tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30281410101007401492024-03-15T01:47:05.223+11:00ACT and NSW campingThis blog is about camping. One aim is to build up a list of campsites in the NSW and ACT region. Generaly campsites will be within an easy day's drive of Canberra. Most will be low cost or free. Aussie bush camping can be great fun - and spectacular. Please use the pages to find GPS Waypoints, useful links and a slideshow of my pictures.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-66129686158515571612015-08-17T16:41:00.001+10:002015-08-17T16:41:30.015+10:00Bethungra Dam - Free and Pet friendlyThis one is a bit of an oddity. Not far from the township of Junee, down a couple of kilometers of good quality dirt road is a nice little dam where you can free camp with pets.<br />
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We visited during summer and there were a few people around but there was plenty of room to accommodate us all...<br />
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The dam itself was built in 1895 to service the township of Junee and was used as a water supply until 1906.<br />
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After being closed as a water supply it has mainly been used as a recreational spot<br />
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If you are in a camper trailer or caravan there is plenty of room, but that said you might need leveling blocks depending on the water level. Away from the water edge level spots are hard to find.<br />
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It's a pretty small dam - about 14 hectares - but that said there is enough room to paddle a kayak or canoe it is worthwhile having a fish there - redfin and yellowbelly fish well from the dam.<br />
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Facilities are limited to a drop loo and a couple of BBQ areas and tables with shelters.<br />
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There are a few things to do nearby such as visiting Bethungra and a visit to the licorice factory at Junee is interesting.<br />
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Its worth a bit of a drive to find a level spot to set up the camper trailer.</div>
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The view from the annex out over Bethungra Dam</div>
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Bovine visitors</div>
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As the sun begins to set,,,</div>
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-33684097592052720102015-04-06T09:50:00.000+10:002015-04-06T09:50:21.788+10:00Dubbo region - Ponto Falls and Goulburn River NPWhen a baby Hippo was born at Dubbo Zoo we decided to head out for a look. As we were travelling with friends who were not campers we hotel-ed it in Dubbo town. After a couple of days wandering the Zoo our friends headed back home and we decided to have a couple of nights on the way back in the tent.<br />
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Our first night was at a place called Ponto Falls. Not far from the town of Wellington, the road in is sealed except for the last couple of k's - but that is good quality dirt. Once we got there we noticed that a fair number of people had camped there in 2WD sedans... It is pet friendly and free, with a loo but no showers, water or firewood is provided.<br />
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We set up, had a bit of a fish, did a camp oven dinner and really enjoyed the place.<br />
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The next morning we set off for Goulburn River NP.<br />
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Not a long drive really, and the road in says 4WD. In the dry it is a pretty good track. In the wet it would be diabolical.<br />
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We set ourselves up at the Spring Gully Campground.<br />
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As the loo's were a bit of a walk we decided to set up the portaloo for the overnighter!<br />
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Walking down to river from the campsite was a great way to spend the afternoon. There are some good swimming holes near by and you can launch a kayak upstream...<br />
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Bit of a tease with the view - worth the trip in I'd say...<br />
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Next morning we needed to get moving toward home. Breakfast was called for to sustain us for the drive out so we put the BBQ/fire ring to good use!<br />
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-89011544862457991892015-04-06T09:19:00.000+10:002015-04-06T09:19:10.370+10:00A quick trip to the NSW South Coast - Termeil Point CampgroundIt has been a while since I put anything up on the blog so I have decided to make a bit of an effort to get some of our (and my solo) trips up on here. In the last while we have been to some great local and even distance touring locations.<br />
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I decided that I hadn't been fishing for a while so packed up the 4WD and set off for the South Coast.<br />
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A nice little National Park let me do a spot of fishing and gave me the opportunity to take some nice pics...<br />
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So with the swag set up under the roll out awning I went off for an unsuccessful attempt at fishing. (Luckily I had dinner with me in the fridge.<br />
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As the sun went down I gave up on the fishing and grabbed the camera.<br />
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The sunset over the lake adjacent to the beach was awesome.<br />
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A steady hand and the flash lead to this shot of a wattle coming into flower.<br />
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And this shot of the waves rolling in just after sunset.<br />
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This was one of those little trips to a secluded and little known place that was pretty awesome. It wasn't packed with 4WD action but there were few other campers, the toilet was clean and tidy. That said it is not pet friendly, there was no water, showers or firewood. I was however a relaxing weekend. NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-53637023608760644612014-07-19T08:35:00.000+10:002014-07-19T08:35:03.193+10:00Meanwhile - over at Kevin Gaddes ImagesBeen a while since I posted on here.<br />
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Given that this blog started out being about camping and turned in to being a bit of everything I have decided to establish a second blog - <a href="http://kevingaddesimages.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kevin Gaddes Images</a> to put up the best of the photos. To support the new blog I have established a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kevingaddesimages" target="_blank">facebook</a> page for the photo blog as well.<br />
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I'll start getting some new material on here shortly, following a couple of great camping trips and a bit of a tour through NSW recently.<br />
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But do have a look at the other blog and the facebook page for original high quality landscapes, flora and fauna images.<br />
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The are both a bit sparse at the moment but the plan is to post one high quality image per week to both.<br />
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Hope to see you on either the facebook page or the Images blog soon. Remember with the facebook page, if you like it you will get updated images as they are posted.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06144405562346418544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-75287270471588028032013-06-02T09:12:00.000+10:002013-06-02T09:18:02.152+10:00Day 8 - Farina to Cameron Corner via Strzelecki TrackWaking up at the Farina Station campground was an experience. It was cold - about -4C overnight. the priority was getting the campfire going again and getting warm, getting a hot drink and taking some pics.<br />
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Once we had all warmed up, had breakfast and packed up it was a quick transit to Lyndhurst to refuel and then take on the mighty Strzelecki Track.<br />
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To be honest I thought that Strzelecki Track would be a rough and tumble 4WD adventure/challenge. In reality, it had been recently graded and it was more of a high speed dirt road than the track that I had imagined.<br />
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But it was open and with the vehicles full of fuel we we pretty excited to be on another of Australia's iconic 4WD tracks.<br />
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I guess it is worth a mention that the route of the track is attributed to a chap called Harry Readford. Harry was a cattle thief. Wroking on a remote part of a remote cattle station in Queensland Harry, without the station owners knowing, built a set of cattle yards and over a period of time assembled a mob of about 1000 head of cattle. Realising that trying to sell the cattle in Queensland would be a bit of a problem (everyone would recognise the brand) Harry decided to drove them to South Australia, but needed to cross through the Channel Country and then the Strzelecki Desert.<br />
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Which he did - he traded some of the cattle for rations and sold the rest at a station east of Marree.<br />
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A couple of years later the las caught up with Harry - arrested in Sydney and sent to Roma, Queensland for trial. He was acquitted - the jury was impressed with him opening up the route. Another great Aussie story of the outback.<br />
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Anyway we set off for what was to be an enjoyable and straight forward drive. We passed the 'top' of the Flinders Ranges and Mount Hopeless. This mountain was 'overnamed' by Eyre - it is 124m above sea level at its peak! Burke tried to get to it when he, Wills and King were stranded at Innamincka.<br />
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These days most of this things are of historical interest. The track isn't used for droving anymore - but it is used to transport goods and chattels to the oil and gas fiels in the region.<br />
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After a hand full of dry creek crossings we arrived at the turn off to Montecollina Bore where we decided to stop for lunch. There are some picnic tables and shelters here and the Bore itself is an interesting find in what is now desert country. What is cool is walking up onto the dunes and looking down at the location.<br />
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Afteer having lunch and watching the bird life we decided to head across to Cameron Corner rather than pushing on to Innamincka. We would work out whether to go to Innamincka or Tibooburra once we had arrived at Cameron Corner.<br />
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We headed off and found the 'shortcut' track to Cameron Corner - thanks to the navigator.<br />
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I really enjoyed that part of the drive. Firstly it is through desert country - up and over dunes. The track itself is well formed so it is a nice easy drive.<br />
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On the track across one of the more unusual sights is the Yellow Bus Campsite (at least that is how it is marked on the map.)<br />
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There are a handful of stories about the bus - it seems to have been used as a shelter for stockmen at some point and a campground in the past. I'm told the land owner chaged his/her mind about camping and now there are signs there saying no camping or fires...<br />
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A short while later we pulled in to Cameron Corner store. We decided to camp and have a shower here and then head across to Tibooburra the next day.<br />
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I have written about Cameron Corner, the store and it's history elsewhere so I won't do that again. I will say that it is a great place to camp with a bar, some food and hot showers. The guys charge a bit extra per person having a shower, but the cash is donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.<br />
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Overall a great day on the road with some interesting locations and history. Sitting in the red dirt camp ground was awsome. The decision to head across into New South Wales, maybe not what I would have done if I was travelling on my own but it turned out to be a good call.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-90906869988925344812013-05-18T10:46:00.000+10:002013-06-02T09:15:34.783+10:00Day 7 - Oodnadatta to FarinaOvernight we all decided that we would take on the Strzelecki Track, having seen the sign at Lyndhurst indicating that the track was open.<br />
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Before we hit the new track we had to get ourselves back down the Oodnadatta Track to Lyndhurst.<br />
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So after a fairly quick pack up - including the freshly washed clothes and people, we fuelled up and started to make our way back down the Oodnadatta Track. There were a few things that I wanted to see on the way back down. Given the 'speed' we travelled up the track it's no surprise that there were things that we didn't stop to look at. That said, even though we had a couple of stops on the way back down there is still plenty of things to see.<br />
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Our first planned stop was the Algebuckina Bridge. It's a history lesson, a tale of woe for a chap named Fred and even a free campsite.<br />
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Built as a railway bridge crossing the Neals River and the floodplain, it was opened in 1892. Apparently about 350 men were involved in the construction. It's the longest bridge in South Australia, and these days there isn't a train in sight on the Old Ghan Line to use it.<br />
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But I simply love the story of Fred... Near the bridge there is a wrecked car, which apparently belonged to Fred. The legend goes that during the floods of 1974 Fred decided to cross the bridge, so he used railway sleepers to fill the gaps. He apparently inched his way forward, moving sleepers from the back of the car to the front of the car, then driving a bit further forward... You get the idea.<br />
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All was going well until a train (or a works train) appeared and hit the car. Fred survived but his car didn't.<br />
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Leaving here our next stop was William Creek for lunch and a check over the vehicles. We decided to stop off at the mound springs near Coward Spings. It is a relatively easy frive back down to there so we cracked on...<br />
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The mound springs are located within the Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs National Park. They are, to a point, the reason that the Oodnadatta Track and the Old Ghan line exist. The provided a permanant water supply for the steam trains running along the Old Ghan and water for the settlers. They also served the traditional owners well, providing a watered trading route for them to use.<br />
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And the stop off there was pretty interesting. While Blance Cup was not accessible, The Bubbler was and we walked up and watched the water bubble up into the bowl. In the middle of a what looks to be deseert country this is pretty cool.<br />
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An awsosme part of the trip.<br />
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From here it was a fairly easy run back to Farina Station where we took advantage of their fantastic campsite. Large grassy sites and plenty of room to spread out. The campgrounds have hot showers - just light the donkey boiler. There is a little hill nearby and the walk up to it is worthwhile as at the top there is a war memorial.<br />
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-70594513059126759822013-04-28T08:29:00.000+10:002013-04-28T08:29:55.814+10:00Day 6 - William Ck to OodnadattaIt was an hectic start for the guys taking the scenic flight over Lake Eyre and less so for me. I'm not a good flyer, so I decided to have a look over the 4WD, pack up the campsite and be ready for the departure when the guys got their feet back on the ground.<br />
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Whenn they got back we said our goodbyes to the folks we had met the night before, fuelled up and set our sights on Oodnadatta.<br />
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Ready to head off from the William Ck Hotel, William Creek.<br />
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We really enjoyed the night here. Lots of character in the pub itself, watching the State of Origin Rugby Leauge game was great fun, and our fellow travellers there that night we all chilled, full of great stories about their travels.<br />
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We were still considering whether we should go from Oodnadatta to Coober Pedy or whether we should head back down the Oodnadatta Track to Lyndhurst and then up the Strezlecki Track as we left that morning.<br />
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The debate was put on hold when we spotted what looked like smoke in the distance and we were discussing what it could be. Given the shape of the smoke we doubted a grass fire and we had heard nothing on the CB or at William Creek about a fire so we continued. As we got closer we thought that it more looked like steam than smoke and I said if it was a car that had overheated we should offer them some of the water we had onboard, and see if we could help out.<br />
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When we got further up the Track we saw where the smoke was coming from. A fire had destroyed a camper trailer and a 4WD. Folks from the station were on site with a water tanker putting the last of the fire out. The camper trailer was completely destroyed and the 4WD wasn't looking to good. We stopped and offered what we could.<br />
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After stopping for a short while we decided that there wasn't anything that we could do to help these guys so we left. Fortunately they were travelling in convoy so things were, as far as was possible, under control.<br />
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Further along we stopped for lunch.<br />
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the great thing about outback travel is that you can stop in a fair number of stunning places and have a cuppa, lunch or just a look around.<br />
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An awsome lunch stop...<br />
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A bit more driving and a stop to gather firewood saw us arrive in Oodnadatta later that afternoon. It didn't take us long to set up camp, get a fire going and settle in for the night.<br />
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The obligatory pic of the Pink Roadhouse. The Roadhouse staff are a wealth of local knowledge and it is worth stopping in for a chat. You can make phone calls from the Roadhouse payphone and it stocks a variety of stock up items.<br />
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And souveniers.<br />
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They have a campground out the back with toilets, showers, fire pits, a camp kitchen and a laundry. It was a great 'mid-point' stop.<br />
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It doesn't take long to walk through the Oodnadatta township, but it is worthwhile with a museum and a few other bits and pieces.<br />
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Sitting around the campfire with fellow travellers that night we decided that we would head back to Lyndhurst and head up the Strezlecki Track. We were planning for a day trip down to Farina Station Campground and then a relatively early departure for the new track. With that we hit the sack thinking about the big 'turn around.'NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-84207078917514996092013-03-11T08:58:00.000+11:002013-03-11T08:58:04.820+11:00Outback Trip - Day 5 - Muloorina Station to William Creek - Part 2Having taken a few pics of Lake Eyre from the viewing point we were ready to hit the track again.<br />
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It doesn't take long from the viewing point to arrive at Coward Springs...<br />
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It was lunch time so it seemed a natural place for us to stop.<br />
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History - it's here in spades. in terms of the Old Ghan Line the place was once called Coward Springs Siding, and the line reached here in 1888, and it was once the westernmost point on the line. Apparently there was more than the buildings that are there now. That said the Engine Drivers Cabin has been restored using traditional methods and it serves as a museum. Definitely worth a look. The Stationmasters House has also been restored and is the residence of the owners of the site.<br />
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About a year or so before the line reached Coward Springs a bore was sunk to support the trains travelling on the line. The flow wasn't controlled and eventually the pipework rusted out, creating a wetland of abot 70 hectares and a pool that was used by the locals. In 1993 the bore was rehabilitated and the flow controlled. The wetland remains, the pool is gone but there is an outback spa!<br />
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So after a quick dip and some lunch we had a wander through the site.</div>
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The wetlands behind the spa and pretty interesting.<br />
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It is $2 per person for a day use visit and $10 per person per night to camp here. The facilities are fantastic. Definitely worth a stop if you have time.<br />
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And it's worth having a read about Thomas Coward - who the springs are named for as well. The short version is that he migrated to Australia from England and settled in Adelaide, joined the goldrush and escorted gold between Bendigo and Adelaide, became a policeman, and with Peter Wauberton he discovered the springs, he accompanied MacDonnell on his exploration of Central Australia, was fired from SA police for gross ill treaement of a horse. He was sent to Queensland as a detectivve to hunt Frank Gardiner. The reason I mention this is that Frank was caught in my hometown (Yass) trying to sell stolen horses.<br />
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If you haven't heard of Gardiner his story is worth a read - his story is probably one of the most unusual in terms of Australian bushrangers!<br />
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From Coward Springs it is another hundred or so kilometers to William Creek. Arriving mid afternoon we decided to camp for the night, and a couple of folks from the party booked flights over Lake Eyre.<br />
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A quick set up was called for, in the shade of the trees in the William Creek Hotel campground. This place is a true outback experience.<br />
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Depending on where you do the research, there are either 3 or 6 permanant residents of William Creek. In tourist season there are a whole lot more, particulalry when there is a bit of water in Lake Eyre. Pilots come to town and run flights over the Lake, Anna Creek Station and the Painted Desert.<br />
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Across the road from the pub is a small park with relics from the nearby Woomera Prohibited Area, once a nuclear and rocket test facility.<br />
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With the sun setting we popped in to the pub for a meal - which was fantastic, watched some football on the pub's TV, sat around the campfire chatting with other campers, and decided life was pretty good.<br />
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A William Creek Hotel sunset...<br />
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Our campfire - probably one of the best campfire pics I have taken!<br />
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Next time - William Creek to Oodnadatta <br />
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-19898052037797966202013-03-09T10:01:00.002+11:002013-03-09T10:01:50.462+11:00Outback Trip - Day 5 - Muloorina Station - William Creek - Part 1An early start at Muloorina Station was the order of Day 5, so we could get packed up and head back to the Oodnadatta Track and then toward William Creek.<br />
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Having stayed at (or at least near) the place Donald Campbell and his crew camped when we set the land speed record in 1964 I was thinking - another part of history, if a bit quirky, on the trip.<br />
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The idea was to take in some of the sights on the way up - it's about 50km or so from the campsite then a little over 200km on the Oddnadatta Track.<br />
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Whats the track like? At the time nice - graded, flat, straight, relatively high speed dirt. Natuarally made a bit more comfortable as we hadn't aired the tyre up having aired down a little the afternoon before.<br />
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And there are bits and pieces of interest along the way. Early on there are relices from the Old Ghan Line that are easily accessible from the track and are definitely worth a look.<br />
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There are station buildings which give a bit of an insight into what life must have been like for the pioneers who lived in the area.<br />
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Inside of the ruins there is often graffiti that gives an insight into who has travelled through the area, armed with either a texta or a pen. Some interesting reading on the walls, and I'll admit I found it a bit confronting - someone has graffitied a historic building. Driving away I realised that they are adding to the history of the building not detracting from it!<br />
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And interestingly those who have visited and added their comments to the walls have seen fit to leave other bits and pieces behind - the collection of objects on the concrete is evidence that travellers have actually not stolen everything in sight for their collections...<br />
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Leaving this ruin we then travelled a little further down the track and pulled up at Mutonia Sculpture Park. Not sure that the words 'famous planehenge' make sense but it is a cool sight as you drive along. The scupltures in the park are the work of mechanic turned artist Robin Cooke. apparently he creates a new work for the park every year or so. Worth a stop and look, there is an honesty box at the gate....<br />
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There are way more sculptures here than just the planeheng, like the giant dingo and the Ghan Hover Bus... Fantastic - thanks Robin.<br />
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And not much further along was the moment we had been waiting for...<br />
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The Lake Eyre viewing point.<br />
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Mission accomplished - we had seen water in Lake Eyre!<br />
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Some stats - its a salt lake which most of thime is dry - fills once every 10 years or so and to capacity a couple of times a century!<br />
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Lowest point on mainland Australia.<br />
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144km long and 77km wide.<br />
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Few Aussies get to see it with water in it - we consider ourselves lucky to have taken the trip when we did. It is amazing having driven and camped in dry and arid conditions for the past couple days we were seeing an enormous amount of water...<br />
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Since there was so much to see and write about on this short stretch I have decided to spilt the post into two. Next time - the rest of the trip to William Creek....<br />
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-24281365561668163772013-02-24T16:33:00.002+11:002013-02-24T19:48:13.710+11:00Outback Trip 2 - Day 4 - Leigh Creek to Muloorina StationGetting off to a reasonable start on Day 4 we decided to head up towards Lake Eyre, heading through Lyndhurst, Marree and then head out the the edge of Lake Eyre which is accessable from Muloorina Station.<br />
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After brekky and a chat with the folks we had met the night before we started the trek - arriving a Lyndhurst a short while later. It's only about 40km or so. I missed the turn off to the Ochre Cliffs - so a trip back to the area will definitely on the cards.<br />
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First stop - Talc Alf's place. Alf is always on for a chat and his carvings are amazing. His stories get you thinking and it made for a pleasant mid morning break.<br />
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Next stop fuel. There are two places that you can fuel up - 1 on the Oodnaddata Track and another on the Strezlecki Track. With our vehicle full of fuel and our travelling partner's vehivle and jerry cans full we kept head along.<br />
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I guess it is worth pointing out that the township is at the intersection of the Oodnadatta Track and the Strezliecki Track. The road sign indicated that the Track was opened through to Innamincka - we were tempted...<br />
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About 1/2 way between Marree and Lyndhurst you will come across the famous Farina ruins. Once a bustling township, established on the Old Ghan rail line it was hoped to grow grain in the surrounding area - it wasn't to be. The original town 'The Gums' or 'Government Gums' was a railhead until the line was extended to Marree. It is an amazing place to walk through, look at the buildings and the plans for the township.<br />
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The underground bakery is a bit of a treat...<br />
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Doing some research in preparing this article the Farina railway station holds the record for loading the largest meteorite in South Australia. A 1.2 tonne iron metorite was dragged out of the desert near Farina and transported to Adelaide...<br />
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After a look through the ruins and noting that there is a campsite nearby we continued along the track to the township of Maree.<br />
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There isn't much to see along the road from the ruins to Marree, but arriving in Marree you know you are in the Aussie Outback. We were at the junction of the Oodnadatta Track and the Birdville Track! How outback iconic is that? <br />
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Marree has a couple of cool things to see - the Lake Eyre Yacht Club and the Marree Pub are cool, but the real attractions for me are the old Ghan locos, Tom Kruze's truck and a camel sundial made from sleepers from the Old Gahn!<br />
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The town was originally named Herggott Springs for John McDoual Stuart's travelling companion.<br />
It was changed to Marree in 1918 due to anti-German sentiment. Eyre had passed through the area 20 or so years earlier. Marree was home to Australia's first mosque, built by Afghan cameleers and there were two parts to the town - Afghan and Aboriginal in one part and Europeans in the other part!<br />
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Kruze's truck - or one like it. Kruze did the mail run to Birdsville in this truck between 1936 and 1957. Esmond Gerald Kruze MBE passed away in 2011 aged 96.</div>
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One of two Gahn Locos at Marree. Work on the Ghan began in 1878, and it took until 1929 before the line went through to Alice Springs. It's pretty cool that you can hop on and have a look at a piece of history, from a very famous train journey. And interesting to see a loco that would have been travelling up and down the line that we had been travelling alongside, and would continue to travel alongside for the next few days.<br />
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Who built it - don't know...<br />
Why it was built - don't know...<br />
The time was correct - and I reckon thats awesome.<br />
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So after lunch and a look around Marree (and there is more to see than what I have described here) we set out for Muloorina Station, to the campsite of Frome Creek which the owners of the station kindly allow visitors to use.<br />
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It's about 50km or so through pastoral properties - leave gates as you find them!<br />
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Before we settled in to the campsite we decided to drive out to Lake Eyre and have a look. It is a 4WD track and worth the effort - lower tyre pressures slightly to make light work of the sand.<br />
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Its a salt plain area and a land speed record was set here...<br />
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Easy to see why... And for the record the tyre track didnt belong to us!<br />
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Heading back to a fantastic campsite and setting up on what was pne of my favourite nights of the trip...<br />
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The outback mulga from the top of the nearby dunes...<br />
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After dinner we settled down for the night and the next morning we set off for William Creek.<br />
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-25472095206680291292012-12-23T08:07:00.001+11:002012-12-23T08:09:36.569+11:00Outback Trip 2 - Day 2 and 3 - Renmark and Leigh CreekSetting out from Balranald we planned on getting ourselves across to Renmark. The route we had set was for about 300 or so kilometers on highway. The intention was to stay in a caravan Park, do a minimal set up and then push on to somewhere like Leigh Creek.<br />
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And the reason that I add all of this in one little post is that the camera went on the fritz and there are no photos from this part of the holiday.<br />
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Suffice to say that the stop in Renmark was fantastic. The owners of the caravan park on the riverbank treated us extremely well and we got ourselves settled in, cleaned up, the car checked out and everything ready for a really long day.<br />
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So after an early night we did set off fairly early to get to Leigh Creek before dark. The main part of the drive was through grazing country, the along the edge of the Flinders Ranges, and then in to the Caravan Park at Leigh Creek.<br />
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Again treated well by the caretaker, who gave us a couple of nice spots under trees and told us to head up to a communal fire at about sunset. We did and had were able to have a bit of a chat with fellow travellers. All was looking up for what I believed would be the real part of the trip. Hitting the dirt road to Oodnadatta, seeing Lake Eyre and experiencing this part of the outback.<br />
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So after a not so early night, and realistically a not so early set off the next day we were into it!<br />
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Sorry about the lack of photos!<br />
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I didn't realise the camera was on the fritz at this stage and kept snapping away oblivious to the problem...NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1Leigh Creek SA 5731, Australia-30.5963083 138.404454-31.471971800000002 137.11356049999998 -29.7206448 139.6953475tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-27689215168934655922012-11-25T21:03:00.000+11:002012-11-25T21:04:40.816+11:00Outback trip 2 - Day 1 - Yanga National ParkAfter weeks of planning and even a couple of changed plans we finally had a plan - drive to Lake Eyre and have a look at it with water in it. The intention was to travel in winter - which can be pretty bitter at home. The hope was for mild days and not to cold nights. So we got out the maps, got together with some friends and the plan was hatched. A couple of days of hard running on the blacktopo to get us to Leigh Creek and then the outback adventure would begin.<br />
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What I didn't know was that we were about to see some amazing parts of the country and experince things that you rarely get to see and do.<br />
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Day 1 we set of early and travelled along the Hume, Sturt and Mallee Highways until we reached the vicinity of Balranald. The first stop was to be Yanga National Park - and a free camp at a campsite within the Park, quite near the historical Wilga Woolshed. Yanga gives you the opportunity to camp fairly close to where the Burke and Wills expidition camped. And Balranald - just down the road was a fairly important part of their expedition. An auction was held at Balranald and a fair bit of the gear that had been hauled from Melbourne was sold off.<br />
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We would cross the path of Burke and Wills more than once on the trip, along with their rival John McDouall Stuart!<br />
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Suffice to say that arriving at the Willows campground after close to 600km on the road was a relief.<br />
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As far as campgrounds go this place was a brilliant introduction to the outback. A campground with fire places (and firewood), well maintained toilets and as much room as you need to set up comfortably was much welcomed.<br />
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How is that for a nice lot of room to set up camp.<br />
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The vista was amazing - as the sun went down through the mallee and the saltbush it really did feel like we were in the outback - fantastic!<br />
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And the view kept changing for us.<br />
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I really enjoyed the first night away - but I do enjoy the peace of a good bush camp and this was exactly that. With dinner cooked on the campfire we went for a walk and checked out the woolshed and with the sun down completely had a bit of a chat around the campfire.<br />
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It was time for bed - the day had been tiring, but getting 600 or so kilometres into a 5000 kilometre trip was worth the effort.<br />
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Some details...<br />
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Access: Some campsites are accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be OK in dry weather or if you want to camp close to the wooldshed.<br />
Toilets: Yes.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Didn't see any - might be some near the picnic area.<br />
Shop: Not nearby - that said Balranald is not that far away.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.<br />
Pets: NO - National Park<br />
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Cost: FREE.</div>
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-60054521769261287942012-10-14T22:06:00.000+11:002012-10-14T22:06:39.260+11:00Review - Coleman chair and tableAfter 'borrowing' some words about winter camping for my blog from the friendly folks at Coleman they asked me if I would like to take a couple of bits of their gear for a camp - see what I thought about it.<br />
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I agreed. Not often one gets to review equipment.<br />
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After a bit of 'to-ing and fro-ing' the gear arrived and it was time to head off for a local weekend camp on the banks of the Murumbidgee River to give it a try. I'll put up a post about the campsite in a while. In the meantime some words about the gear...<br />
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The kit that arrived was a camp chair (which has a snazzy folding table) and a four way camp table set. Cool.<br />
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The chair first - It is a directors style of chair and it folds up flat, rather than the more common 'cylindrical' shape of my other camp chairs. To be honest the flat fold up suits the way things are packed in the back of my car. It is easy to carry with fabric handles sewn in to the 'armrest' part of the chair. It sets up easily and positively. By that I mean you can feel it lock in to place. The swing table flips up and has a fair bit of room and a handy cup holder built in. The cup holder even has a cut out for long stemmed wine glasses.<br />
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It's a nice chair, well built sturdy and comfortable. Personally I would like to see it a couple of inches higher. But I had no problem with relaxing with a drink watching the camp fire burn.<br />
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Would I buy one - YES, yes I would.<br />
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The next thing we got to try out was the 4way table.<br />
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The four way table is a really cool set up. Not only is it well built and a sensible size but it has multiple uses. There are effectively two tables that can be set up individually or joined to make a single table. Each table can be set up at different heights. The heights are actually well thought out - the taller set up is a good 'kitchen bench' height. Lower heights are goof for eating at or even using as a coffee table. All of the bits and pieces lock in to the underside of the table, including the legs and the piece that allows the two tables to be locked together to make up a big tabletop.<br />
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I like the table. It is easy to set up, all of the parts have a home when it is packed away and it is well made. It packed into the 4WD nicely.</div>
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Would I buy one of these - YES, yes I would.</div>
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Thanks to the good folks at <a href="http://www.coleman.com.au/">www.coleman.com.au</a> for the loan of the gear. If you are interested in these items they can be ordered online or in camping stores across the country.</div>
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-67908593101480300112012-09-01T07:42:00.001+10:002012-09-01T22:24:14.005+10:00Winter camp - the planIn my previous post I added some winter camping tips to the tips that Coleman have published. The reason I added go somewhere you can't go in summer is that we have just returned from another outback NSW trip.<br />
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I'm not sure what summer along the Oodnadatta Track would be like but I would suggest hot and dry, so the thinking was lets get out there are have a look around while it's winter, while there is water in Lake Eyre and best of all - at a time when we could travel with some friends and there would be other travellers out there as well.<br />
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The first thing we did was decide roughly where we wanted to go. Our mission was to get to The Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta from south along the Oodnadatta Track. Once at Oodnadatta we would then work out where to next.<br />
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Our first thing was to do a bit of homework about travelling through the area, where we would bo and what we should see. To a lesser extent where we would stay. Enter the Hema Maps Great Desert Tracks map set. With the map of the area generally on the floor we decided that it was fairly do-able in two weeks. The plan was sketched out, just the details and the preperation was required.<br />
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Naturally the 4WD got a service - oils, filters changed, spares checked, the third roof bar was installed so a second spare tyre could be seet up on them. The usual recovery gear was put in - snatch strap, tree trunk protector, D shackles, tyre repair kit, tyre deflator, air compressor and a decent tool kit.<br />
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The next mission was to set up our water supply. In the past we had only ever travelled with about 20 or so litres of drinking water - that is usually adequate for a weekend or when not travelling far from drinkable water. The map, and other people, told us we were going to a desert and most of the water is from a bore. After a bit of looking around we settled on a big plastic 85 litre tank whick was installed behind the seats against the cargo barrier. With the water tank in, the tent on the roof all we had to do was load in the fridge and home made shelf/drawer set up and we were ready to go!<br />
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So one cold and frosty morning we hit the road for what was ultimately a long trip south, then west, then north, then... You get the picture!<br />
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We saw some amazing parts of the country as we travelled, staying at Yanga National Park just outside of Balranald before travelling on to, Renmark, Leigh Creek, William Creek and Oodnadatta.<br />
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We made an interesting decision at Oodnadatta. Over the next few weekends I'll post the story of this amazing trip, and what happened as we made our way along one of the most historically interesting track. If you stick with me for a couple of weeks you will find out what happened at Oodnadatta and where we went from there.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-49693589780166090162012-07-29T16:15:00.000+10:002012-07-29T16:15:41.461+10:00Winter camping tipsAlthough I put up a post about our trip to Newnes, which happened back in Easter, we have just arrived back from a two week adventure through the outback - traveling as far as Oodnadatta, Cameron Corner and even Broken Hill! The reason that we went this time of year is that it is pleasant out that way, weather wise, this time of year. Add to that a lot of people (relatively speaking) travel through the region it is relatively safe this time of year.<br />
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When we were thinking about the trip I cam across some winter camping tips from outdoor gear specialists Coleman...<br />
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There tips - used with permission - are as follows:<br />
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<em>There are some obvious benefits to camping in the colder months such as smaller crowds, campfires in National Parks and the chance to see wildlife that you wouldn’t normally see (for example, whale watching along the coastline South of Sydney). Coleman has provided some great tips and tricks on how to get out into the wild this winter.<br /><br />Tips from the outdoor experts Coleman include:<br /><br />1. Be properly prepared – Make sure you have everything you need for a colder, harsher environment. You might even want to bring along the Coleman Hot Water on Demand to make sure you can have a hot cup of coffee.<br /><br /> 2. Have the right equipment – A durable and warm sleeping bag is essential. The Bigfoot range from Coleman are perfect for this!<br /><br />3. Stay on top of the weather – Check the weather in advance and make sure you’re prepared for the worst case scenario.<br /><br />4. Get out of the wind – Make sure you select a site with some natural wind breaks.<br /><br />5. Always use an airbed – Insulating yourself from the cold ground is far more important than insulating from the cold air.</em><br />
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A couple of extra tips from us:<br />
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1. If you have some more than a couple of days plan to travel somewhere that it is best to travel to in Winter - desert regions and tropical regions spring to mind.<br />
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2. Check with the National Parks folks about campfires - some don't allow them year round - Sturt National Park springs to mind.<br />
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3. 'Menu plan' for comfort food. Stews and soups are great in winter especially if done in a camp oven! Camp oven damper, warm, with honey is a favourite of mine.<br />
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This being a blog - feel free to post a comment with your tips or even a comment about either my tips or Colman's.<br />
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Coleman have a pretty good range of stuff on the market - visit <a href="http://www.coleman.com.au/">www.coleman.com.au</a> for a look at what they have.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-88993136744530497472012-07-28T15:03:00.000+10:002012-07-28T15:03:52.618+10:00Newnes - Free - Not pet friendlyWollemi National Park is home to the recently identified Wollemi Pine, which was discovered by National Parks officer Mr David Noble in 1994. Not only is the Wollemi Pine one of the rarest trees in the world, with less than 100 mature trees in the wild, it is also one of the oldest, with fossil records indicating this rare tree existed about 90 million years ago.<br />
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Wollemi National Park is only a couple of hundred km from Sydney and it is one of those places that should appeal to anyone who loves the outdoor lifestyle. Although the exact location of the pines has never been made publicly available by National Parks there is plenty of interesting flora and fauna in the park. For history buffs there is the former township of Newnes and Blackfellow's Hand Rock and for 4WD enthusiasts there are any number of great tracks in the area.<br />
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I haven't mentioned lots of other attractions, but a search on a good search engine will point you in the right direction.<br />
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Add to all of this the fact that the campsite is free this place is pretty cool.<br />
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We set off and it is about a half day drive to get there. It is a reasonably easy drive in to Newnes in the dry, and it would be accessible by 2WD vehicles, but in the wet it gets slippery.<br />
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To camp where we camped you will need to cross the Wolgan River and that requires 4WD.<br />
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It is a pretty easy crossing...</div>
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And you have arrived in the National Park...<br />
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Once across the creek the campsite is magnificent!<br />
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There are a fair number of campsites and the ruins of the Shale Oil mining facility are quite close. The Wolgan River runs near the campsite and there is a nice, clean drop loo.<br />
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After arriving, setting up and taking some photos we caught up with some friends, and planned the following day - a 4WD trip to the Spanish Steps.<br />
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The next day was a bit of an adventure - but the scenery in the area is amazing. And the track conditions vary from muddy bog holes to quite good dirt tracks.<br />
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Being guided down the Spanish Steps is something I won't forget in a hurry...<br />
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The photo doesn't really do the steepness justice - nor does it reflect how fast my heart was beating as I descended into the valley. The Spanish Steps, as they are known, are a sandstone formation that resemble steps down into a valley. And as the saying goes, what goes up... So there was also a slightly more challenging ascent.<br />
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I should point out that the Land Rover Discovery, lately christened 'The Snail' is not a highly modified 4WD. It has not been lifted and the tyres I use are all terrain pattern. I do have a winch on the bull bar, and some other bits and pieces like driving lights, UHF CB radio and camping gear. All up I was pretty impressed that The Snail was able to get down into the valley and then up the other side along with the others who had the benefit of lockers, lift and highly aggressive tyres.<br />
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It was an amazing day, lots of fun in the 4WD's and we headed back to re-establish our camp.<br />
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The next day we decided to walk to the glow worm tunnel and have a look at Blackfellows Hand.<br />
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It's a fair walk in to the tunnel, but worth it for the views and to see the glow worms.<br />
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Being way to hard to photograph I did the next best thing...<br />
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Looking out of the tunnel - I used a flash to introduce the wall perspective into the pic. Flash photography, I think, would not capture the glow worms. In fact it might even upset them into not glowing so I didn't try.<br />
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If you intend visiting the tunnel - and I would encourage a visit - wear good shoes, take a torch and remember to be courteous to other visitors and more importantly respect the glow worms.<br />
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And respect the natural beauty of the flora and rock formations - how good is this!?<br />
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If you walk to the glow worm tunnel from the Newnes side (it can also be accessed from the Lithgow side) it is worth remembering that the trail is the abandoned Newnes Railway line. You are walking over and alongside history!<br />
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It is worth keeping an eye out for the historical stuff like the rock walls and old sleepers on the track.<br />
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After the hike in and out we drove to what is known as Blackfellow's Hand Rock. This rock formation has a number of aboriginal artworks and is definitely worth a look.<br />
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Hand paintings on the rock. If you do go in for a bit of a look please don't touch the paintings. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.<br />
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Access: Some campsites are accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be OK in dry weather if you want to camp on the 'pub' side of the river.<br />
Toilets: Yes.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Boil water from the river.<br />
Shop: Limited to the Newnes Hotel - best to check if it is open.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.<br />
Pets: NO - National Park<br />
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Cost: FREE.</div>
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1Newnes NSW 2790, Australia-33.180573 150.2363664-33.233731500000005 150.1574024 -33.1274145 150.31533040000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-19450841507867959722012-07-15T17:20:00.003+10:002012-07-15T17:20:29.651+10:00Killalea State ParkEarlier this year we went to catch up with some friends and stay at Killalea State Park.<br />
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The Park itself is near the coast and the Woolongong suburb of Shellharbour. It is close to surf beaches and fishing. Grat place to stay this time of year. There are full facilities there for campers including a camp kitchen, hot showers and flushing toilets. You can have a fire in an established (or constructed) fire place. However it is not pet friendly so the favourite animal will need to stay away.<br />
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As it was a weekend visit to catch up with our friends I didnt take a lot of pics - other than one of the new camping set up I mentioned in an earlier post - our rooftop tent and annex.<br />
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Pretty awsome set up and we enjoyed the stay at the park. Time and socialising prevented a proper fish, but the facilities are teriffic and the staff helpful.<br />
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If you are interested in some more details about Killaliea visit: <a href="http://www.killalea.com.au/pages/camping.htm">http://www.killalea.com.au/pages/camping.htm</a><br />
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-80186002416097608342012-06-01T14:35:00.002+10:002012-06-01T14:35:57.410+10:00New camping style from here on inFor those of you who have been visiting this site for a while you will have noticed that we have been tent campers.<br />
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Recently we bought an Ironman 4x4 Roof Top Tent.<br />
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The posts from here on it will be about our camping adventures with the tent. Its a pretty cool new toy which we have used a couple of times so far, quite successfully.<br />
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We are also planning a 'big' test for it shortly. Our plan is to head out t the Oodnadatta track, and the RTT will be our home for the couple of weeks we are planning for the trip.<br />
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If you are interested in RTT's keep an eye out - you might be able to decide whether one is for you or not based on the next few posts.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-52270690083427379852012-06-01T14:29:00.000+10:002012-06-01T14:29:03.892+10:00Burraga DamIn February we took a break with some realtives and headed inland to find a peaceful campsite somewhere and have a bit of a break. The first place was a dud so we moved on to the next site on the list which was Burraga Dam.<br />
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Nearby the small town of Burraga which has some facilities like fuel and a small shop, which is convenient.<br />
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The Burraga Dam is on Thompson's Creek and apparently it is also known as Thompson's Creek Dam. The Dam was constructed in the late 1800's to supply water to the local Copper mine. No longer used for the cooper mine the dam is now a recreational dam, offering fishing, camping and is free and pet friendly.<br />
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There is not a lot here - there are some clean and tidy long drop loo's and some pretty neat scenery. Other than that its all about relaxing.<br />
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According to the research I did when we got back the Dam is supposed to be stocked with Rainbow Trout. I did a little fishing when we were there and mnaged to not catch a thing. Maybe it is just me. Interestingly the bait went from the yabbie net. So if nothing else there must be the odd turtle about.<br />
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There is plenty of room to set up camp, doesn't matter whether you are part of a group or on your own.<br />
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The dog loved the place as there was plenty of room to walk and play...<br />
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There are a couple of tracks around the place - not exactly hardcore 4WD but interesting to see the local area.<br />
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My favourite pic of the weekend is the Aussie Mud Map.<br />
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I've seen a few of these sort of photos and always wondered wether they were real or fake. This one is the real deal, you can see my wife and dog is the photo.<br />
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Anyways - Burraga Dam is a good spot - free, pet friendly bush camping.<br />
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Access: It is accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be OK in dry weather.<br />
Toilets: Yes.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Not sure - we had our own.<br />
Shop: No. Small shop in nearby township.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.<br />
Pets: YES.<br />
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Cost: FREE.</div>
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-8098643113611621852012-04-25T14:03:00.001+10:002012-04-25T14:03:18.088+10:00Post Christmas - The Bridle TrackAfter the ordinary start to our summer break we made our way home and back to work. After a couple of weeks back at work we decided that we would do a long weekend and head up to the Bridle Track.<br />
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We had done a bit of homework about the history of the track and the area. One thing I didn't pick up was the fact that you can't drive the track from end to end. The track is closed about mid-way along at the part known as Monahagns Bluff. Heavy rains, a land slip and a rock slide has the centre of the track closed.<br />
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We drove up to Bathurst and while we would have like to go to Hill End via the track we were more than contented to set up camp on the bank of the river and just have a couple of days of free, pet-friendly camping with few others around.<br />
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Heading in the first sign was pretty cool - we knew that we were in for an interesting couple of days.<br />
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It didn't take us long to get onto the Track in search of a campsite..<br />
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There aren't a lot of places in NSW where you can acually camp this close to the rive, with a dog, for free. We were on the Bathurst side and decided to walk up to have a look at the rock fall that has the Track closed.<br />
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Not being able to drive past here, we decided to walk up and have a look at the 'blockage.' <br />
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And this is what has the Track blocked. A whopping big rock, some of the road has fallen away and there isn't enough room to safely get a vehicle around, other than maybe a push bike...<br />
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Nevertheless it was worth the walk up to the rockfall. The fiew is amazing and you can also see the way the Track was built. <br />
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Check out the stone work supporting this little bridge.<br />
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After a bit of a walk on a fairly hot day in summer we retired to the campsite for dinner.<br />
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We really enjoyed the visit up there.<br />
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Access: It is accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be easy OK in dry weather.<br />
Toilets: No.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Yes. From the river - given the turtles and yabbies maybe drinkable.<br />
Shop: No.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.<br />
Pets: YES.<br />
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Cost: FREE.</div>
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-45375404629553487722012-03-04T16:18:00.000+11:002014-03-29T22:29:53.153+11:00Coolah Tops, Barracks Camping Area and Giant Grass TreesWe set off just before Christmas with the Discovery loaded up with camping gear, pressies for relatives, some new camping stuff and we were looking forward to the 'plans' we had made.
They included a night in Coolah Tops NP, a night in Boomi before heading across to the coast for a couple of nights on Bribie Island before doing who knows what on our way home. But all didn't go to plan. The Discovery came down with a 'clutch infection' as we left Coolah Tops NP...
So our adventure was a bit shorter than usual. The clutch was replace and the Discovery is now back on the road, but we had a hire car which meant some of the fun just didn't happen. The rains in Queensland didn't help, with the Bribie Campsite being closed as well.
Anyway, thanks to the NRMA, the mechanic in Tammworth who got us back on the road, the hire car company and the motel we stayed in things didn't work out too bad for us.
Coolah Tops NP is just outside of Coolah township, not too far from Mudgee. Our site for the night was the Barracks Campground, which is 2WD accessable.
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It didn't take us long to choose a campsite and get ourselves set up, the place was all but empty.
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There is a pit toilet and wood fire facilities as well as a shelter area here so overall it is a pretty nice place to stay, and the wildlife is amazing...
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Kookaburras are one of my favourite Aussie bush animals. This fella turned up with the smell of us cooking and hung around for a while.</div>
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This young lady and her little one also arrived to check us out. We didn't see the joey get out of the pouch, but I guess you can't have everything. It's worth thinking about... We have seen and taken photos of Kangaroos with joeys in animal parks and zoos, but this is the first time we have seen one this close in the bush. Pretty cool!!<br />
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The next morning we decided to take the 600m track to see the giant grass trees. I hadn't heard about these, so I was more than a little curious as to what they were. We have a grass tree in our front yard and it is anything but giant, and to say it is slow growing would be an understatement.<br />
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These trees were amazing! Our one at home would be 15cm maybe 20cm tall at the moment. These things would have been 4 or 5 metres tall. Definitely worth the 600m walk.<br />
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These amazing trees are also known as 'Blackboys' but the name has fallen a bit in to disuse recently. The traditional owners of these lands would have had a number of uses for these trees. The flower 'spike' may have been used for fishing spears, the flowers soaked in water to make an apparently sweet drink, and the sap of the trees was used as an adhesive.<br />
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Indeed early European settlers used the sap/resin as a perfume (often burned in churches). The resin often formed the basis for things like polishes and varnishes and of course as an adhesive.<br />
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Cool trees - and native to us here in Australia.<br />
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Apparently there is some 4WD-ing to be had in the area, at the 'back' of Coolah Tops NP. With the clutch being a bit 'off' we decided to continue our travels to get it sorted. Next time we are up that way we will call in for another visit and have a look at the worlds biggest gum tree and some of the 4WD tracks in the park.<br />
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Access: It is accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be easy OK in dry weather.<br />
Toilets: Yes - long drop.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Yes. Apparently not suitable for drinking.<br />
Shop: No.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.<br />
Pets: NO. It is a NSW National Park.<br />
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Cost: Free.</div>
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NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0Coolah Tops National Park, Coolah NSW 2843, Australia-31.7576352 150.0837724-31.973657199999998 149.7679154 -31.5416132 150.39962939999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-86592484230448518462012-01-02T21:40:00.001+11:002012-01-02T21:40:41.547+11:00Back from the holiday breakWell we have arrived back from a couple of weeks of traveling.
In the next couple of weeks I'll tell the story and put up some of the photos we took. Short version is that we went to visit the relatives on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. About 1200km away. The plan was to camp at Coolah Tops National Park, New South Wales and then Boomi, New South Wales, then a few nights up on the coast... The plan was then to go for a couple of nights on Bribie Island, Queensland before having a bush Christmas and making our way back home for New Year's Eve.
It didn't quite go to plan...
I'm getting ready to go to the day job, but when I have time over the next couple of weekends I'll tell the story and reveal what happened.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-37097509045828982812011-11-05T08:56:00.000+11:002011-11-05T08:56:39.668+11:00Back to Paddy's River DamIf you have been reading the Blog since it's beginning you will have seen that we like the High Country and we like to camp where there is water. Sometimes for a swim, sometimes for a bit of a fish. After the trip up north to visit the rellies we set sail south. Having a few more days before returning to work we decided to load up some fishing gear and the surf ski and head for Paddy's River Dam for a couple of days. Spot of fishing, a swim and a bit of a paddle around...<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Paddy's River Dam was constructed in 1936 to provide a reliable water source for the power house at Tumbarrumba. These days it ismainly a recreational dam, stocked with trout.
<span style="font-weight: normal;">This is bush camping at its
best; a couple of pit toilets, a picnic table and some fireplaces. Better than that, being State Forest, it is pet friendly so you can take a dog, or as was the case when we were there a horse.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The drive in is pretty straight foward. We were in H4 in the Disco, the earlier rains had washed away some of the surfaces and there were ruts. There was even a tree across the road!</span></span><br />
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The tree may well be gone by now - it was a couple of months ago... In any event we found a track around it and continued on our way. If you have been in there and know please leave a comment...<br />
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The last little bit of road in has a small creek crossing and not too far from the turn off to the campsites was a bit of mud.<br />
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A little bit of care needed, or there was a chicken track around it!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It didn't take us long to get in to the campsite and get ourselves set up.</span></span><br />
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With the campfire lit and dinner in the camp oven there was only one thing left to do on the first day...<br />
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Some people call this fishing. I call it standing in water killing time and relaxing. Didn't have anything to do with fish on the days we were there. Still as the saying goes, the worst day fishing...<br />
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There are other things to do. Hume and Hovell trekked through here during their 1824 expedition to Port Phillip. There is a signposted heratige walking trail from Yass to Albury and Paddy's River Dam is one of the few vehicle accessible campsites along the trail. There are signs around to show you where to go and most of the local visitor information centres nearby have information about the trail and the expedition.<br />
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The scenery in the area is fantastic, the tracks through Bago State Forest are well signposted and we had no problem finding our way around using the GPS, all of the trails were on the maps we were using.<br />
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Access: It is accessible by 4WD. It's easy in the dry, but very ordinary in the wet...<br />
Toilets: Yes - long drop.<br />
Showers: No.<br />
Water: Yes.<br />
Shop: No.<br />
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans.<br />
Pets: Yes.<br />
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Cost: Free.</div>
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GPS: S35 42.9759, E148 10.0049<br />
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<br />NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1Granites Track, Paddys River NSW 2653, Australia-35.7272853 148.1893037-35.7401763 148.1695627 -35.714394299999995 148.20904470000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-3372895225058730332011-10-30T19:57:00.000+11:002011-10-30T20:04:06.071+11:00Back in businessAfter a while away doing other stuff I am back in business with some of the camping we have done while we were invisible. So some pics, some words and some fun along the way...<br />
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At Christmas time 2010 we set sail to visit family in northern NSW and had a couple of days in the bush on the way up.<br />
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Our site of choice this time, mainly because we didn't have the dog with us, was Warrabah National Park.<br />
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Entry to Park</div>
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We had a fair sort of tour on the black top to get to the closest main town, Tamworth, which is about 80km away. Near Manilla we turned on to Namoi River Road and followed that to the picnic area and campground.<br />
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Road in to Warrabah NP</div>
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It's a nicely set up park with composting toilets and picnic tables in the camping area. The road in is unsealed but usually in good condition and is an easy drive for a 2WD.</div>
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Info sign</div>
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The entry sign also has an 'honesty box' set up so you can pay the $5/adult $3/child camping fee. The signage also shows where you can camp and has the usual interpretive information about the park.</div>
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The Namoi was in spectacular flow. It was a couple of weeks before Christmas in 2010 and there had been some significant rains breaking the droughts and filling up the rivers.</div>
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There were a couple of freshwater shrimp to be had in the shallow pools.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJity5vVYb4N_As8L10BNDht7jwq0XPE-gpQm-AqbD2Ui2rGD59CDEiAlztsfPz6h99B52kQOZ6n-eodzwEDHbcsCV-X1hhnwkjcaRBLBQIC6LYW-ZhnaJCqK3iwVqD1xN_GuRR0J4_SU/s1600/P1030843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJity5vVYb4N_As8L10BNDht7jwq0XPE-gpQm-AqbD2Ui2rGD59CDEiAlztsfPz6h99B52kQOZ6n-eodzwEDHbcsCV-X1hhnwkjcaRBLBQIC6LYW-ZhnaJCqK3iwVqD1xN_GuRR0J4_SU/s320/P1030843.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are some 4WD tracks near the campsites</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsf2lzNh_9cOwhzp4WW-HWkb6RHYsFyyYoxkG7xhNyU7o0HZiL63Z8iBeQX6YC7wQnnODDdIyqHSxZ60Le8bDRxud9aCb9OoMFAMysuySn7Pv8n0Y-8zKhDUTeO9v2eauTtXhLKAWm5M/s1600/P1030841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsf2lzNh_9cOwhzp4WW-HWkb6RHYsFyyYoxkG7xhNyU7o0HZiL63Z8iBeQX6YC7wQnnODDdIyqHSxZ60Le8bDRxud9aCb9OoMFAMysuySn7Pv8n0Y-8zKhDUTeO9v2eauTtXhLKAWm5M/s320/P1030841.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Which are well set up...</div>
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They just need someone to set up and enjoy...</div>
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We had a couple of very enjoyable days in Warrabah NP. A little 4WD-ing, lots of eating, sleeping and relaxing. Even a spot of fishing and swimming. Do I recommend this one? Yes and No. It's a National Park so dogs are not welcome and there is a charge. I don't like that... On the up side we seemed to have had the entire park to ourselves. Didn't catch anything, but enjoyed the couple of days before heading off up the road towards Grafton.</div>
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On the way up we decided to take a slightly different way, wanting to see a convict hand cut tunnel.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguU3C9ROQ5xjXIEyG-rzHUGDroLZGbrcOyUe-izTxDBMwWnrWSukfWkkTzOchW8Jc5bR18da6V7eInv2K54tF-SsW7FxJpkQh7aLkm35CWMAC8-bgoSnIrph5dFJ4-gtZL4hFrU7FAM9A/s1600/P1030849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguU3C9ROQ5xjXIEyG-rzHUGDroLZGbrcOyUe-izTxDBMwWnrWSukfWkkTzOchW8Jc5bR18da6V7eInv2K54tF-SsW7FxJpkQh7aLkm35CWMAC8-bgoSnIrph5dFJ4-gtZL4hFrU7FAM9A/s320/P1030849.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Impressive huh?</div>
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Next week - we returned home and then set off to Paddy's River Dam for a couple of days... Swing back this way for a look.</div>
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<span id="goog_2102892118"></span><span id="goog_2102892119"></span>NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com0Warrabah National Park, Warrabah NSW 2346, Australia-30.5529918 150.9423702-30.7717798 150.6265132 -30.3342038 151.2582272tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028141010100740149.post-8573138466996417382011-06-17T23:20:00.000+10:002011-06-17T23:20:03.401+10:00Still busyAs you can see life has been really busy and I've still not had time to do a decent update... I will soon - I hope.<br />
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We have done a few cool things like a Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, and we are heading back up to Sydney for a 40th again soon.<br />
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Part of the reason that I have been busy is I am slowly getting the Land Rover ready for our next big trip. Recently I have replaced the rear shock absorbers, and a universal joint, rewired part of the fuel gauge, done a quick patch up on the tacho sender and un-jammed the trip meter!<br />
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Shortly we are off on holidays to Norfolk Island, and then we are hoping to be able to go on the Lightning Ridge Police Bush Safari ( <a href="http://www.lrpbs.org.au/">http://www.lrpbs.org.au</a> ) if you are interested in checking out the details... Having all these little (and not so little) things fixed up is a good thing, particularly as we are planning that trip! It's a big enough drive to get to the starting point, much less the going from Lightning Ridge to the Gulf Country.<br />
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So, spare me some time and I'll get the November to February pics and stories up soon - promise. Maybe even some of the trip to Norfolk Island.<br />
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We won't be camping ourselves for a couple of months yet - way to cold down here at the moment and a fair number of our favourite campsites are closed until the October long weekend. Half your luck if you are in a warmer part of the world than I, and are still in camping season.NSWCamperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723459778865534268noreply@blogger.com1