Saturday 12th April.
The morning started with a trip to a chemist as Keira had had a temperature during the night, so we bought some more panadol and nurofen just to be on the safe side. We finally headed off a bit after 8.30am, with that all important coffee in hand as well!
Was a fairly easy trip out of the Northern Beaches, taking the M2, M7, then finally the Hume Highway towards Mittagong. After exiting at Mittagong, onto the Old Hume Highway and then taking the turn off onto Wombeyan Caves Road we finally reached the Wollondilly River Station Campgrounds by 11am. As we had been there previously we were prepared for the unpleasant nature of the owner, Brian, so Jason went and paid for the stay, while we went to select a campsite.
The kids went off to explore the surrounding area while we set up the site, note that it was pre camper trailer, so we had to set up the tent and gazebo, it wasn’t long before we were ready and getting lunch, for the then, very hungry kids. We sent the 4 of them off again to collect some firewood but then went for a quick drive to get some more so we could start a fire in the early afternoon. It did get cool rather quickly, so the fire was well received by all.
I had pre-made meatballs during the week to have for dinner to make it easier after arriving, so to go with this I tried, for the first time, a campfire/camp oven damper….and WOW, it worked and was a success. Everyone enjoyed it, and it went very nicely with the meatballs. The kids had previously found sticks for their dessert of marshmallows over the fire.
We got the kids into bed fairly early, by before 8.30pm, as it was getting cool and they all wanted to read in bed anyhow. We sat around the fire for a little while longer then hit the sack ourselves. They were all asleep by the time we went to bed, however, as Keira still had a cold she was up and fairly unhappy.
Sunday 13th April.
Megan, Zarah and Kye all slept well, although poor Keira was up and down all night with her cold. It was fairly cold outside, so the they all rugged up to head outside and have breakfast and sit in the sun, although it was rather a foggy morning, so there was no sun as yet…..bugger! I got our coffee’s ready, while having breakfast. We also packed the fridge in the truck for our day visit to Wombeyan Caves, ready to leave by 10am.
After arriving at the Caves, which was roughly a 40min drive we booked and paid for out tour of Wombeyan Cave. Our tour guide was John Mango, he was great fun and the kids loved him and at his request, they just called him Mango. We were up and down steep ladders and stairs and it did get a wee bit cool at some points, the 6 of us having a great time. Mango taught us a lot of interesting things, which Megan, Zarah, Keira and Kye all still remember to this day. He told us a way to remember which way stalactites and stalagmites form, stalactites grow down from the top, having to hold on tight (stalactite) and not fall, whereas stalagmites, which grow from the ground up, one day might (stalagmite) grow up……quite clever really. Was a great tour and I would recommend it, for all ages.
It had turned out to be a beautiful day especially in the sun so we had lunch in the park near the caves and played a bit of soccer. Headed back to the campsite and the kids played around a bit more. I cut up some wood using the new reciprocating saw……nearly draining two batteries!!! As it was cooling down, we got the fire going and sat around just playing games and relaxing.
We had sausages, steak and salad for dinner, which was sensational over the fire, using the hot plate. The kids had toasted marshmallows after dinner again, although at times, dangerous with sticks, kids and fire…..
Yet again, as it was rather a cool evening they all just wanted to hop into bed, warm up and read their books. We sat around the fire for a little while longer, heading to bed ourselves by after 9pm, warming up and reading ourselves.
Monday 14th April.
Did we sleep well…..not sure. Keira was up with her cold and miserable so in with us and Megan came in really cold, so dressed her up to try and keep warm. I think we all fell back to sleep but not really sure.
We were all up fairly early but tried to stay in bed, but didn’t really work, as there were six in bed, and the little one said…..I want breakfast. We sent them all out for 5 minutes to see the kangaroos…..that didn’t last long either.
We finally got up, was quite a fresh morning, so we all rugged up. They all got breakfast then sat in the sun to warm up when it finally made it’s way over the hill. We had decided that the day was going to be spent around the campsite, hopefully relaxing for all of us with either some swimming and maybe a spot of fishing as well.
Had coffee’s and sat in the sun as well to warm up a bit and by mid morning it was beautiful. I took my face paints out to keep them entertained and although they state face paints on the labels, all 4 of them used them as full body paints. They had to all go for a quick swim to clean their bodies and as the water was a little fresh, they didn’t really appreciate it.
Had lunch then tried a spot of fishing…….was difficult to do actually, as there were too many weeds and rocks and we didn’t have any bait, so was only using a piece of wrap bread….didn’t really work!!! Didn’t catch any dinner……so lucky we had dinner organised!!
We were having roast pork for dinner, so we got the fire going early, so we had enough coals to cook the pork. First time ever cooking a roast, especially pork in a camp oven. Would it work…..ahhhh, that would be a yes. Was sensational and to have crackle, which I wasn’t expecting to get was even better! Was delicious.
As they had eaten the marshmallows the previous nights we just all had some lollies, while enjoying glow sticks. Was yet again a cool evening and although they all whinged we had them in bed early and surprisingly they were all asleep very quickly. We stayed up until the fire went out, which was later than normal. I had Megan in my sleeping bag and I had hers, same one, but she seemed to think it was warmer, she didn’t wake up all night. Keira slept well too, her cold getting a slightly better.
Tuesday 15th April.
Happy Birthday Megan.
Finally all slept through, no-one getting up with colds or being cold…yeahhh!
Was Megan’s birthday, so we were all up fairly early as I think she was a bit excited…..we were all in bed and had some pressies. We all then got up to yet again was a fairly cool morning and as we weren’t going until lunch time, Jason got the fire going, just to warm us up. I did pancakes for us for breakfast, took forever, but they were enjoyed. I made coffee’s then sat by the fire to warm up a bit too.
We started to slowly pack up finally finishing by just before lunch, which we had, then washing up and packing away the last little bits. Was turning out to be a really beautiful day, getting rather hot. We headed off for home by about 2pm. We stopped at Mittagong and Megan, Zarah and I raced into Woolies quickly to grab a cake for Megan’s birthday, Jason stayed with Keira and Kye who were both asleep in the car.
Went to Lake Alexandria in Mittagong and the kids had a play, then we sang happy birthday and had the cake. They had a little bit more of a play before we had to head home. Left by about 3.30. It was still a beautiful day, but did turn as we headed into Sydney, hitting a fair bit of rain. Was home after 6 for the normal loads of washing that comes with a camping trip!!!
Although it was very peaceful and not at all busy, we felt that the few articles we read over-rated the camp and were more than complimentary than we experienced, therefore we will not be returning for some time.