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.

Vic High Country Trip, Day 7 and 8

We slept in a bit and had brekkie before going for a drive at around 9 am. After driving across the Murray river at a shallow crossing we found our original target, the Davies Plain track closed, so we went exploring a couple of other tracks.
After driving the Tom Groggin Track and Paddy Joy track, among others we had a bit of lunch and stopped off for a look at Wheelers Creek hut. 

In the afternoon we found a few other nice tracks and then ended up on the mount Pinnibar track which led to the top of Mt Pinnibar and a spectacular view. 

Today's tracks all had some very steep sections so there was a lot of low range driving, but the track surface was pretty good so while slow it wasn't that hard.
Then it was back to camp for a swim in the creek to cool off but as there was a fire ban we didn't have a camp fire to sit around after dinner so we headed off to bed relatively early.

Today the others were going to do the walk to the top of Mt Kosciuszko but as my knees were playing up I would amuse myself around Thredbo. So we had a sleep in and a lazy breakfast before driving off to Thredbo where we couldn't find a park down near the chair lift station so Phil and I ended up parking up the top car park and walking down to the village.
We got Day tickets to the chair lift and headed up with all the mountain bikers. 

After coffee and morning tea at the restaurant at the top of the chair lift the others started walking to the top of Kosciusko while headed back down to the village.
I wandered around having a look and had lunch from the bakery down by the stream. 

There was a bit of rain but I found a spot under cover and wrote up some blog entries for posting while I had a reasonable signal. When the others came back from the walk we headed back to camp for a swim in the creek to cool off. No campfire as we still had a fire ban, do it ended up being an early night in bed.

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Vic High Country Trip, Day 5 and 6

Had a bit of a sleep in as we weren't shifting camp today. After a leisurely brekkie we went for a drive to explore the area around Long Plain. Beside the road there were tons of Brumbies in evidence, some looking well fed and healthy others looking a bit on the skinny side. We headed further into the park on Long Plains road stopping at Cooleman to explore and old homestead and its outbuildings. 

Then we continued onto the spectacular Blue Waterhole where we went for a bit of a walk to see the creek and waterhole and look for the caves that were supposed to be there. 

After this it was back to camp for lunch.
In the afternoon we took the road out to Currango homestead which is quite a nice place and is set up to take guests in a quiet rural setting. To get there we had to drive over the dried up bit of Tantangara Reservoir, once again lots of Brumbies taking advantage of the green grass here. Then we followed a fire trail which led us around the far side of the reservoir to the Dam wall which was constructed as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. After that it was back to camp for drinks and nibbles followed by dinner and another night around the campfire with the neighbours. It wasn't quite so cool this evening.

Although it didn't rain overnight there was still quite a heavy dew so packing up camp involved a lot of rearranging of tents, trailers, etc. to get them dry. We left about 08:30 and we're heading towards Tom Groggin where we would base ourselves for a few days exploring. Our first stop was for coffee and morning tea at Cabramurra and then we moved onto Khancoban to refuel and have an early lunch. We stopped along the way at a couple of lookouts and dams for a photo or two. The food at the cafe in Khancoban was pretty good.

Then it was onto Tom Groggin on the border between NSW and Vic and right on the Murray River. It was pretty hot when we arrived but there weren't many people there so we quickly set up camp in a nice area and headed off for a swim in the river. It was as a little brisk but given the heat outside quite welcome.

Then after drinks and nibbles and dinner we sat around the camp fire for awhile until it started to cool off and we headed off to sleep.

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Vic High Country Trip, Day 3 and 4

Had a bit of a sleep in before showering and packing up, then headed up to the Oberon bakery for breakfast at 8am. Then it was off south to Goulburn where we got onto the Hume highway and continued on to the Yass Service centre where we refuelled and met up with Phil.
We took the road to Wee Jasper and started exploring the dirt roads in the forestry and national parks. Unfortunately, the road we needed to get to our planned campsite for the night was closed so we had to loop around back towards Canberra and finally ended up at Woods Reserve for the night. It was a nice little spot down by a creek so we set up camp for the evening.
By now the temperature was cooling down a bit so it wasn't too hot. After dinner and an entertaining show put on by some of the other campers we retired to bed relatively early. All up we did about 400 kms today.

We had organised ourselves to leave at approx 8:30 am however it was drizzling a bit so everyone had a bit of a wet pack up. We stopped at a national park day use area and put some air back in the tyres as we were probably going to be spending most of the day on bitumen roads.
We stopped off to have a look at Brayshaw's hut on the way 

and continued on through the Namadgi national park past Shannons Flat and stopped off in Adaminaby for fuel and an early lunch. Very good coffee and meals at the bakery.

After this we headed off along the Snowy Mountains Highway to the Long Plain Campgound where we quickly set up camp 

before setting off to explore the Yarrangobilly Caves. We went on an unguided walk through one of the open caves and then had a guided walk through Jillabenan Cave which was pretty spectacular. 

After this we headed off to the Thermal Pool which involved an 800 m walk down a pretty steep hill, my knees were complaining vigorously at the bottom. The pool wasn't that warm but we had a swim anyway before trudging back up the hill to the car park.

Then it was back to camp for some dinner and we sat around the campfire with our neighbours Peter and Robyn. The wind came up and it got quite cool so it was off to bed relatively early.

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Vic High Country Trip, Day 1 and 2.

Got up at about 6 am , showered and finished packing, leaving home about 7 am. Headed down the highway and had an easy drive to Grafton where I turned off to Ebor where I had morning tea and then onto Armidale and Tamworth. Getting out of the car at Tamworth for lunch at Maccas was like opening an oven, it must have been around 40 deg C.
From Tamworth I head south west through Premer before turning south on the Black Stump Way. Lots of storms around with some pretty strong winds which had brought down a tree across the road but I could sneak past it on the edge. Around Coolah I ran into some very heavy rain and with the wipers going full blast I had to slow down to about 40 kph on the highway. Once the rain and lightning disappeared I had to pull off the road to let a huge bit of mining equipment go past. It was towed by 4 or 5 prime movers and pushed by another two.

Around 6'ish I decided to stop for the night at Gulgong caravan park as I was starting to feel a little weary. Nice little place and seems quiet. Had about an hour of rain and lightning after I went to bed, very relaxing hearing the rain on the roof of the camper. All up about 750 kms today.

Slept in a little and had a shower before leaving around 7:30 am, nothing open in Gulgong for brekkie so I headed off to Mudgee. Got there around 8 and had a walk around, then coffee and brekkie, refuelled Blute. Then headed south towards Bathurst stopping in at Windsmere Dam along the way to have a look.

When I got to Bathurst I thought I would go and have a look at the motor racing track but when I got close to it I realised from the traffic they were having some sort of event there so I turned around and went for an early lunch at Maccas.
Then it was a pleasant little drive south to Oberon where I checked into the caravan park and then went exploring around Lake Oberon and Oberon Dam. Not a lot to see so headed back to the caravan park for a restful afternoon until the others came back from the Jenolan caves.
Chatted and caught up with everyone else for awhile before we headed for a walk to town for dinner at the Thai place. Came back to camp and chatted for awhile before heading to bed as it had cooled down a bit. All up about 230 km today, with Blute averaging around 12.7 l/100 km on the trip down.

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Aus Day long weekend 2017, Day 3 & 4.

After brekky and pack up we went exploring to see if we could find the old mines that I had visited last time. We eventually found it but on the way we ran into an exploration crew who were doing some new drilling cores to look at the viability of starting up the mines again. Shane and I spent quite awhile wandering around the old mine taking photos of the old equipment.
One of the drilling crew had told us about a track around to Emmaville so we went off exploring and after finding a locked gate on the main track we tried a side track which on the map looked like it should take us where we wanted to go. However the track deteriorated quickly and became impassible, so we headed back to check out the Mystery Face rock just out of Torrington. While Shane walked up to have a look and take some photos I lounged around at the bottom and read a book.
On his walk back to the car Shane decided that he need a Steak and Kidney pie for lunch, so we headed back to Tenterfield via the back roads and past some nice looking camping spots on the Mole river.
Back in Tenterfield both Bakeries were closed but one of the open Cafes had pies but no Steak and Kidney so we had to settle for Steak and Mushroom pies and milk shakes for a late lunch.
We then headed north to visit Basket Swap national park and drove out to check out the camp ground where there would have been tons of space but we continued onto have a look at the Falls. After a quick walk around and a few photos we took a nice relaxing swim in one of the pools at the top of the Falls.

Then it was onto visit an aboriginal site Woolool Wooloolni where there was quick an impressive set of standing boulders. The walk out and back was only a bit over half a km but in that distance I think I was attacked by about ten million leeches. We decided to camp at the shed in the car park as it seemed to be mercifully free of leeches and would provide us with a bit of protection if the rain came in. We set up the camp fire in fireplace in the shed and had dinner and sat around for awhile but retired early to bed.

There had been no rain overnight but when we woke up the cloud and mist had closed in and it seemed pretty gloomy. After coffee and brekkie and a quick pack we headed off. I wanted to get home around lunch time so I could start getting organized for the next trip which was less than a week away. We went back to the Mt Lindsay Highway and turned south to Tenterfield and then east on the Bruner Highway towards Casino. We investigated a few side roads along the way but they didn't lead to anything interesting
At Tabulam we had a quick stop for iced coffee and then on the way into Casino Shane's main fuel tank ran dry, so he did a bit of coasting down hills while he pumped some fuel from the auxiliary tank into the main. He made it, no worries into Casino where he refueled. Then it was onto Lismore and finally Bangalore before hitting the M1 north for the final run home. It was a pretty smooth run at the speed limit with no real bottlenecks. I said goodbye to Shane at Tweed Heads where I made a quick stop to pick up a new memory for my GoPro for the next trip.
All up over the three and half days, I had covered 880 km and visited quite a few NSW national Parks. When I got home I unpacked most of the boxes from the camper so that I can restock things that need it over the up coming week. Another enjoyable couple of days touring around with Shane.

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Aus Day long weekend 2017, Day 1 & 2.

Woke up about 6 am and had a quick coffee and shower before throwing the final stuff in to the fridge in the camper. I left home about 7 am and headed north to Nerang then west to Canungra and Beaudesert where I had a quick breakfast. Then it was south towards Rathdowney where all the traffic turned off towards Lake Maroon leaving me with a nice clear trip to Woodenbong.
From here I headed west towards the little town of Liston where there was a turn off to Undercliffe Falls which is where I was going to meet up with Shane. I found the Falls and Shane just before lunch time and we sat down for a chat and a drink before taking a quick look at the top of the Falls and then finding a nice little spot for a swim in the pools above the Falls. 

We decided that we where going to stay the night so we shifted the cars to a quieter spot and had some lunch. While we were having a lazy afternoon reading there was a procession of locals using the swimming holes. For dinner on Australia Day I had cooked a roast lamb shoulder and some vegetables in the Cobb oven over a couple of hours. 

We were sitting around the campfire after having just finished dinner when the rain started so we quickly packed up and headed to bed early in the nice dry campers. It didn't rain a lot over night but came in waves.

It was still overcast and misty in the morning so we quickly packed up and headed back to Liston and then continued on towards Tenterfield stopping off at Bald Rock and Boonoo Boonoo national parks on the way. Both had empty camping spots if we wanted to stay. At Boonoo Boonoo we walked around to see the waterfalls and then stopped in at the old mining site at Morgan's Gully.

On the way into Tenterfield we stopped off to have a look at the old Tank Traps and then Thunderbolt's Hideout. In Tenterfield we had lunch at one of the Bakeries and decided to head out to Torrington national park for a look. We ended up camping in the 3rd camp site at Torrington which was 4WD access only. There was one other camp site taken then and some late comers arrived after dark but it was very quiet and peaceful. As my knees were a bit sore after the morning walks so I spent the arvo reading while Shane went back and visited Ugly Falls for some photos. After dinner we sat around the fire for quite awhile while there was thunder and lightning all around us. Early on one of the local Wallabies came for a visit and was quite unafraid of us while we took some photos. After my last visit to Torrington where it poured with rain for several days I expected some overnight rain but it didn't eventuate and we woke up nice and dry.

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