A Day out to Glen Davis

On all our travels to and from Turon Gates, we always passed the sign to Glen Davis at Capertee and always said "we should do that soon". Finally we did. We always knew how beautiful the Capertee Valley was by that wonderful view that can be seen on the Mudgee Road. Besides it's the second largest canyon in the world, the first being the Grand Canyon.

Glen Davis was a town built in 1932 for the oil shale industry, just like Newnes on the other side of the Wolgan Valley. Once the oil shale mine closed in 1952, basically so did the town. A lot of buildings still stand but not really historical. The main historical factor is of course the old mine but that is closed up and only available to look at at certain times. I found out later that tours run Saturday afternoons at a cost. We wondered if the ruins were fenced due to them now being unsafe or was it a way to make money - who knows.

The only movement in town was at the free campsite almost in the middle. It offered showers & toilets (give me my camp potty and camp shower any day). The occupants were mainly caravans and their grey nomads with their little dogs!!!!

Unfortunately I did not get a good feel for Glen Davis. Don't know why.

Upon leaving town there was a turn-off on your right to Wollemi National Park. The black dragon instantly needed to turn and check it out. It was a good road, except for the pot holes, but even a sedan would have had no trouble. Surprisingly this was a great way to see the ruins (on the other side of the fence of course) and lead to an open campground. This would have been our choice to stay at instead of the middle of town. We took a walk on top of a hill to check it out and to our surprise got a view of the ruins again from above. This at least made our trip to Glen Davis worth it.

Glen Davis Oil Shale Ruins

I am glad that we have now visited Glen Davis and can mark it off the list. It was a wonderful day out with the family, the valley just lovely and a drive that continued on to Dunns Swamp for lunch. I choose a day like this any day, no matter where the road takes us or the feeling I get, good or bad.

Until again...

Abercrombie River National Park

Really, how lucky are we all that we have the internet as a tool these days. I remember having to rush to the library to borrow the one and only book that related to the project that you had just been given. Now we have all the information needed right in our own home...

Which leads me to acknowledge the amount of information available to us on the net relating to 4WDing, camping and all the rest of it. It was while doing research about Abercrombie River National Park that I first realised that your visit should avoid the winter months. Upon finding a video on You Tube that a past visitor had uploaded, it revealed that today it was sunny and tomorrow it snowed or more seriously today it was sunny, during the night it rained, and tomorrow the creeks were up and you couldn't cross them!

All this aside, the National Park is a wonderful place for 4WDers to visit. A sedan would not cope at all as the roads in places are quite rough and very steep. 

Photos never seem to show the actual steepness

We took a day trip to initially check out the park but knew by the end of the day that we would go back for a camp out. Unfortunately it would be back to the tent set up with stretchers (for us anyway - the boys still would suffer the ground) as we would not have got our Swan in there, happily anyway. That would be during the month of March. Great time - pleasant days and nights.

The Park basically has a main track that circles right round. There are a few roads that veer off but they eventually all meet up on the main one. There are creek crossings and lovely views to see. Off this road are the entrances to the campgrounds. These include The Beach, Silent Creek and The Sink. Silent Creek is our favourite as it is on shady grassed river flats however The Beach is great for swimming and The Sink would be great for the kids to go exploring. Always good to be in the know, there are pit toilets at all the campgrounds.

The Beach

Silent Creek

The Sink

The creek crossings are just lovely and easy done - however after rain I'm not so sure! Along the creek beds are definitely opportunities for lovely photos.

Of course, if you know me well, there was also another positive for our trip to the Park. We stumbled across old dwellings as part of the Park's history. Certainly a tick of approval.

Abercrombie River National Park is definitely a place you should visit. It's peaceful, picturesque and priceless! 

Until again...

Mt Irvine Road

Sunday, 17 February 2013

It was about time that we went on another drive. Unfortunately our adventures lately have been few and far between. D hadn't even had the opportunity to show what his new Bridgestones could do!

Quite a while back my father told D of a drive that he had taken in his V-Dub many many moons ago that went from Bilpin to Mt Irvine. Clearly this road at the time was in good condition as my father was and still is very car proud and treats them with great respect. Today, being an older and wiser man, he won't even drive his beloved Holden on dirt. So surely this meant that we were in for a very pleasant drive. We would start at the Bilpin end off Bell's Line of Road.

Well all I can say is that my father would not have even passed the open gate and, as we saw, even a Mitsubishi AWD reversed out. As she passed by she said "not with my tyres". She certainly was not wrong!

Mt Irvine Road or also known as Bowen Creek's Road was opened in 1935 to provide a through road from Mount Irvine to Bell's Line of Road and shorter route to Kurrajong and the rail head at Richmond. The access road generally followed the packhorse track marked out by C R Scrivener in 1899. It was constructed during the Great Depression with unemployment relief funding .

The Opening of the Bridge in 1935

A few thoughts were going through our heads during the first part of the drive. Firstly there was a sign at the start of the road that indicated it was closed. Secondly the lady in the AWD was uncertain if the bridge across Bowen Creek was still standing. However we assumed (some say you should never assume) that surely if the bridge was closed they would have closed the gate.

In parts the road was very rough and washed out. The black dragon was moving at walking pace. In many sections our son and I had to guide D. The road was also extremely narrow in parts and at other times extremely steep. It was definitely not for the faint hearted and definitely high clearance and low range was required. There were no places to turn around and go back if you felt that you didn't want to go on.

The road as it once was

The state of the road in places today

Upon arriving at the bridge our first thoughts were of relief because the bridge was in tact. At the time a trio of bike riders had arrived on the other side. The bridge had also been closed with orange mesh blocking each end. This had been taken down so access to the bridge was possible (clearly by other 4WDers or bike riders). When I heard one of the bike riders say to D "you won't get the car across" I must say I nearly had a heart attack. I am an avid McLeod's Daughters fan and had just finished watching the episode where Claire went over the edge of a cliff in her 4WD and died!!!!!!!!!

We watched the bike riders proceed across safely and then it was our turn. D had assured me that the bridge would not give out. Besides, he said, the Gall Boys had gone across much worse bridges on the Telegraph Track and they were pulling a caravan!!!!! I must say I was still sh***ing myself but, of course, made it across safely having not taken one breath through the ordeal. D then proceeded to tell me that the conversation also revealed that the Council was about to demolish the bridge due to its danger to the public!!!!! He also told me of the missing pieces in the bridge. Sometimes maybe things are best left unsaid, or in our case, delayed in revealing!

As the bridge once looked like!

The bridge today

Does this mean that we were the last 4WD to cross the Bowen's Creek bridge? 

The road beyond the bridge to Mt Irvine was a piece of cake. We were told that the road was in a good state so that the Council could bring in the relevant machinery to demolish the bridge.

All in all the drive was enjoyable even though I was nervous at times. If this road is going to come to an end, we are very happy that we experienced this adventure. What is it about our family. We did the Bridle Track a few years ago and soon after a landslide occurred so the road is no longer a through road.

On a final note, the moral of the story is that you should always give something a go in a safe and sensible manner. Besides you need a bit of hard core once in a while to see what your beloved 4WD is actually capable of!

Until again.....

And Finally...

6th October

Well we have arrived home safely and before long are back into the swing of everyday life. Kids are back at school, D's back at work and the weeks begin to the lead up for Christmas. Growing up I always heard how much some hated Christmas. It can be a very trying time and expensive as well but at the end of the day it is very special and we always need to remember that. So I am going to be organised and start preparing. 11 weeks I have to do just that.

I am sure you are all wondering why I got off the track a bit from talking about a wonderful holiday to the countdown of Christmas. I believe we should always have something to look forward to so now that our holiday is over I look forward to the festive season and all the yummy food and wine that comes with it.

Now, back onto the subject of our holiday.

It was all very worth it. We experienced four sections of our holiday. The first was areas of nothing, areas of scrub and areas of very dry. One of the few Australian set backs is that sometimes you have to travel through a lot of nothing to get to something wonderful.

Our second was the Flinders. A place that resembles not too many places anywhere else here is Aussie land. The colours of the landscape, the contours of the ranges and the harsh surviving land are reasons that everyone should come and see it for yourselves.

Our third was the departure of a dry and hot place to a coastal location of cold winds, sea mists and lots of ocean. The Yorke Peninsula is definitely an area of healthy and abundant farming and living, a complete opposite to the Flinders Ranges.

Our final part was the pleasant wander along the banks of the Mighty Murray River. A true gem she is, along with her history and the grand vessels that travel her.

In general the caravan parks were reasonably priced, clean and friendly. However I do have some negatives to say. 

Firstly unfortunately the price increase for children in the caravan parks has increased over time more than the cost of the tariff for just 2 adults. When we first started caravanning the price of an extra child was between $3 & $5. $5 always seemed to be very expensive. At that time also caravanning was not as popular and there were less of the large and expensive vans coming in. Now an extra child is most of the time between $8 & $10. If you are staying at a Big 4 or a Top Tourist you pay $10 per extra child. Broken Hill Top Tourist was the most expensive caravan park in our entire trip coming in at $58 per night. The park was neat and tidy but very dated. Wellington Caves Caravan Park on the other hand was also neat and tidy, had new amenities and charged us $31 for the night. Wellington Caves ran rings around Broken Hill. Why is this so? Supply and demand of the grey nomads? It almost feels that by making the childrens' tariffs higher they protect the major increase in the initial tariff!

Merna Mora Station in the Flinders charged a flat $30 per powered per night whether there was two of you or 10 of you. Thank you Merna Mora.

I understand that everything is expensive these days but I don't believe that our boys use $20 per night more electricity and water that just the two of us.

Lastly on a negative note sorry but Yass Caravan Park is not worth stopping at. The bathrooms were ok regarding cleanliness but more so they crammed the vans in so close that there was no room to deploy your awning. That's how close we were altogether. In some instances there was only an arms length between vans. We paid $40 per night. Never again.

Don't think that my negative comments about caravan parks will stop us. That is what it is. It is still cheaper than staying in motels or apartments however we do bring our house with us!!!!

Free camping can combat this problem and that is what we did at Menindee Lakes. Great location and beautiful with all that water. If you have a van that is permanently set up for this kind of thing I can see why more and more people are doing this especially regarding the rising cost of staying in caravan parks. Thank you to the person who invented 12 volt capabilities and of course to the wonderful writers and researchers of Camps Australia Wide.

We did experience some extremes regarding the weather. The first couple of days were absolutely perfect with warm days and cool nights. The Flinders gave us hot strong northerly winds and temperatures over 37 degress whipping up the dust like there was no tomorrow. Then the Yorke Peninsula also gave us strong winds but from the south so they were cold and wet. Then the last couple of days were back to perfect. We all know that travelling you are certainly at the whim of the weather.

On a final note our holiday was wonderful and full of fun. My favourite parts were all of the Flinders and of course seeing the Adelaide. I am sure we will be back to the Murray sooner than later but once the kids are no longer wanting to come on holidays with us we will venture back to the Flinders to see everything we missed the first time.

Check out Merna Mora Station on Facebook as well as the Chocolate Apply Factory at Shepparton. Also check out my Colonial Girl Facebook page.

Until again...

Yass

5th October 

When your vehicle does its last turn that puts you in the direction of home you tend to stay in that position because once home is in sight you realise that that is where you want to be.

Our last night of our trip was in Yass. This was only because it was in the line of home and was located at a reasonable position for our last leg. 

On our way though we did stop at Gundagai for lunch at the famous Dog on the Tuckerbox.

The caravan park at Yass was full to the brim and had no television reception. Thus at 8.30pm there were no lights on in the caravans except for ours of course. We were the only non grey nomads! The kids sounded much louder than normal as you could have heard a pin drop!

So tomorrow is home sweet home.

Until again...

Shepparton

4th October

I am a very happy little camper. As you would have read in my post yesterday I was hoping that the PS Adelaide would grace our company at Pental Island Caravan Park.

At 6.45am I woke up to a paddle steamer whistle which was the indication that the Adelaide had left Swan Hill and was heading up the river. The owner had said that it was an hour and a half trip to the park. So to be on the safe side I took my trusty camp chair and sat on the banks of the Murray at 8am waiting. It was very peaceful and beautiful so the wait didn't bother me at all.

Then at 8.40am the PS Adelaide arrived blowing her whistle and paddling fast. She had been on her journey for almost one month and was headed home to Echuca.

Seeing her at Echuca is one thing, but to see her heading up the river with no commercialisation around was a huge thing for me. What I had considered to be bad timing not to see her at Mildura turned out to be good timing after all.

My previous blog also indicated that we would stay at Corowa after visiting the SPC Ardmona Factory at Shepparton. Well our plans changed.

After spending some time at the Historic Port of Echuca and indulging in a pie and a nenish tart  we realised that going to Corowa would make it too big of a day. So we booked into the Big 4 at Shepparton early afternoon and spent the rest of the day shopping.

Our first stop was the SPC Factory with lots of great bargains - not just cans either. One lady who works there told me that people from as far away as Tasmania incorporate the factory into their travels because of the great bargains to be had. Only problem is finding space in the trusty Jayco swan for our purchases.

The second stop was the Chocolate Apple Factory which was recommended to us by the caravan park. This lady coats apples in chocolate then decorates them with all sorts of yummy things. They are so good she has even patented her idea.

So tomorrow we are on the downhill run for home. We'll see where we get too.

Until again...

PS Adelaide
 

 

 

Swan Hill

3rd October

Do you like an almond or two? Do you like them roasted, lightly salted, smoked or flavoured? Well Renmark is the place for you. Almondco takes pride on the main road into Renmark. Any style almond you like they have.

Today with our travels we lost 1/2 hour as we entered back into eastern standard time. We actually entered three different states today. We left SA, entered VIC, over into NSW then back into VIC. Euston was our destination for lunch (of course this was on the banks of the Murray), through Robinvale then onto Swan Hill. Most of the countryside was interesting to look at especially when the road got very close to the Murray and we could see how full it really is. Between Boundary Bend and Swan Hill there are lots of brown road signs that just say "River" that we would assume would take you to places to camp. I am sure the Camps Australia book would be able to confirm this. I will check it out upon my return.

For the last couple of weeks I have been following on facebook the progress of the PS Adelaide from Echuca to Mildura. I had wished that we would be somewhere along the Murray to see this very special event. I was disappointed that it would not be.

However after arriving in Swan Hill today I find out that the Adelaide has made it to Swan Hill on its way home and is heading up the river past where we are staying tomorrow. I am hoping that it will pass by before we leave.

And where are we staying? Pental Island Caravan Park. This is a caravan park on a farm with beautiful river frontage. One of the best locations I have ever stayed at. I wish that we were staying longer. As I sit here writing my blog I can hear nothing but sheep. If any of you know me well there are plenty of wagon wheels taking up heaps of space - very tempting but it is not as if you can hide them under your jumper as you leave!!!!

Tomorrow we head to Echuca and onto Corowa.

Until again....



View of the Murray from Pental Island Caravan Park
 

100 year old shearing shed on farm



Shearing Yards and River