Mann River to Lake Keepit

After two nights at Mann River Reserve we packed up in showery weather and started up the steep, narrow and windy road up the Gibraltar Range to the Gwydir Highway.  It was a little nerve racking as there was no room for error or if there was any equipment failure there was very little that could be done without a tow truck or crane.  All went well though and away we went towards Armidale.

Our little Camps 6 book (now Camps 7 - have to get the update) - showed us there was a bush camp about 8 klm out of Armidale beside Dumaresq Dam.  It also showed a number of other people too.  Whilst not packed it was busy.  We were able to get a great camp at the far end of the park overlooking the dam.

Dumaresq Dam - Campsite view

There is a significant low pressure system off Brisbane and the Gold Coast dumping heavy rain and strong winds along the coast and inland to where we are.  Speaking to Mum yesterday, she said that even the north coast had over 200mm of rain.

Tamworth lunch stop

The weather remains showery and windy but a lot less than at Sandon River where we where.  Being Armidale, it is also cold - 12 deg overnight.  We had a good night here followed by a supermarket shuffle, a great cafe breakfast and an even better time visiting Bunnings - just love Bunnings.  To our surprise the mat we left on the side of the road a few days ago was there at Bunnings too.  We were able to coax him into the car and he promised he wouldn't leave home again.

Returning to our camp we packed up to the sounds of one of the campers playing the guitar just brilliantly - Dark Side of the Moon on a 12 string guitar and more.  We set off towards Tamworth were we stopped for lunch at a roadside stop opposite the airport.  As you can see the western direction we are travelling is giving us fine and warmer weather - 32 deg.

We are due for a van park for a wash and clean up and our Camps 6 book suggested Lake Keepit Van Park, half way between Tamworth and Gunnadah.  What a great spot it is.  Real good van park with good facilities and views of the lake.  There are also bush camps which are the same as the van park without the amenities, water, sullage, power, campers kitchen - well I suppose they are different, but they are great campsites.   

Afternoon drinkies view

Our campsite

Lake Keepit - Breakfast at sunrise - Thu 21 Feb 2013

This is really a good spot - particularly at the moment as it is so quiet.  Tomorrow (Friday 22 Feb) it starts to get busy as there are two separate events on - sailing and gliding.  We are having our own event called "Leaving" but not before we catch up with Wendy and Alan who arrive tomorrow for the gliding event.  We tried to stay for another night or two but our van site is booked and another event is being held on Saturday - a rain event - so after catching up with Wendy and Alan we will push further south-west where the weather is forecast to be a lot better.

Fri 22 Feb – Lake Keepit Van Park

Camped near us last night were a Canadian father and daughter travelling in a Britz 4wd camper.  We spent a while talking to the dad.  His daughter is doing a semester at Sydney’s UNSW, so they decided to fly into Cairns and spend a month travelling up to the Cape, then down to Sydney before his daughter starts Uni.  Unfortunately for them they had a third unexpected party that travelled with them literally the whole way – the heavy low pressure system that dumped torrents of rain and wind all the way from Cairns to Sydney. 

They had to head inland to Lake Keepit to see some sun and dry everything out.  In Queensland they were flooded in for a day in Byfield National Park (hour north of Rockhampton). The Ranger was able to get over the flooded causeway and advised them that 4wd's could get out with him now or they would be stranded for at least three days.  They took another couple out with them who only had a sedan.  In a convoy of 4wd’s they made it out with water up to just below the windows.

This weekend at Lake Keepit there sees two big events coinciding – a fishing competition and gliding event.  Saturday night also sees a Jazz night.  So there will be lots of people and bad weather from the low as well. 

Given Wendy and Alan Pilkington are here from today, we seriously considered staying a few more nights but, on balance, the crowds and the weather combination make that option unappealing.  We did pack up and move over to the bush camp area on the other side of the lake and had a morning tea to catch-up with them.  As always it was great to see them and learn more about their travels.

Lake Keepit Bush Camping area

Labrador to Mann River Reserve

Our van is stored offsite in a caravan storage business and is a little difficult to access for the set up we need for the long trip we have planned.  So we decided to do the final loading of every type of Howard's Storage containers that have ever been on the market at the Broadwater Caravan Park less than 2klm south of where we actually live.  I had to explain to Julie that being a self-funded retiree does not require us to sell Howard's plastic containers at flea markets all around Australia - besides they take up valuable fishing gear space.

Picking up the caravan

The idea of going to the van park worked really well as we could go too-and-fro easily.  We were all set at the end of the day and went over the road to our favourite pizza joint, Vinnie's, for 

a pizza and a bottle of wine.

We had breakfast and morning tea beside the water's edge before setting off on Tuesday 12 February to Lake Ainsworth Caravan Park (C/P) to start the real part of our trip.  We're staying here for a couple of days just to sort anything out and I had a few chores to do on the van, namely: an external clothesline under the awning, internal clothesline that sits in the shower (brilliant invention if I do say so myself) and to put a bit of Killrust on the drawbar to stop a few surface rust spots taking hold.

View from our campsite

Lake Ainsworth reflections

The days were beautiful as you can see by the photos but the first night here the rain absolutely bucketed down around 3am and we woke to wet feet because we'd left the roof air vents open.

Lennox head Beach walks ...

Leaving Lennox Head we took the scenic route to the Scottish town of Maclean.  The scenic route was courtesy of TomTom, our personal navigator, who was totally confused by the Ballina bypass being constructed in the area.  Tomx2 took us in a complete circle taking us west, then south then north towards Tweed Heads where we were to do a U-Turn in an hours’ time to then head south again towards Lennox Head.  At this point Tomx2 was given a redundancy package and we decided to follow the signs to Maclean.  After about half an hour Tomx2 cottons on and says “Maclean – I thought you said Maclean”.  All three of us were now happy we were heading in the right direction so through the roadworks we travelled in the showery rain.

Maclean has embraced its Scottish heritage by painting all different types of tartan designs and their clan names on all the telephone posts in the town.  A Scottish shop plays bagpipe music loud in the main street and the whole town has quite a nice buzz about it.  We had lunch in a great little café then did the supermarket shuffle in McIGA.  Packing the van to the gills with groceries we headed off to Sandon River National Park (NP).

Road into Sandon River

There is a nicely corrugated 9klm dirt road into the NP and to our delight the place was only 1/3^rd full on our arrival, Thursday 14 Feb 2013.  We were able to get a great site on the leeward side of the park, looking north with great views of the beach and the great surf – oh for my surf ski.  Our camp is nearly in the exact spot I camped 22 years earlier when Ryan was 3 and Amy 11 months old.  At that time we were in a tent and intended to camp here for 4 nights but stayed 4 weeks.  

Camp site from 22 years ago. Our van to the left.

The beauty of the place has not diminished at all.  To be surrounded by water at high tide with a river on one side, an island out front that can be accessed at low tide and 9klm golden beach heading north – the place has it all.  The old drop toilets are now flushies with limited shower water and no drinking water.  The friendly NPWS Rangers also sell firewood at $10 a bag delivered to your door.

Sandon River camp

The weather remains pleasant.  Gone is the oppressive heat and humidity at the start of the trip.  The weather pattern is showers/heavy rain at night and early morning with sun and a few clouds during the day. 

Like all of you, we remain very busy during the day.  We have breakfast overlooking the surf beach that stretches north to Brooms Head, tidy up the site, go for an hour or so walk along the beach, have morning tea on our return, read in the shade under a pandanus tree, Jeff goes for a swim, back up for lunch, followed by a walk to the island out front at low tide in the afternoon, drinkies on the ‘terrace’ late afternoon with fellow campers, dinner, then tidy up before beddy-byes while listening to the rain on the roof and the campers in tents digging trenches, all the while having the soothing sounds of the surf rolling in forming a soft rhythm lulling us off to sleep.  We hope we don’t find this lifestyle too monotonous after a few weeks on the road.  Mind you we have been eaten alive by mossies and sandflies despite the various sprays we’ve tried to keep them at bay.  Even when you mix them all together they still find that one square inch you haven’t covered.

Beach walk with island to the left and campground over Julie

View from Caravan

Beach Art - notice the dog on drinkers right on seat.

Both the car and van are working better than we had hoped - both are very comfortable and doing their job. 

We purchased a NSW National Parks Pass ($45 for one year) when we paid our camping fees today.  It costs $7 a day to have your car in the National Parks and $10 per head per day to camp – a total of $27 per day for the two of us.  After six days in NSW National Parks the car is ‘free’.

Sandon River 

Friday night – 15 Feb:  The weekend yobbo’s arrive chasing the peace and quiet away.  A large group of teenagers arrived late afternoon and fortunately set up about 100 metres away beside the toilet block.  They partied late until the overnight rain chased them inside their tents.  We had a little pile of firewood collected an stacked beside our BBQ for a fire on Saturday night– in the morning it was all gone.  I wonder who took it?  Could it have been the teenagers as they were the only one with a fire burning all night ….  There were a lot of closer campers who would have been kept awake late into the night, so the loss of a few bits of wood is no big deal in the scheme of things.

Anyway this morning we woke and went for a long walk up the beach and came back for morning tea.  The Ranger and her husband come around about this time to collect fees and check on the park.  We didn’t get to see her however rain (real heavy) came for about 45 minutes.  About an hour after it had stopped the three car loads of teenagers drove out with wet camping gear piled in the back of their cars.  Either the Ranger or the rain helped them to decide that one night’s stay here was enough.  Good to see Camper’s Karma is alive and kicking. 

We have a couple camped almost beside us in a camper trailer with a 4WD, a boat and a Harley Davidson.  They are a lovely couple just travelling around after managing a caravan park for the last seven months.  When travelling between camps the wife tows the camper with boat on top and the husband follows on the Harley in his Ulysses bike club leathers.  We assume they prefer travel in fine weather.  The wife was taken to hospital with abdominal pain and is being discharged today.  Her parents have come up from Coffs Harbour in their caravan and a site has been reserved for them beside us and next to their daughter’s camp. The parents will stay around for their daughter’s recuperation.

After three nights at Sandon River we packed up and headed west towards Glenn Innes via Grafton.  The plan was to travel along the Old Grafton Road to a free bush camp at Mann River Reserve.  We had little water left so, after filling up our tanks in Grafton from a park tap, we set off along the Gwydir Highway, not the Old Grafton Road because that would have been the right road.  After giving up looking for the turnoff onto the Old Grafton Road because that was 10 klm behind us we decided a better plan was to go the Mann River Reserve via the Gwydir Highway. 

Lunch was beside a bridge high up overlooking the Mann River.  

Notice the mat under the van.

It was a beautiful spot, so much so, that the foot mat decided it wanted to stay where it was drying in the sun and not continue its journey with us.  

Add to Shopping List: 1 foot mat.

Mann River Reserve

The climb up the Gibraltar Range is long and hard.  The recent rains from the January ex-tropical cyclone caused several huge landslides.  The road was open but was down to one lane in several places due to the landslides.  After climbing to the top, we travelled about 50klm only to then go back down a dirt and bitumen single, windy and steep track to our campsite – Mann River Reserve.   

Red-bellied black snake I nearly walked on.

A beautiful spot beside the river with an abundance of birds, kangaroos and wallabies not to mention the red-bellied black snakes and only two other campers – both of whom are staying here for a week.  

Drinkies around campfire

In the creek we noticed something we’ve never seen before – a kangaroo dog-paddling across the stream - like the chicken he wanted to get to the other side.

We were able to manoeuvre the van into a tight spot right near the river.  The camp has a fireplace with firewood supplied, drop toilets and an abundance of clean river water is available should we run out.  It is well kept and has recently been upgraded since the 2011 floods which obviously destroyed the lower parts.  All this and it’s free and it’s where Dad camped many years ago in 2003.

We decided to stay at Mann River Reserve for two nights.  The pattern of overnight rain has continued with fine, sometimes cloudy days.  The weather remains cool and comfortable.

View from van annex

I was able to catch a great photo of this Superb Fairy-wren flying around our camp.

Travelling Australia

Getting Ready

Since returning home mid-October 2012 after six months travelling Europe, apart from catching up with family and friends, we have been busy setting up and preparing for our travels around Australia.  

On the day we touched down we picked up our new Nissan Pathfinder Ti550 4wd.  Driving it out of the showroom we headed straight to the supermarket to get food and other supplies as our apartment had been empty for six months.

The Pathfinder, as well as most Nissan', has a habit of dropping their bum when loaded.  I did a bit of research and decided to install some airbags in the rear coil springs.  The first ones leaked (installers name withheld) so I had them removed (installer's attitude and professionalism withheld) and with identical ones installed by TJM they are now working perfectly and have improved the load balancing of the vehicle quite a lot when the van is attached.

Other accessories added to the Pathfinder were:

• bull bar
• board racks
• rear reversing sensors
• large rubber mat/tray for rear storage compartment

Next was the caravan.  Nine months earlier, after much research, we chose and ordered our Roadstar Safari Tamer off-road caravan.  Although the standard caravan is well appointed, we had the specs increased a little to meet our needs.  Our intent is to spend most of our travels in national and state forest parks, bush camping and the more remote areas of Australia.  We will be staying in caravan parks from time to time but we are after a set up that gives us a lot of self sufficient capability.

Additions included:

• a total of 300 litres in tank water under the van - 100 litres dedicated drinking water and 200 litres for kitchen, shower and washing
• Cruisemaster independent suspension for maximum off-road capability
• larger window in kitchen
• additional 2 x 12v outlets
• external driver-side light
• additional 240v outlets
• total 3 x 100 amp batteries
• 2 x 150w solar panels
• 2 kva Yamaha generator

The van is 19'6" long with a queen size bed, separate shower and toilet, washing machine, 240 litre 12v compressor fridge, microwave, 3 burner gas and 1 electric element stove, grill, oven, hot-water system (gas and 240v), aircon, colour TV (inside and external mounting points), 2 pumps (one for filtered drinking water and the other for shower and kitchen) plus many other features.  Apart from the washing machine, microwave and aircon everything in the van runs on 12v.  The solar panels, car and 240v all charge the batteries and everything runs off the batteries.

We just love our van.

So that's the starting setup for our trip which we are sure will continue to evolve as we travel.  It should allow us to go anywhere we want, stay as long as we want and be comfortable doing it.