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 24

24 February 2013

Woke up this morning to severe rain and wind! It pelted down all this morning and I was a little concerned to what we may get up to.

Unfortunately our camper is definitely not rain proof....with the bed areas being canvas it is similar to sleeping under a tent. We got up and Joel's whole corner of his bed was soaking wet! Good start! It seems to drip down these metal bars that hold the canvas up and drip in one corner which then goes into the mattress and sheets etc. I thought I better check mine and it was the same! So we put little containers under the drip to lessen the damage there and rolled the mattresses up hoping the rain would ease off soon.

Luckily it did and the sun came out for the rest of the day so it gave the mattress, sheets and floor time to dry.

As soon as we saw the sun thought we better get out there and have a fish while we can. We were going to go off the rock wall where the salmon are but it was like a washing machine in the surf and the waves were crashing against the rock wall which didn't look really safe! We went on the calm side of the wall instead and Joel caught a flathead....well when I say caught.....I mean we saw it stuck on the end of the hook and he tried to pull it up over the rocks and GONE!

We then came back to camp and made a pizza for lunch. We used a leftover wrap for the base which surprisingly worked well and went crunchy so was yummy! Joel's sister posted on Facebook that she made a pizza which cost her $100 for the gas and $60 for the ingredients......well we say this pizza cost us $1 for the gas and $5 for the ingredients, povo pizza!

We then decided to fish again, cuz we have done so well previous to this! Haha... I caught about 6 little whiting and Joel caught another flathead that threw him off just at the beach! So frustrating! We really need to take the boat out and get in some good spots to get some of these fish, starting to get embarrassing! See what the weather is like tomorrow...

Carly & Joel

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Day 23

23 February 2013

Today we awoke to rain and wind. And lesson NOT learnt! We left the roof hatch open last night and had a van full of water again! We are really lucky I think that the water just goes on one side of the van where the bench and sink and flooring is, if the hatch was on the other side, it would be wet couches, wet iPads, wet everything!

After our clean up we headed outside the van to have a look around, at this stage it was pouring and the rain was blowing straight into the annexe area so we couldn't really even stand outside the van without getting wet! We are trying to be resourceful in our bush camping and decided to put buckets under the water flowing off the annexe roof which we can later use to have a shower.

I had read on the Internet about the Moruya Markets and thought they were worth a look even though it was miserable weather. On the Internet it states it is the fastest growing market in central NSW with 120 stalls, so I thought well it will be worth a look surely......

Markets are located on the river, first left after the bridge in the park there, can't miss them. I would say they would have been pushing 10 stalls here, in their defense it was raining, however I am not sure that the 110 stalls that didn't turn up today really exist?! Anyway some nice fruit and vegies if you need them.

We then went for a bit of a drive, not like we had anything pressing to do at the van! Our neighbours had told us about a walk so we thought we would check that out, it was called the Bingi Dreaming Track and it is located at the Bingi Point. The walk we want to do is 5.5km so couldn't do today because of the weather situation but the Bingi Point there is nice and worth a look.







There is a information sign there that says shipwrecked vessels are located in this area etc....Joel was like where? And then he thought he found one.....haha

He also found some shelter from the rain under the shipwreck!

The weather was just not good so we kept driving in the car and decided to have a look at Tinebar where a couple of campers had told us you can get a $5 lunch here at the Sports Club. It is only about 10 mins up the road from our camp and is clearly signed off the highway. Good news the $5 lunch is only on Monday to Friday...haha but we decided to go in and have a look around anyway. It is a really nice little club, wasn't packed or anything for a Saturday, had a beer and some hot chips and gravy and headed back to camp.

Unfortunately the great solar system we have does not work when there is NO sun! So in the afternoon we had to resort to the next source of power - the generator, which is a bit noisy but not much we can do about it. You are allowed to run generators from 8am-8pm here so not breaking any rules.

The rest of the arvo was spent marking on maps where we have been, looking at where we are going, watching TV, cooking pikelets, eating cream haha and settling in for a night of karate kid.

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 22

22 February 2013

Today we did not do much, it was crappy weather.

We did decide we were going to go into town to get some jam and cream and attempt to make scones again for our nice neighbours; however rain put a dampener on this idea. Maybe another day...

We did go for a bit of a fish but pretty much as soon as we got out there it started raining so had to come back as we didn't take our rain jackets!

We couldn't get tv reception here but after talking to some other ppl they were getting reception, so we decided to move the antenna. We moved it onto the back of the ute as the ute was in a bit of a clearing where there was no trees. And whola 23 channels! So note do not put antenna behind trees as will not receive signal!

I have also added a map of our trip onto the blog so check out the "Where We Have Been" page with the new map showing locations. This is a working progress and I will keep adding when I get the chance.

Let us know you are reading and post a comment below. Ask us questions if there is anything you want to know or suggest things we can cover! Tell us some wet weather activities we can do as it looks like that's what we are heading towards in the next couple of days!

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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