Dubbo region - Ponto Falls and Goulburn River NP

When 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.

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.

We set up, had a bit of a fish, did a camp oven dinner and really enjoyed the place.

The next morning we set off for Goulburn River NP.

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.

We set ourselves up at the Spring Gully Campground.

As the loo's were a bit of a walk we decided to set up the portaloo for the overnighter!

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...

Bit of a tease with the view - worth the trip in I'd say...

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!

Outback Trip 2 - Day 4 - Leigh Creek to Muloorina Station

Getting 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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

 

 

The underground bakery is a bit of a treat...

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...

After a look through the ruins and noting that there is a campsite nearby we continued along the track to the township of Maree.

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? 

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!

The town was originally named Herggott Springs for John McDoual Stuart's travelling companion.
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!

 

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.

 

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.

Who built it - don't know...
Why it was built - don't know...
The time was correct - and I reckon thats awesome.

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.

It's about 50km or so through pastoral properties - leave gates as you find them!

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.

 

Its a salt plain area and a land speed record was set here...

Easy to see why...   And for the record the tyre track didnt belong to us!

Heading back to a fantastic campsite and setting up on what was pne of my favourite nights of the trip...

 

 

The outback mulga from the top of the nearby dunes...

After dinner we settled down for the night and the next morning we set off for William Creek.

 

Outback trip 2 - Day 1 - Yanga National Park

After 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.

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.

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.

We would cross the path of Burke and Wills more than once on the trip, along with their rival John McDouall Stuart!

Suffice to say that arriving at the Willows campground after close to 600km on the road was a relief.

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.

How is that for a nice lot of room to set up camp.

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!

And the view kept changing for us.

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.

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.

Some details...

Access: Some campsites are accessible by 4WD. 2WD would be OK in dry weather or if you want to camp close to the wooldshed.
Toilets: Yes.
Showers: No.
Water: Didn't see any - might be some near the picnic area.
Shop: Not nearby - that said Balranald is not that far away.
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.
Pets: NO - National Park

Cost: FREE.

Winter camp - the plan

In 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

Newnes - Free - Not pet friendly

Wollemi 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.

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.

I haven't mentioned lots of other attractions, but a search on a good search engine will point you in the right direction.

Add to all of this the fact that the campsite is free this place is pretty cool.

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.

To camp where we camped you will need to cross the Wolgan River and that requires 4WD.

It is a pretty easy crossing...

And you have arrived in the National Park...

Once across the creek the campsite is magnificent!

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.

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.

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.

Being guided down the Spanish Steps is something I won't forget in a hurry...

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.

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.

It was an amazing day, lots of fun in the 4WD's and we headed back to re-establish our camp.

The next day we decided to walk to the glow worm tunnel and have a look at Blackfellows Hand.

It's a fair walk in to the tunnel, but worth it for the views and to see the glow worms.

Being way to hard to photograph I did the next best thing...

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.

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.

And respect the natural beauty of the flora and rock formations - how good is this!?

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!

It is worth keeping an eye out for the historical stuff like the rock walls and old sleepers on the track.

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.

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.

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.
Toilets: Yes.
Showers: No.
Water: Boil water from the river.
Shop: Limited to the Newnes Hotel - best to check if it is open.
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans. Bring own wood.
Pets: NO - National Park

Cost: FREE.

Back to Paddy's River Dam

If 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...

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. 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.

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!

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...

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.

A little bit of care needed, or there was a chicken track around it!

It didn't take us long to get in to the campsite and get ourselves set up.

With the campfire lit and dinner in the camp oven there was only one thing left to do on the first day...

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...

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.

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.

Access: It is accessible by 4WD.  It's easy in the dry, but very ordinary in the wet...
Toilets: Yes - long drop.
Showers: No.
Water: Yes.
Shop: No.
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans.
Pets: Yes.

Cost: Free.

GPS: S35 42.9759, E148 10.0049

Lowden Waterwheel - Pet Friendly, Free, Basic Campsite

A couple of weeks back we went on a 'meet the members' drive with a 4WD club.  We were invited by the folks we had met at the Queanbeyan 4WD Spectacular, and when we found out that the drive was to Lowden Waterwheel I was keen to go for a trip.  We had been for a drive through the area a while back and I was confident that the trails through there were well within my capability and I wasn't going to damage the vehicle!

We met up with the folks and had a quick stop on the edge of the park to air the tyres down.

A fair line up of 4WD's

The drive took us through parts of both Talaganda State Forest and Talaganda National Park and it's conservation area.  It is a fairly straight forward drive and there should really be no need to go into 4WD for the vast majority of the tracks unless you have hit some untoward weather.

Having traversed some interesting country side we made our way to the Waterwheel where there is a picnic area and a walk in style campsite with limited facilities.

The entry sign

There really is a waterwheel there

There is a bit of history behind the waterwheel.  There is a sign there that indicates that the wheel has recently been restored but was originally built in Queanbeyan and in 1952 it was installed at it's present site which, at the time, was the site of a logging camp.  Beyond the picnic area is a small pond which feeds water to the wheel.  During it's time it was connected to a generator which powered the logging camp, and interestingly was used to charge truck batteries.

I'll have to admit I was a bit slack when it came to taking pictures of the campsite, and the 4WD club had parked vehicles in the area (apparently with permission of State Forests.)  It is a walk in from the nearby car park.  When I say walk in - a couple of meters rather than hundreds.  There are fire pits and sheltered tables there and a mens and ladies long drop toilet.  Someone has thoughtfully installed solar garden lights up to the loo from the campsite.  Drinking water is also available at the site.

OK - the usual camping stuff...
Access:  It is accessible by 2WD.
Toilets: Yes - long drop.
Showers: No.
Water: Yes.
Shop: No - drive to Queanbeyan or Braidwood.
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans.
Pets: Yes.

Cost: Free.

GPS: S35 30.5324,  E149 36.1758

Back to the High Country - Paddy's River Dam, Free Pet Friendly Campsite

I had commitments Sunday morning so we couldn't camp overnight Saturday night, but we went for a bit of a drive.  I had had a particularly 'average' week at work so we decided the best cure is go bush!

We hit the highway heading south with lunch and snacks, and no real plan.  We went south to Tarcutta, NSW where the trucker memorial wall is located.  Tarcutta is near enough to halfway between Sydney and Melbourne on the Hume Highway so it is a fitting location for a memorial for the truckers killed on the job.  If you are a regular traveler on Australia's major highways, you will no doubt have a great deal of respect for the professional drivers who haul the stuff that we eat, drink, read, play with...  If you are passing through Tarcutta stop and pay your respects, we did.  If you are not down this way - http://www.tarcuttamemorial.com/ will get you there.

We turned off the highway and drove across to the small town of Tumbarumba.  Established on the site of a Hume and Hovell camp, it was originally a gold mining town, now a Snowy Hydro town and hub town for the local agricultural industries.

Turning north out of town we headed into Bago State Forest.

 

Brumbies and foal

As soon as you see brumbies you can be assured you are in for a nice trip.

  It wasn't long before we arrived at the dam and campsite.  I should point out that there is a creek crossing on the way in to the dam camping area.  My standard 4WD did it easily.  It would be wise to check depth after rain and during snow melts.

The campsites are basic, there are firepits, some toilets and picnic tables.  That said it is high country bush camping paradise.

  

  

 Idyllic really isn't it?

 

Rustic mountain loo

We left the area thinking that a return visit would be worthwhile!

We left intending to head for home but as happens we saw a sign indicating we were 10km from a waterfall - so off we went.

Part of the falls

 

And the view

We decided to head out of the mountains - via Talbingo and past  Tumut No 3 power station.

There is water in the pipes,

being turn into electricity

OK - some camping stuff...
Access:  Sites at Paddy's River Dam are 4WD access due to the river crossing.
Toilets: Some - long drop.
Showers: No.
Water: No - treat dam water before drinking.
Shop: No - drive to Talbingo or Batlow.
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans.
Pets: Yes - No posted restrictions
Cost: Free.
GPS: 35 42.9759S 148 10.0049E

Australia Day Weekend - Part 2 - Three Mile Dam to Willis, Victoria

Spending the night in the broken tent wasn't as bad as we thought, but during the evening at Three Mile Dam we decided that we should go to a camping store and either replace the broken part or buy a new tent.  Before we did that we wanted to head to Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia.

We set off through the Mt Selwyn snowfields, which looked to be pretty much deserted as we drove through, and onto a well maintained gravel road to 'shortcut' to Caramurra.  Shortly we arrived in the country's highest permanently settled township.  There are limited supplies available here, such as fuel, a small general store etc.  The were all shut - it was early on a Sunday morning.  There are some amazing photos of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in the General Store.  It is definitely worth a look if you are in the area.

 

  

It's a pretty place

Cabramurra from the lookout

After a brief look through the town we decided to head for Jindabyne.  This meant a cross country run to Khancobin and then along the Alpine Way and passing through Thredbo.  It's a sealed road most of the way but there are some steep climbs as you go along.  You get to see a fair bit of the infrastructure that is the Snowy Mountains Scheme on the drive from Cabramurra the Thredbo side of Khancobin.  There are dams, ponds, spillways, pipework and things that look like spaceships that make up the scheme.  We stopped at Khancobin for a some morning tea and then headed along the Alpine Way.

We ventured into the Geehi campsite on the way in.  It is a free camp once you pay the relevant National Park use fee.  There are toilets and water available and there are no marked sites.  Your campsite will be located alongside the delightfully named Swampy Plains River.

Moving on we the visited the Tom Groggin campsite, a little closer to Thredbo.  It's on the banks of the Murray River and has toilets, water and fire pits.  If you are in a 4WD you can ford the Murray into Victoria and visit some fairly remote high country along the Davies Plain Track to the Davies Plain Hut.

 

The mighty Murray River

at Tom Groggin

We then continued on though Thredbo and into Jindabyne where we had a couple of calls to make, and some business to do before a fairly high speed (relatively speaking) drive into Cooma where we replaced the tent then returned to Jindabyne to set off for the next part of the trip.

Our original plan was to drive to Buchan Caves.  The time we took to replace the tent ruled this out so we didn't really have a plan.  I had read about the Customs station that once existed on the New South Wales - Victoria border so we set out for the campsite nearby.

To get there we turned onto Barry Way and set off.  This road is amazing and if you get the opportunity to drive it, do it in the dry - it would be extremely slipper when wet, and take lots of photos.  It is definitely worth a stop at the Wallace Craigie Lookout.

The lookout

The lookout has some informative boards that describe the Snowy River and the bushfires that burnt though the area in 2003.  There are also toilets there.

View from the lookout

The road from there continues down to the Snowy River and you follow it right down to the border.  It is suitable for 2WD vehicles but caution would be advisable.  It is fairly narrow and at times there are some steep and deep dropoffs.

In NSW there are many little campsites between Barry Way and the River.  Some have toilets, most don't.  Most appeared to be fairly small, suitable for a couple of tents.

Continuing on we eventually hit the border...

 

The border crossing at Willis

 

It is actually not far from the border at Willis, NSW to the campsite at Willis, Vic

The campsite at Willis, Vic is a bit place with toilets only.  The campsites are located on the banks of the old 'mighty' Snowy River, not the edge of the current Snowy River, which receives about 1% of it's original flow.

We set up camp in the dedicated school group are - school holidays were still on so we thought we would be safe.

 

Our campsite

 
 

Road in the campground

 
 

The Snowy River at Willis Campground

 
 

Fire pit at Willis.

OK - some camping stuff...
Access:  Willis is 2WD accessible.
Toilets: Long drop.
Showers: No.
Water: No.
Shop: No - drive to Jindabyne in NSWor Seldom Seen in Vic (limited supplies.)
Campfires: Yes - subject to firebans.
Pets: Nope - Parks Victora
Cost: Free.
GPS: Latitude 36° 53′ 18.852"S Longitude 148° 25′ 17.832"E

The third day will be the trip from Willis along the Deddick Track to Dalgety in NSW.  I'll get to that soon!