Day 32

4 March 2013

Packed up Mallacoota camp this morning and hit the road again. We were considering staying more nights in Mallacoota to clean them out of flathead but decided we had enough for now. Hehe

Our journey took us through Cann River, Orbost and Lakes Entrance. This was a very nice seaside town and also very touristy, for a Monday there was people everywhere, places to stay here are quite expensive too so kept driving. Bairnsdale, Sale and down to Ninety Mile Beach. WikiCamps has led us to a few free camp spots on this beautiful beach so we headed down to Golden Beach. All along the esplanade here is campsites numbered from 1-20. Some are quite boggy and small, some not real level but we found 19 was pretty good for us and set up here just for the night.

Easy setup as we kept the ute hitched up so took us no time at all. Joel did a bit of chainsaw work on some dead trees and helped clear the bush up a bit. Nice of him! And we may have used that wood to start a fire which we cooked our steak and vegies in the camp oven on. Oh and our scones for dessert!

And that's us done for the day!

Carly & Joel

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Day 26

26 February 2013

Today we packed up early and left Moruya at around 9am bound for Mount Kosciusko NP. We headed towards Bega then onto Cooma and out to Jindabye which is near the edge of the NP. We stopped at a nice little bakery at Nimmitabel on the way to Cooma. It was a lovely little town, not much there but lolly world, few cafes and some toilets (which we were in desperate need of)! Worth a stop if you are in this neck of the woods.

Between Bega and Nimmitabel there is quite literally nothing, and I mean nothing. I know people always say that Australia is so diverse but I have now seen it with my own eyes and I haven't even been to remote parts of it yet! There was just flat nothingness, no trees, no houses, dry dry land and then we come to a steep range and the whole landscape changes again, more like rainforest (very similar to Dorrigo, winding and steep) over that then flat land with some dead looking trees everywhere and big boulders then BANG a town with a population of 8000, shops everywhere (Cooma)! Saw 10 or more different landscapes in this drive!

At the national park and there are gates manned at each entry.

You can just drive through at no cost however if you want to stay or spend the day, there is a per day fee which is $16. This may seem expensive but this includes your camp fees too so $16 a night is pretty cheap! We are staying at Thredbo Diggings as this is the one suggested to us by Jindabyne Info Centre as it is close to a few different things like Thredbo, Mount Kosciusko Summit Walk, Chair lifts etc.

We set up and good news we have already made some friends! 7 of them in total, obviously people feed them as they were not bothered by us at all and were quite happy to come close and explore under and around the van! A little too close for my liking!

Started our fire which took 3 goes to light as we didn't have enough small stuff to get it going. Our plan was to cook up dinner on the provided fire BBQs (pictured below) go for a bit of a fish in the river, finish the washing and settle in for some marshmallows around the fire.....

Well let me tell you how it really went.....fire raging finally after 3 attempts, I have just rinsed, squeezed out and hung all the washing that was in our "washing machine", Joel has put the yabby pot in and is preparing his fishing rod and ..........RAIN, pouring RAIN! Washing soaked, Joel soaked as he had just made it to edge of the river ready to fish, everything outside soaked, fire soaked, only place to go....inside the van! So this is where we have been all arvo as there is nowhere else to go.

We shouldn't complain as our neighbours are in a small pop up tent! And I know everywhere else is copping rain too so we aren't the only ones...will be pretty peeved if raining tomorrow cuz there won't be much to do, however I am willing to climb Kosciusko in the rain!!

All I have to say about the washing scenario is....I know why we invented washing machines! Doable but not advisable! There are laundromats everywhere...

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 25

25 February 2013

There was a pretty bad storm yesterday arvo but lucky for us it didn't really turn into much. Made more noise than anything with the thunder but we woke up to beautiful blue and not a cloud in the sky!

We were going to go fishing this morning for the last time here, but unfortunately the storm had washed a LOT of debris into the river and ocean so there was no chance of that happening. On the bright side we could have scored a bucket or soccer ball if we needed it but we thought we would leave it for someone who actually wanted it. (Only took another 5 mins before someone else took the bucket!)

No fishing, Joel decided to shave his head and I thought it was funny when I saw his little mirror he had hanging off the caravan door so he could see what he was doing. (Reminded me of MASH tv show for some reason when they used tiny little mirrors to shave in the army) That's the kind of tough things out here haha, no full length mirrors for us!

We had to do a "dump" run in town and decided to pick up some supplies for our next adventure so we didn't have to worry when we got there.

We are trying the bulk meat idea this week to see if that saves us anymore money! (So the cryvac machine got a workout today) There is a local butcher in Moruya so we got a pack from them, we also picked up some cheap tarps as if it is still rainy and we have to pack up when things are wet we can put these over our mattresses so our sheets etc do not get wet!

Another interesting thing about Moruya is that all along the Main Street of the town is these "pole carvings with meaning" that were apparently done by the one artist but were paid for by all different clubs, associations etc. They are pretty cool and I think there must be about 12 or more in total. We just had a look at a few of them and each one has a meaning behind it and tells the story on the carving.

We then headed back to camp to start cooking dinner! You see yesterday we lit a fire to cook our roast and a big storm came and we ended up having toasted sandwiches for dinner so today we were determined to make sure we got in before the afternoon storm came!

While dinner was cooking we decided that we might do some washing. We bought a big drum a little while ago for bush washing but hadn't actually used it yet..... Our plan is to put all the clothes in with some washing liquid and tomorrow leave the drum in the van so it can slosh around (like a washing machine) and then when we get to our destination we can take it out and rinse. Will tell ya how this goes!

Packing up a bit this arvo to prepare for tomorrow, we were originally going to head for Mallacoota in Vic but we have decided to go to Mount Kosciusko National Park. This is mainly because we were planning to go to the Alpine NP but because of the bush fires we can't go there so this is the next best thing.

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 21

21 February 2013

There was a bit of doof doof music played last night which us oldies were not very impressed about but it only lasted about 5 mins so we assumed that some cranky old person told them to turn it down! Turns out this is only a tiny bit of the story! They actually reeked havoc stealing people's stuff and cops came out late night and escorted them out! There is always one idiot!! Or in this case 4!

We woke up and headed for a run along the beach, which I prewarned Joel that if he came, he was not allowed to whinge! The sand was hard so easier to run on but it was not great weather and Joel did whinge about his knee, his groin muscle and how he didn't realise how far it was! I don't think he will be coming for a run anymore! Good start to the morning though and we came back to camp and decided to test out the shower tent and hot shower.

I went first which really wasn't the smartest idea as we hadn't really tested it before this, which means ultimately I was the test dummy! I jumped in, beautiful and warm, soaped up, shampooed my hair.......freezing cold water is pumping out of the shower head....."JOEL? WTF?" .......gas ran out, so I am standing naked in a freezing cold shower tent with soap everywhere and shampooed hair waiting for Joel to sort the gas out. Eventually got it back to warm water again, rinsed off and quickly got out of there for fear of the water turning on me again! Thanks test dummy, shower should be perfect now.....Joel gets in.... Warm shower .....then..... "CARLY? WTF?" Cold again, conclusion something wrong with coleman hot water on demand, should be called hot water when it feels like giving it! (Doesn't have the same ring to it I guess!)

It works, but you have to keep switching it on and off to get it working again. So big pain in the ass! And nowhere near a BCF store to take it back so we are just working with it at the moment. At this stage would not recommend this product to people!

We had a big fishing session just in front of our campsite today, on low tide you can walk right out to the middle of the water and fish, so we pumped some yabbies and headed out there. I caught a couple of little whiting and one keeper! Finally a fish! But we didn't get any other keepers so decided to let the caught one go and wait for enough for a feed another day. Also I again forgot to take a picture before we put it back so I have no proof of this fish, which is becoming a habit! Getting a bit slack with photos all around actually, will work on improving this.

Had a good chat this arvo to a couple from the Sunshine Coast that go away for 3 months each year and have given us some good tips like - if you find a nice spot, pull up, sit down have a chat for a bit and see if other people turn up or the noise level, people around you etc, if you don't like it can just jump back in the car and find another spot. At the moment we just pull up and start setting up, once we have done this it is a pain to pack up so we have no real choice but to stay, so good tip! They also went through free and safe places to camp and cheap and marked them all in our camp 6 book for us. Very helpful!!

Another fire tonight, rissoles for dinner and Joel has attempted scones in the camp oven. The result being......

Yes they were as good as they looked! Nobody needs to know that on the way from the camp oven to the kitchen bench they may have landed in the dirt! Haha still good.

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 20

20 February 2013

We had a peaceful nights sleep here! This is officially Joel's fav camp site in nsw.

We headed into the town of Moruya to have a sticky beak and pick up a few supplies. There is everything you would need in Moruya and probably more. IGA, Woolworths, Tackle World, hardware shops, petrol, food, cafes, pubs etc.

We got some groceries, picked up some pilchards from the brewing, camping & fishing store, signed a petition to keep Moruya Heads Campground (where we are staying) the same and not let council change it, they want to modernize it which pretty much means they want to charge people more! Filled the gas bottle up at Mitre 10 and picked up some kindling on the side of the road on the way back for our fire. There is a guy here right up closer to the airport (there are signs) that sells firewood by the bucket or wheelbarrow. We got a bucket for $10 and headed back to our site for a lamb roast camp oven dinner.

The caretaker comes each night to collect fees, it is only $15 a night or $88 a week (cheaper for pensioners). We have decided to stay here a week.

While the campfire was cooking us up some coals we decided to try our luck salmon fishing off the rock wall. People were pulling in salmon as we were walking up so we were hopeful that this could be the day. However we did not catch any salmon, actually pretty much after we got there no one was catching anything! Haha.

Everyone else thought it was good time to fish also!

 

Back to the coals and started the roast lamb and vegies. Well again we managed to cook this perfectly and while it was late by the time we ate, it was delicious.



Carly & Joel

 

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Day 19

19 February 2013

 

Well I think we jinxed ourselves bragging about how we had done it again and found the perfect spot! It was in a good location but turns out at night all the ferals come out and drink (on a Monday night) and cause a ruckus in the park! They kept us up all night and we were concerned that they might come and cause trouble as they were talking shit outside our van. We decided last night that we would pack up and go in the morning even though we were planning on staying 3 nights, there was lots of other parks around if need be.

Packed up early and went and gave the keys back to the owners, they were very good about the whole thing and said they had considered kicking these people out before and would definitely be doing it now, apparently they were hassling some backpackers that were staying there also. They gave us our money back on the nights we had already paid for too which they didn't have to do but appreciated.

We then decided to just drive down the coast and see what we ran into. I had read about a place on WikiCamps (which is what we have been using to source a lot of our accommodation) that was cheap and just bush camping but there was some good reviews on it so went and had a look at this. It is in Moruya which is only just below Bateman's Bay and this place was packed, grey nomads everywhere. Found a spare spot though with water views so pulled up and have decided we will at least stay here 3 nights, maybe longer.... The people are very friendly and forthcoming with advice and experience so we are more at home here. We also get to use all the equipment we have bought for bush camping, but as we have been glamping for a lot of this trip so far we haven't used it yet.

Set up the shower tent for first time, set up the Coleman hot water on demand for a hot shower and any other reason we would need hot water, solar panel is coming in handy for charging iPads, phones and running pretty much anything we want during the daylight hours. The panel actually creates more power than we can use most days so we bought an Anderson plug extension lead so we can pump power into the second battery in the car also. So not missing out on anything and can have a nice campfire as well!

Went for a bit of a fish, apparently people have been catching salmon off the rock wall here and flathead in the river. But we didn't have any luck didn't go at the right time in the tide, however Geoff a few camps down from us wants to show us all his secret spots and what gear he uses and pretty much anything, he is very helpful!

It's funny because I keep mentioning the Castle movie in this blog (and i do love this movie) but this place also reminds me of the castle because it is right next door to an airport BUT the serenity is just so good that it doesn't matter, no one cares that there are planes making noise.... Like Darryl said a man's home is his castle and this is our castle at the moment!

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 9

9 February 2013

Another chilly morning in Dorrigo, hard to get up! We started early to pack up the camper and we were on the road by 10am. We decided to ditch our shower tent today as we spent about half an hour trying to fold it up to fit back in the bag! We have had many issues with this tent so decided we were better off without it. Of course Joel wanted to throw it after his first failed attempt so I said I can do it, give it to me.... I tried for nearly 20 mins and I was ready to hurl it half way across Dorrigo! Decided to bin it, looked down at my nice top I had put on for the day and it was covered in mud and shit from trying to put the stupid shower tent away! Better yet we had already packed up the camper so I couldn't get to my clothes to change, the only thing I could get to was the shirt I wore yesterday so had to wear that! (Just thought I would let everyone know the story so you don't just think I am some homeless person who wears the same thing everyday!) haha.

Anyway on the road heading to Coffs Harbour for the big banana, Aldi and JB Hi Fi. Was a nice winding road again to get out of Dorrigo but not the same craziness that we came in on! The road is called waterfall way and that's because there is actually waterfalls that run down the side of the mountain and under the road and back out the other side of the road! Bloody amazing! Where's the photo you may ask?... Well I saw the first waterfall and thought wow that's cool, oh well missed the photo op, there would only be one of those cool waterfalls... round the next corner..... Another one! Dive for camera but too late! Wait for the next one.....but no more : (. Haha.

Coffs Harbour, first stop big banana! I'm not really sure what I was expecting but I felt slightly disappointed when I saw the banana... Anyway since I raved about how interested I was in the big things we stopped for a photo op! (I feel my big thing fascination dwindling, better be something good soon!)

Then off to Aldi as they had some caravan items in catalogue and needed some groceries. Of course none of the caravan stuff we wanted was in stock so bit disappointing! I also purchased a new gadget for the iPad which has been awesome so far....a connection so I can plug the camera straight into iPad and get photos rather than laptop, emailing, uploading crap I was doing before so win there. After our shopping trip we headed south again for our destination at Smoky Cape Campground @ South West Rocks; however on the way found a nice town on a river - Nambucca Heads so decided to head to info centre (practicing what we preach) and get some info which has led us to Gumma Reserve which is just near the town of Macksville. It is right on the river, fire, toilets and nice location (nothing like Dorrigo tho!). We are only going to stop here for one night so left trailer hooked up to head off in morning. Site is $12 a night and that's if the ranger turns up to collect the money.

We did a bit of fishing off the bank this arvo and caught a couple of very small whiting and bream, didn't take any pictures tho so you will have to take our word for it! (However if we knew they were going to be the only fish we caught we probably would have taken a photo!)

Lamb chops for dinner tonight, fire with marshmallows and sleep.

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 7

7 February 2013

Now I know what Darryl was going on about in the castle! How's the serenity?!

We were googling all last night on where we should go next and Joel found a place called Dorrigo which has a few tourist attractions and is a bit inland for something different rather than being on the coast. It is approximately 3 hours drive from Ballina and if we could go back we may have researched the route we took a little better than trusting the phone GPS to get us there! Tip for all you travellers out there, more than one road leads to where you want to go but it's not always the right road!

Well let me give you a quick picture of the road we travelled on for about 50 kms....

Seriously have a look at all the winds and corners and turns and crap there is on this road, then add gravel for some of the way, sheer drop offs down the side of the mountain, steep mountain climbs and just never knowing where it is going to end! It was a little bit crazy and probably not the safest route; however the rainforest along this road was amazing and it was a bit of a challenge.

After that road I was a little skeptical at what we might pull up to, as we got closer the big luscious green hills appeared with cattle everywhere and rolling valleys and then a big beautiful lodge house which was our destination! The actual camping ground is called Dangar Falls lodge and camping, there is a lodge at the start of the property that sleeps 10 and is for rent also but behind is a nice fenced off area that looks over all those hills,cows and valleys and this is where you can camp. It's $20 a night unpowered and $25 powered.

We set up the camper for a short stay probably two nights so we didn't worry about the annexe etc, which made the set up process much shorter. Which also means that we were able to cook a sausage on the weber much sooner and sit back and relax looking at the amazing view!

What's that we hear? It's the Dangar waterfall and its only a short walk from camp! It is a little steep and uneven but not too bad, we were both in thongs however if we go down again I will put my proper shoes on. The noise is pretty intense from this fall, especially after the rain I assume but it is raging and quite spectacular! There is a short boardwalk which we walked along to get to the falls and then there is some rocky area to walk down to get to the bottom of the falls. Well worth it! We have read of people swimming in here but right now it is friggin freezing! It was quite literally like dipping your toe into ice cold water so unless we get a 40 degree day I don't think we will be doing any swimming in the falls. We took some happy snaps and then walked back to the very top where there is also a viewing platform where you can look down on the falls.

We then walked back through the front of the property where the lodge is and noticed a couple of doors were open....doors led to a flushing toilet and hot shower! Double score!

We have now collected some wood for our fire and we are sitting back and taking in the serenity.... How are we going to top tomorrow?......stay tuned to find out!

 

PS Another tip for fellow travellers - if you are packing up your Jayco camper, always ensure you know where the car keys are! This morning we packed it all up and then Joel says "ok where are the car keys, let's hook it up" and I say "I don't know, last time I saw them they were inside the camper!" There was a few dreaded moments where we thought we were going to have to unpack it all again to find the keys but luckily they were in the car! Good lesson!!

Carly & Joel

 

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