This is the life

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We continue our journey through NSW and Qld, and 3 weeks after leaving Melbourne we still have not come across any rain. Dust is getting into the van and covering the car, although that could be a result of choosing some very dodgy roads to get to our (unplanned) destinations.

Before I get to far into bringing you up to date on some of the places we have been to, I have to take you back to Shaws Flat on the Murray and tell you a story about an uninvited passenger in our van. As we were setting up on the bank on the river, we of course needed to get out the camp chairs which are stored under the bed. Marg’s chair was handed to Geoff, and as he proceeded to unfold it he found himself looking at a small field mouse in the crease between the seat and back of the chair. Slamming it shut he quickly hurried to the embankment, and in one motion, swung the chair while opening the chair over the edge in a sort of flinging motion that dislodged the mouse. The aim was for the mouse to end in the river, and become dinner for a Murray cod, however the chair did not prove to be the best tool for the job, and the mouse ended up on the embankment. Good enough, as it was not expected that it would find its way into the van.

Back to the journey. After leaving Middle Beach we headed further North to a place that looked interesting in the Cocoparra N.P, a little north of Griffith. Little did we know that it would involve about 25 kms of dirt road to get to Woolshed Flat, winding this way and that until we got to the camp ground. After committing to the journey, we eventually arrived to find only one other camper family in the area. We set up, and by the time we had finished, the other party had packed up and left – very odd at that time of day. Not to worry, there were very good conveniences and a covered eating area complete with FREE gas barbeques. Plenty of free flies and bees too – so bad that we could not sit outside. The next day set off over the 25kms of dusty gravel road to a site that we had been to before at Lake Cargelligo.

On our previous visit to Dead Man’s Point, finding a site was quite difficult. This time we had our choice of (nearly) the whole area. Geoff took the opportunity to drive the car to the water’s edge and wash the car. We have to say that the sunsets here are just magnificent, but there was more for us to see further North.

This trip has seen us investigate a lot of more “out of the way” places to stay and the next site was in another N.P called Goobang (yes, there is a place called that), Just north of Parkes. It is out of the way and of course involved a 30 km drive on a gravel road. As is our luck, the local council were remaking the road and the water truck was just finishing for the day. There was no dust, but a lot of concrete-like mud that covered the underside of the car and the whole front of the van. Great! We did get to the (RV) camp area, and there was one other caravan already there. We found that we had a welcome party in the shape of a little wallaby who decided that we must have some food for him/her. No such luck so it eventually bounced off to do what wallabies do in the forest. In the meantime, shock horror, Margaret found what she was sure was the evidence of an extra traveller on the top of the stove. We decided to set a mouse trap and put it in the griller section of the stove. Sure enough in the middle of the night – bang, slap, slap and “did you hear that”. In the morning Geoff committed the corpse to the forest floor. We cannot believe that it was the same one that was tossed out at Shaw’s Flat, but by the same token we couldn’t believe that we had 2 mice in the van. We are now sure that we do not have any extra travellers...

After a very forgettable stop-over in Dubbo, we moved on to the Warrumbungle Ranges N.P near Coonabarabran. This is a spectacular area of soaring Rock outcrops and steep rugged hills. A little North of Coonabarabran, in the Pilliga Nature reserve is Pilliga Pottery, a place where in fact we have stayed in the past. Marg was taken with their pottery and thought as she has an important birthday approaching (faster than she wants) that she should buy herself a piece of the pottery. So we did a little excursion to achieve just that. As we might have said, Niki and Ross, and Matthew their 6 ½ month old are also travelling in a 6 berth motor home on their honeymoon. They called to see where we were and after a huge bribe of camp oven roast lamb, they decided to detour an additional 90 kms from their plan and join us in the Warrumbungles. It was great to see them and Marg of course was beside herself at seeing Matthew again. Niki and Ross moved on the next day, but we stayed for another day. It is a really spectacular area and is the site of the Siding Springs observatory – a fascinating site and worth the trip up the mountain to somewhere just this side of the moon.

Another 120 kms north is the site of a small town called Pilliga, and it claim to fame is the Pilliga bore. It beckoned and we heeded the call. It was quite an experience to have a swim in the hot waters of the Great Artesian Basin, and it also doubled as the bathroom to following morning. The bores are finding increasing popularity amongst the ‘nomad’ community and this is no exception. We moved on the next day.

We found a delightful spot at a town called Bingara, where we camped next to the Gwyder River. It is also no doubt that it is popular with the locals as there was plenty of evidence of camp fires being lit everywhere. The van was about 30 mts from the water’s edge and we could see fish of a good size jumping in the river. Geoff tried his hand at fishing with a lure, but as usual it was sausages for dinner that night. Bingara is in the middle of the “Fossickers Way” and although there was evidence of efforts from days gone by, the gem stones, gold and diamonds did not leap out of the ground and into our pockets...methinks it is all a bit of a tall tale. Geoff had an interest in looking over a place called Copeton Dam and instead of driving the 50 kms along the road we were already on, Marg decided that a round trip of 120kms was a far better option... hmm, I think I will be paying more attention to Missy in the GPS in future. We did an overnight at Copeton Dam which is run by the NSW state parks people. The Dam covers a huge area, 900 hectares, and there are a great number of powered sites, and if you want to be alone, miles of shore line or hectares of cleared land with views over the dam. It is not cheap however and we would only use it again if we put some planning into the decision, e.g the need to do washing etc..

Onward, ever onward and the next stop was at a very small riverside spot at Bonshaw. The river is the Dumaresq, which creates the border between N.S.W and QLD. Again it was only an overnight stop and although it could have been very pretty, a distinct lack of any maintenance made it a place we could leave easily. We were also aware that Niki and Ross were due at Margaret’s sisters in Tewantin, and there was another opportunity for Nanna to catch up with Matthew. A course was set to get us to Tewantin.

The next installment will be as we head for home.

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Photos

Dead Man's Point Lake Cargelico
Always awesome sunsets here

Goobang N.P and our welcome party
There he is, just to the right, behind the fire pit.

Warrumbungle N.P
Photi taken from Whitecross
View from Whitecross Lookout, just above our camp

Pilliga Pottery
Throwing and etching. The lady on the right puts the pattern on the pottery for the painter fills in the pattern.

Bingara on the Gwyder River
The caravan is not falling over, it is just an optical illusion...

Bonshaw Weir - border NSW-Qld
Watching the moon rise over the weir in Queensland.