Does this title make you want to read this post? Probably not as like me you were anticipating a dull few days travelling – especially after us spending time in Sydney. But it has been interesting, and we’ve got to see some neat things. My camera has been having a rest so there are no photos unfortunately. I’ll get back into shooting mode soon!
STOP ONE: 3 nights at ‘The Pines’ Camping ground, Watagan State Forest
This was a strange feeling place to me – I just never felt really comfortable there. We were out of Telstra service a lot of the time and a long way from anywhere and I felt a bit vulnerable I guess. Trevor and the boys loved it though.
We met a really interesting man there with his beautiful dog. Trevor and I had good chats with him and he gave us some good suggestions for equipment to make our trip easier. This was great as he seemed to have the same approach to Trevor where things need to work, be useful and be a good price. This sounds obvious but we have encountered some travellers who have spent a lot of money on things that either don’t work, cost the earth, are not really needed (in our opinion anyway!!) and/or could be done a far cheaper way.
Harry made friends with an interesting couple and I felt like I was always needing to be more alert than usual as he wanted to chat to them next to their campfire more than do anything else. There was also a group of young guys on our first night there who were loud. I know, I know, I sound like a fun-sheriff but I was glad to go.
Before we left the boys showed me through a walk trail they’d found and it was just beautiful! Little waterfalls, wooden bridges, lots of green and birdsong. I wish I had taken my camera as I would have loved to have taken photos of Max and Harry carefully negotiating their way across a running creek, bridged by a single tree. Australia is a simply stunning place!
We took some great roads on our way back to the highway. Trevor got to practise his 4WDing skills! We saw some of the impact flooding has had where roots of many old trees have been exposed because of erosion caused by water. Lots of trees are water logged as the water has nowhere to go.
STOP TWO: 2 nights at Dungog Showgrounds
The free camps in Dungog had been flooded out by last week’s rainy weather and weren’t going to be open again until Spring. The Visitor Centre suggested we use the Showgrounds, and once again, showgrounds proved to be a great place to stay.
Max and Harry loved riding their bikes around and Trevor and I loved the position high on the hill overlooking the very pretty town. Harry and I went to the Visitor’s Centre today and overheard two ladies talking about how there are a large number of people at the town’s caravan park but the toilets were locked and it was a bit chaotic. We were very glad we ended up at the Showgrounds with its hot showers and peaceful setting.
Dungog is a gorgeous looking and feeling town. I felt it was like a large Wagin whereas Trevor felt it was more like Bridgetown. Either way, it had a brilliant supermarket, a delicious, interesting, well priced bakery, several lovely places to have a cup of coffee or something to eat and some interesting specialty shops. Everyone was very friendly, and there seemed to be lots of people stopping for a chat with each other. It felt so lovely!
STOP THREE: 1 night at Coopernook Park Camp ground
An edited video of us getting to this campsite could have been a winner on an episode of “Funniest Home Videos”. The Camps Guide we have is from 2007 and our GPS map is a couple of years old too. We didn’t realise until after a few backwards and forwards trips along the highway following their directions, that some roads had been realigned in the last year or so.
The road we were looking for now ran above us as a bridge and the GPS showed us driving though a paddock.
Another problem we had, and this was not to do with out of date maps, was finding the right highway exit. There was a humungous sign up saying “For Forest Road, take next exit”. We tried two subsequent exits before finding the right one. Multiple U-Turns with a caravan on?? Luckily Trevor was driving as I would have been swearing my head off! It wasn’t THAT bad really – it was probably only an extra 30 or 40 minutes, but it stretched me a bit!
We finally found the camp we wanted at around 4.30pm and it was worth the trouble getting here. It is in the middle of state forest and is a fairly flat large grassed area with many deciduous trees that are still holding some of their Autumn leaves. Stunning! There are several other people staying here and we are close enough but not on top of each other. We’ll get the football out for a kick around tomorrow!
There is a lady living nearby who cares for injured wildlife, so the boys and I thought we might pay her a visit tomorrow to find out more.
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