Sunday, 28 May 2017

Weekend trip away, May 27-28.

Went shopping and did the chores first thing on Saturday morning. Packed some clothes and fresh food into Blute and the camper and headed off a bit after 11 am. Refuelled and headed north on the motorway, turned off at Mudgeeraba and headed for the Hinze Dam. Had a look at the water coming over the spillway and then had some lunch in the picnic area. Nice little spot.


Took the back roads up towards Beechmont and stopped for awhile to watch the hang gliders taking off from the side of the road. Continued onto Canungra stopping off to have a look at a nice little camping spot - Sharp Park, green grass and a toilet block, about $8 per night. Then into Beaudesert before heading south to Rathdowney. Tuned off to the Lions Road, lots of signs saying "Bridge Out" no through road into NSW but I had checked the map before hand and it looks like you can take a dirt road detour through the Border Ranges national park.
Continued onto Andrew Drynan camping area and arrived a bit after 3 pm. Found a nice spot at the back of the grassy area and setup for the evening. There is flushing toilets but no showers and the man came round to collect the $8 at around 4:30 pm. I got the fire going in the little fire pit which looks like an old tyre rim.

There are around 20 to 25 camping groups but all are pretty well spread out. Internet access is good via the phone with 4-5 dots of Telstra 3G access.
Cooked and ate dinner before relaxing around the fire reading a book. The temperature had started to plummet around 4 pm once the sun had disappeared behind the hills and probably got down to around 10 deg C over night. Went to bed around 8'ish and read for awhile before turning in for a nice peaceful sleep.
I was out of bed around 7 am and it was about 10 deg C so I got the hot water boiling for a cup of coffee. This warmed me up as I checked up on what had happened in the world overnight and watched the rest of the campers slowly start to stir. After a leisurely breakfast and more coffee I got things packed up and headed off southwards.
I stopped in at the loop lookout but couldn't see any trains, so continued on and had a look through the Border Ranges national park.


When I got to the Pinnacles lookout the road was closed, so I had to retrace my steps and head back towards Kyogle. In Kyogle I stopped for a quick look at the Sunday morning markets and found a very tasty sausage roll for brunch. Then it was off east towards Murwillumbah however I stopped in at Crams Farm on the banks of the Clarrie Hall dam and had the rest of my lunch sitting peacefully by the lake.

From here it was back onto the main road before turning off towards Tyalgum and following a twisty narrow road. I stopped in at Byrrill Creek campground in the Mebbin national park, nice little spot.
Then it was off towards home via Chillingham and Tomewin and down into Currumbin. All up about 370 Kms and a very pleasant way to spend the weekend.

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