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!

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

Back in business

After 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...

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.

Our site of choice this time, mainly because we didn't have the dog with us, was Warrabah National Park.

Entry to Park

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.

Road in to Warrabah NP

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.

Info sign

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.

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.

There were a couple of freshwater shrimp to be had in the shallow pools.

There are some 4WD tracks near the campsites

Which are well set up...

They just need someone to set up and enjoy...

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.

On the way up we decided to take a slightly different way, wanting to see a convict hand cut tunnel.

Impressive huh?

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.