777

Great Hartley businesses include: (Open hours may change)

The Lolly Bug - Little Hartley
Open: Generally: 7 days: 10am -5pm

The Postmistress Cafe and Store
Open: Thur: 10am - 2pm, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10am - 3pm

Hartley Fresh & Cafe
Open 7 days: Mon - Fri: 6am - 3pm, Sat, Sun: 10am - 3pm

Alchemy Woodfired Pizza
Open: Thur - Sat: 4pm - 8pm Sun: 12n - 8pm

Kew Y Ahn Gallery
Open: Tues - Sun: 10am - 4pm

Talisman Gallery- Hartley
Open: Thur - Sun: 10am - 4:30pm

Gold Rush Antiques Hartley
Open: Wed: 10am - 5pm, Thur - Sun: 10am - 4:30pm

Erins Quality Outdoor Power Centre
Open: 7 days: 9am - 5pm

Hartley Valley Holiday Farm

Collits Inn

REMINDER: The 2nd weekend of the Hartley Valley Garden Festival is also on.

01/03/2026

One of my favourite parts of Australian history has always been the stories of Cobb & Co and the vital role they played in connecting remote towns across the country. Before railways carved their way through the west, these coaches were lifelines, transporting goods, mail and passengers through Bogan Shire and beyond.

Canonba became an important staging area for Cobb & Co coaches travelling through to Bourke and further north. Located along Colane Road, about 32 kilometres north of Nyngan, it was once a busy stopover point. But when the railway reached Nyngan in 1883, everything changed. As the trains took over, Canonba slowly declined and eventually ceased to exist.
Standing beside this restored coach in Nyngan, painted with the route Nyngan to Canonba, it’s impossible not to imagine what those journeys were like. The dust and heat, the possibility of bushranger hold ups, and families waiting anxiously for letters from loved ones away at war, hoping the coach carried precious news from distant places.

Today, a replica coach made by Don Burns stands proudly in the Nyngan Coach House next to a wool wagon, preserving this rich piece of local history. Now on display for the public at a local rest stop park, it remains a quiet reminder of a time when horsepower truly connected communities. Oh, the stories it could tell.

20/02/2026

I’m looking to create a coffee table book from my recent UK trip photos. Where’s the best place to do this? Any website or business suggestions?

07/02/2026

📍 West Brompton, London

On my last visit to the UK, West Brompton became my home base. Not just where I stayed, but where each day began and ended. I’ve always been drawn to Victorian London, and this area felt like stepping straight into that era. Rows of solid brick buildings, built when the railways were reshaping the city, carrying people in and out as London expanded. The Tube really was my oyster. With an Oyster card in my pocket, the city opened up in every direction, stations linking neighbourhoods like chapters in a book, and it felt like travelling London the same way generations before me had.

And then there was the wall on our street. A faded ghost sign for Brymay Safety Matches, barely clinging on, but impossible for me to ignore. An early 20th-century reminder of Bryant & May, once the world’s largest matchstick maker, and a quiet nod to the Match Girls’ Strike of 1888 that changed working conditions forever. The company is long gone, but the sign remains, weathered into the brick like it belongs there. That mix of railways, Victorian buildings and forgotten details is what made West Brompton feel like home to me.

Photograph by Nadine Travels West

06/02/2026

Join us for our first Talking History event at the Greens on William!💚

Hear Geoff Fry talk about Bathurst's Motoring Heritage, since 1900. The talk will explore the early race tracks that predate Mount Panorama, including the six officially sanctioned State and National Championship circuits.

Thursday 19 February 2026 at 7:30PM
Greens on William
29 William St, Bathurst

Our monthly Talking History events at the Greens on William will replace our monthly musters held at the Uniting Church Activities Hall.

$2 entry, all welcome, tea and coffee included and light supper after the talk. The bar will be open at the Greens on William and drinks available to purchase.

04/02/2026

📍 Bathurst Dairy Farmers Building

There’s something about old red brick that always stops me in my tracks.
This old Dairy Farmers building in Bathurst sits on a site layered with stories. Long before Dairy Farmers occupied the larger precinct from the 1960s, this ground was home to Bathurst’s first hospital, Walker’s Brewery and the original Bathurst Baths.
For many locals, this place will always be known as “the Dairy Farmers site”, even now as it sits quiet and seemingly unused. I love that these buildings still stand, solid and patient, holding decades of change within their bricks.
It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for this site, but for now, I’m just grateful it’s still here, red brick and all, telling its story to anyone who stops long enough to look.

Photography taken by Nadine Travels West.

28/01/2026

16/12/2025

I’m really excited to be starting the Billy Blue College of Design short course in Introduction to Interior Design and Decoration. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but kept hesitating. After seeing a post from Sibella Court, one of the course ambassadors, sharing a free six-module introduction, I decided it was the perfect chance to give it a go over a few days off during the Christmas break.

I’ve followed Sibella for many years and have always admired her as a brilliant designer. Her love and passion for history and travel, and the way she weaves those influences into her work, truly resonate with me. It feels like the perfect time to learn something new and lean into creativity.
Let the learning and creativity begin 🎨👩‍🎨