The Forgotten Lands: Castlereagh and Londonderry

Here are two more suburbs in the no-mans land between Penrith and Richmond. 

Castlereagh 

Castlereagh is a suburb immediately north of Penrith. More importantly, it is also immediately south of my previous suburb Agnes Banks. 

Driving into Castlereagh is actually pretty scenic, with wide open fields, 

the Blue Mountains (and some liquids) tantalisingly close, 

and general agriculture seeming to be the main industry. 

To get some choice shots of the place, I pulled into a side road for some snaps of this picturesque suburb. 

Obligatory horse shots. 

I hopped back into the car and continued to the main (only) public Castlereagh point of interest,

the Penrith Lakes area.

The Penrith Lakes seem awesome, with perfect scenery, and spots for a run, kayak and even jetpack. It's one of Penrith's recreational hubs.

Sadly, all of the roads into the lakes were closed due to flood damage.  

Nuts.

With that incredibly disappointing outcome, all I can do is share a panorama from Google Street view,

and continue to the next suburb.

Castlereagh: Very pretty, at least in the bit that was open.

Londonderry

Just northeast of Castlereagh is Londonderry. While Castlereagh's semi-rural lands are wide, open and agricultural, Londonderry's are filled with more traditional Australian bush. 

The suburb, however, does actually have a small town centre, so I headed there. 

Londonderry CBD isn't the most exciting place in the world, but it has its charm.

Highlights include this block of shops:

this second, unrelated block of shops,

nestled in amongst fairly standard suburban homes,

both old and new.

Also of interest was the local oval next door. Not because of the oval,

but because of this neat cockatoo... silo?

I continued on to one final point of interest (or so I thought). 

This was right at the edge of the bounds of Londonderry.

Richmond Race Club. A greyhound racing track which isn't much to look at from the outside. 

So much so that the bottle collection machine in the carpark was more exciting, 

with special mention going to this garbage truck which once belonged to the Inner West, and hasn't been repainted too well. 

That's all for Londonderry. I hopped back into the car and called it a day.

Londonderry: Saved by the cockatoos.