Summing Up

Well, another trip is over, although tempted, we didn't take the Adelaide turnoff the Hume on the way home.

It would have been nice, but not just yet.

Well we vistited the grandchild on the way up and then headed east to the coast. Washed out and scared by the big trees in the storm at Durras North. Dried out and rested at Bawley Point. Found paradise at Huskisson for a few days with a visit from friends from Sydney, then more paradise at Wyangala Waters. A very pleasant visit with a cousin of Robs, not seen for quite some years. Then back to the gorgeous grandchild for another play.
A respite from the long drive at Beechworth for our last evening by the campfire before the final leg home.

A major sadness on the Hume on the way down was the amount of kangaroos lying by the ide of the road. It was impossible to miss as they outnumbered the caravans going the other way and there were plenty of those. Not sure of the reason but it must be affecting the numbers.

Trip tally, 2300 km, only 6 setups, 2 rellie visits and several evenings around the pig. All in all a pleasant trip and many thanks to all the emails and comments. A special thankyou to Anna & Des who kept us laughing with their witty comments.

Round Trip

Til next time.

The end is near

Back at Queanbeyan for another visit with the delightful Ava and her Mum & Dad for 2 nights, lovely weather at the moment.
Found time to attend the Canberra Camping Show at the Entertainment Park. A bit dissapointed with the quantity of exhibitors and those there were'nt too interested in selling.
Walked around for a while and most of the things we wanted to see were'nt there anyway. Came away without buying a thing!
Went for our final coffee today at Manuka with Tegan and Ava and then headed off toward home.

Decided to break the long journey with a stopover at Beechworth. Nice little spot beside Spring Creek, with frogs a'croaking and brooks a'babbling.

Heading home tomorrow with a 1 degree forecast overnight and it could be the end in more ways than one. We could wake up frozen solid in the morning.

Catching up with Cousin

Decided for an extra day at Wyangala and run across to Cowra to visit one of Rob’s cousins and her husband she hasn’t seen in 22 years. Had a lengthy chat about all our kids and their goings on and reminiscing and a lovely BBQ lunch. They took us to the Information Centre where they have a hologram presentation story about the Cowra POW breakout in 1944. It seems that all is forgiven now and there are many Japanese tourists visiting the area. We went out to the site of the POW camp and all that remains are some concrete footings of some of the buildings.

A trip then to the local lookout for a magnificent view across Cowra township and the surrounding farmlands. The day disappeared before we knew it as we had a 5:00 curfew to get back into the camp area. We made it with 10 minutes to spare.

Back to Queanbeyan today to revisit the grandchild and see if she has changed in 2 and a half weeks.

Caves and Mountains

After a brisk morning in Bungonia Conservation Park, we decided that this was not the place to be. The guy at the information Centre said that the drive to Crookwell to the north was quite nice and we thought why not! After a quick pack up, we headed off for a drive through the mountains and he was right, it was a very nice drive. As we wound our way through the fairly steep and winding roads, Crookwell wasn’t quite the place for us to camp. It was on the main road and right in the middle of town.

 As we proceeded over the Great Dividing Range, we came across a sign to the Abercrombie Caves which we had read about somewhere. It was only 2 km off the highway, but straight down! A bit hairy on the very steep and narrow and winding road, but the trusty Tvan anchored us to the asphalt and we made it.

The caves were very interesting and fairly easy to get to and there were some interesting shapes and forms created by the stalactites and stalagmites. The water flowing through the cave was a bit eerie as it wasn’t the actual river, it went underground. It was very interesting crawling around some quite claustrophobic and small caves contrasting with the cavernous huge area of the main cave.

As we walked back to the car park, we heard lots of frogs serenading us as we walked along the river bank.

While having lunch in the picnic area, we went through a few of the brochures we had picked up in Goulburn, looking for a home for the night, we found Wyangala Waters State Park Recreation Reserve which is a park adjacent to the Wyangala Dam.

As it turned out, the camp area is terrific with fabulous water views, our choice of sites and fires allowed. Kangaroos and rabbits abound(ing) along with plentiful birdlife.

Dedicated Blogger

Ideal Campsite

View from camp

Mirror Perfect

All in all a great day.

Freezing our fingers off

We have left our little piece of paradise at Hidden Creek to continue our journey. We have landed at Bungonia State Coservation Area, just south east of Goulburn. Very nice park, but they don't allow fires! Hence the title. We are sitting in the last of the sun with a very fresh breeze forcing us into hoodies and gloves. We have turned the freezer off as it's certainly not required here.

Went for a walk around the camping area, noone else around and we saw some kangaroos and an echidna (someone did pick up on my little test in a previous post where I called them a porcupine - well done you).

We stopped off in Goulburn for supplies and some lunch and a very nice feast at Rose's cafe. We have eaten there before and it was very nice.

Rob's Spinach Pie and salad

Phil's Morrocan Pie and potatoe bake

As I mentioned, the weather here is very cold and down to 1 tonight. Rob is prepared as we have a quiet read before tea.

Ready for anything

Gourmet Travellers from Sydney

We had a visit today from some friends who drove down from Sydney to catch up. We first met them on a camping trip in Meningie SA and they too are camping tragics.

They arrived in time for a massive cookup for brunch of fresh poached eggs (from Anna’s chooks), bacon, asparagus(fresh from Anna’s garden), tomatoes, toast and freshly brewed coffee brewed by our visiting barista, Des. We were thoroughly spoilt by our visitors fare.

We finally met in person their constant travelling companion, Svejk, who while only a cloth puppet, has a long history and even his own book and featured in our friends recent travel blog.

Svejk and his "guardians"



A rest after bruch



After a few hours of camping modification stories, new toys recently acquired, the girls discussion of “issues” with our children, it was unfortunately time for them to move on.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning and the weather was just perfect.

The camp owner was meanwhile busily cutting up a few fallen trees and was kind enough to drop off some nice dry firewood. Food for the pig tonight!

Looks like the camp is filling up for the weekend – the serenity is gone!

Thoroughly modern camper

Aaah, The Serenity

Finally, a bush camp that is just perfect. We happened across the appropriately named “Hidden Creek” (Real camping) ground just out of Huskisson while out on a drive. After calling in and asked for a look around, we decided to pull up stumps at the caravan park in town and move to Hidden Creek. http://www.jervisbaycabins.com.au,  It’s just down the road from a 5 star camp ground that costs $480 per night! http://www.paperbarkcamp.com.au

Yes we will miss the constant stream of new friends walking only metres away from morn til night, and the sound of people packing up at some ungodly hour (before 9am) and the sympathetic sounds of the caravan park lawnmower and whipper snipper doing the rounds at all hours of the day. NOT.

Anyway, we have moved and we are the only ones here. The sun is shining and the birds are singing.

While most will think it’s a bit primitive, to us it’s perfect. We still have power, access to toilets and showers, 3 minutes from town and it’s in a beautiful bush setting.

Reading Room

Front Lobby



Dining Room

There may be a few more critters around (as the ants crawl across the keyboard!) and I’m dreading the possibility of mossies and just hope it’s a bit early in their breeding season.

Came across a echidna this afternoon as we walked around camp which is right on the river (creek?), little bugger just curled up next to a rock.

Neighbor