Friday 27th May.
Came home from work and had quick showers, then packing the fridge, before hitching the trailer up and leaving home at 4.10pm. Had fairly smooth sailing until we hit Ryde Road, where we just sat, then smooth sailing until the M2, where we yet again, just sat…oh leaving Sydney on a Friday arvo for a weekend away is so much fun!
Headed to Lithgow via the Bells Line of Road, then onto Bathurst, with the temperature outside dropping slowly, now only 8 degs. We were using the new light bar, which was like driving in the daytime…very impressive. Arrived at Bruinbun after driving through Bathurst at 9.30pm, wanting to be in bed by 10.30, which we though was doable. Wrong! As we were looking for a spot to camp, we went down to one campsite, only to realise that there was no room to turn around. These things only seem to happen to us! We spent the next 40mins turning the trailer and truck around, lets just say at 10pm at night, when we are tired, it’s dark and the temperature is rather cool makes for a very stressing 40mins! We finally managed to get the trailer around, this time without breaking anything, then went back to one of the first campsites along the river.
Found a nice spot that would get full sun throughout the day and set up, rather fast, as I was hanging to get into a warm bed, finally making it there by 12am, only 1.5 hours past our set time!
Saturday 28th May.
It had rained overnight and was still raining when we work at 7.30am and as there wasn’t anything to get up for, it was cold, so, perfect conditions to roll over and go back to sleep! Rose finally just before 10am, with it still drizzling slightly and still rather fresh, our thermometer reading only 6.9 degs…nasty! Had breakfast, teas then our camping coffee before the sun just started to peak through the clouds. Jason got ready to go for a burl on his bike, I decided to walk up the hill which was adjacent to our campsite. It was fairly tough going, as it was rather rocky and steep, but I made it to the top where I took some photos, sharing the view with some sheep that were near, then headed back down. It was an on off day between the sun and rain, under the annex, then out in the sun, under the annex, rather like musical chairs.
Jas came back from his burl saying, yet again, how much he loves riding his Husaberg, especially with his new riding jacket as well! He said that after last time we were here in April, there had been a lot more rain as the causeway where we crossed on the Hill End side had water flowing across it and there were other areas that seemed very muddy, which is good to see as it was very dry in April.
We had the wood all ready to go, with the fire pit full as well, waiting for that first flick of fire to get it going, which we did at about 3pm as it was just starting to get cool, with the sun still fighting with the clouds to share a bit of warmth for the afternoon.
It was a cranking fire and just so nice to sit by it, with that glass of wine, Jas having a beer, listening to the sheep talk to each other and waving at other vehicles and trail bike riders as they made their way past. Had pork chops with baked potatoes, grilled capsicum and zucchini for dinner, which was delicious, finished that with chocolates and a glass of Muscat, with was a great way to finish the day, and a lovely meal. It wasn’t long though before the wood started to die down, and the coolness of the evening set in, before we headed to bed…the sad thing was, that it was only 7.30pm! Love an early night.
Sunday 29th May.
Up a lot earlier than yesterday, was a clear day, although we were still waiting for the sun to make it’s way over the top of the hills, finally arriving to warm us by just before 9.30am. Had breakfast, teas and coffees again, before Jas headed off for another burl. I stayed behind and wrote this story, did some cross-stitching all while sitting in the sun, makes for a very pleasant morning.
Jason came back and we had lunch before the process began on packing away the trailer. It didn’t take us that long as we both get on with our jobs and just get it done. We were packed up and on the road by a bit after 2pm, taking a quick detour to see the other campsites that Jason had discovered on his bike the last 2 days. There were some good sites that we may come back to in the future with all of the children. It didn’t take us half as long to get home as it did to arrive on the Friday night, arriving by 6.30pm, unpacking with washing on by 7.30pm.
It wasn’t really a 4WD camping area, as this side of the Bridle Track wasn’t as bad as the track from Hill End, so as far as we think, any 2WD could visit the sites on the track, reaching it from the Bathurst end. When it is warm the river has some excellent holes and plenty of little rapids that would be fun to swim and just sit back and relax in.