Friday April 28th.
Had everything ready, just waiting for Jase to get home from work before we packed the truck, hooked up the camper trailer then heading off to The Diggings at Turon River, finally leaving just after 7pm. Had a very easy trip, with no traffic, taking the M2, M7, then M4 to head over the mountains, via Richmond Road, arriving in Lithgow by 9.45pm. The outside temperature on the truck was dropping quickly!
Arrived at the Turon River turnoff, then made our way to the Diggings campground, arriving just after 10.30pm, which was great timing, striking no traffic at all!! We found a spot that hopefully was going to be in full sun the next day then got cracking in the very cool conditions to set the trailer up, which took an hour before we were in bed. It was very cold in bed, even though I had added extra sleeping bags over us and cuddled together, neither of us slept very well due to the cold.
Saturday April 29th.
We were awake early, but were both still rather tired, so stayed in bed and fell back to sleep, awaking and finally getting out of bed by 10.30am to a beautiful, sunny and cloudless day! We had breakfast and coffees, before getting some firewood together so that we could get the fire going early in case there was a cool afternoon when the sun went down! Jason headed off on a bike ride shortly after lunch, while I sat in the sun, which was just lovely before getting the fire started about 3.30pm, as the sun was slowly sinking behind the hills leaving our campsite in shade!
Jason came back and was going to go for a quick dip, but decided it was too cold, so sat in front of the fire instead. We did have to cut some more wood first as it was getting rather cold and we knew we were going to go through the firewood we had already cut. It didn’t take long before the sun ducked behind the hills and slowly disappeared, leaving us with the coolness that comes with the late afternoon.
We finally had enough coals ready to start dinner which was a roast turkey roll with assorted veg, something we both enjoy. It was lovely sitting around the fire, as the night was getting rather fresh and you could feel the air getting heavy with moisture. Dinner, although every so slightly over cooked, was delicious and well worth the wait. It was a beautifully still night that made for great satellite and star viewing, delaying our bedtime, as the evening was too clear to go to bed and there was a lot to see in the sky.
Sunday April 30th.
Jason was up early, taking a quick trip outside, stating how cold it was, then holding up one of his socks that had frozen solid during the night…it was a funny thing to see!!
We had a lazy morning, not rising until a fair bit later when the sun had risen over the hills, finally getting up when you could feel the warmth on the tent canvas walls. It wasn’t as nice a day as the day before, but warm sitting in the sun none-the-less, while waiting for our coffee pot to boil. We got a small fire started so we could cook bacon and eggs over it for breakfast, not at all rushing to pack up and head home. Slowly the tent started to dry and slowly we started the now, very familiar ritual of packing the trailer away, taking our time to let it fully dry out.
Finally done and ready to leave by just after lunch, we decided to have a beer at Capertree Pub on the way home, yet again enjoying the ambience an small country town pub has. Had a good trip home, making it all the more pleasant by arriving just after 5pm, leaving us enough time to unpack the trailer, get the washing on and sit down to the ABC News at 7pm, something that rarely happens when we go away for the weekend!!