4 more sleeps!!

Ohhhhhhh nearly there!  I finished my last shift at work yesterday - not a good day, week or month to say the least - but its over - no longer going to think about work until I get back in August.  Gaz surprised me with getting an ARB bullbar and WARN winch installed on the Landcruiser - plus he got a set of ARB drawers and fridge slide installed in the back - the Landcruiser looks so good!!  We are going to be organised for anything! 

I get the job of packing things into the new drawers - this is really exciting for me - isn't it funny how this simple task can create such pleasure!  The trailer has gone into the auto electricians for a second battery to be installed, some strip lights placed in the storage drawers and a check of the electrics prior to leaving. 

My holiday starts today so im spending most of today in pj's on the couch doing a bit of googling for spots to visit along the way.  One thing im definately keen on is taking a boat trip across to Thursday Island when we reach the top and have a drink at the "Top Pub". 

We originally thought Sarah and John were flying out on Saturday night but turns out they fly out Sunday so we wont be leaving until Monday morning.  We will be seeing them off at the airport for their big OE - they will be travelling through Europe for the same amount of time we drive to the tip of Australia and back. 

So I have today (Thursday), Friday and Saturday to pack everything, do the last minute grocery shopping and get everything organised before we leave.  YAY!!

Turon - Easter Weekend 2012

We entered the Turon National Park from Capertee - headed directly into the National Park - did the first river crossing then went to find a camping spot.  The designated camping area was taken up with what appeared to be one family - one car that blocked the turning circle road - a tent - a shower tent miles away in the long grass - a food prep area - a campfire still burning with chairs around it.  My first thoughts were - "How rude!"  Lets set up camp right in the middle to really piss them off!!

But we didn't - we decided to set up uphill a bit and ended up having a lovely spot - the original spot ended up being over taken with heaps of people/friends of the original campers so at least they did fill up that area - still a bit rude though - it is a free camping area that should be open to whoever come past.

Sam burnt his leg pretty bad on a hot rock in the camp fire - we tried cooling it down with running water and then cut up a freezer pack to wrap around it - he still wanted to have a hot bath but everytime he tried to sit down the hot water would hit the burn and he'd stand up crying again.  It was on his upper thigh - he just couldn't understand it all.

The next day we packed up and drove down the river a bit to do some fishing - Gaz just wanted to have a fish but Sam just wanted to chuck rocks in the water - the two dont mix.  So I took Sam for a walk away from Gaz so he could throw rocks and let Gaz have some quiet time fishing.  I got to have a little go too but the fish just weren't biting.

We left the river and headed to Terry and Jackie Whites for an Easter catch up Hayden and the boys turned up.- we set the camper trailer up, had some nice homemade pizza and the kids had an easter egg hunt all together then Hayden and the boys headed home, Gaz Sam and I jumped in the trailer and woke up to let Sam and Yvette have another easter egg hunt together.

We sort of stuffed up a little here and each of us started taking the campertrailer down bit by bit - unfortunately I did the first bit then wandered off, Gaz started to wind it all up only to find I hadn't undone the press studs yet - so we've ripped a couple of press studs out of the canvas - urrrggghhh.

Sofala again with the Harvey's

Drove in from Capertee this time the opposite direction - the river was down much more from what it was the last time we were there.  You could see the driftwood high up in branches of trees.  We went back to the same campground - the second out of Sofala - the one closest to the river crossing - but again we drove past the main camping area further down the dirt track.  Daryn and Family came a bit later on but we had saved a spot.

 The river was so clear!!Gaz made Sam a boat out of a palstic drink bottle and a stick.

The boys all got on really well - I love it how the bigger boys look out for Sam and include him in their adventures.  It was really cute to see him come and get his toothbrush so he could go and brush his teeth like "the big boys" on the rivers edge.

Sam also found a piece of wood that he kept carrying under his arm - he wanted to take it with him everywhere - it wasn't until he took it in the camper and started to try to stand on it while he watched the movie that I saw what he saw.  He saw it as a surfboard - and it looked very similar to the piece of wood that the penguin uses in "Surfs Up"  We made sure we kept that piece of wood.

 Sam got a hold of the camera and took some pretty good shots - see if you can figure out which are his??

We had another attempt of cooking a roast pork in the campovens - this time we managed to cook the crackling in the campoven too!!  It was perfect!!

There was a big hill behind our campsite - perfect for a 4wd hill climb - i've taken photos and video footage of Gaz having a play but it really doesn't do it justice - the hill was really steep much steeper than the picture make out.

The missed places - photos between Jan to April 2012

Just to add a few photos of places we went to between our two week stint at Patonga then to Easter weekend in April.

SOFALA

We orginally just needed to get OUT after all that rain - so the first inkling of a semi dry weekend we packed up and headed west.  First we headed to the south of Bathurst and looked at a camp spot on the Fish River - it just didn't feel like a place to wake up to in the morning - was more like a day trip picnic spot.  So we headed off  to the northern side of Bathurst and ended up at Sofala.  The river was still very swollen but we found a great spot past the main camping area but off track away from other campers - just the right spot to park the trailer and set up a campfire.  That night the stars were out was a beautiful night - great to just get away!!

 We headed out through the Turon National Park towards Capertee - first real 4wd trip with the trailer in tow - the rivercrossings were pretty good too considering the rivers were up and flowing.







LAKE ST CLAIR

 This was another trip to get away from the wet weather - we checked the weather and it was basically raining everywhere so we picked the least likely rainfilled area and headed in that direction.  We choose this from the book of 4WD tracks close to Sydney - I can not see how this is a 4WD track at all - it was bitument all the way to the camping area.  Also the camping area has a caretaker so you have to pay for camping - not too much really and it is a lovely area.  My only suggestion would be to have another bock of toilets closer to the entrance to the park - we set up camp with a number of other families in this area and had to go on a big walk to go to the toilet.  It appeared there are two toilet/shower blocks side by side near the boat ramp????

We set up our own shower tent and Gaz chucked up a tarped off area so you could step out of the shower tent and still have privacy.

Patonga Beach - 2011 to 2012 New Year!!

31/12/11
Left home around 10:30am - Arrived around 2.30pm after a bit of running around - workshop - Penrith re tools, Gaz Dad.  Sarah re money.  Finally got out to the caravan park where Mark and Sheree had set up half of the site leaving enough space for the trailer along the side.  Josh had his little tent set up next to the trailer and then the bigger tent had Adam and Robin.  Mark and Sheree parked their van at the front of the site and set up their bed inside.  The tables and kitchen were set up in the centre.

{Today is Easter Saturday 2012 and im sitting in a camp chair somewhere on the turon river - we haven't updated this book for sometime.  We've had two trips to Sofala and now Turon National Park.  We've camped out on a beautiful lake - Lake St Clair near Singleton.}

But for now back to Patonga.

We had two weeks of fantastic sunny weather, went fishing everyday, ate lots of fresh fish had heaps of visitors, changed campsites halfway through - got a few black marks and booked in for the same time next year!

The first week was New Years hence lots of partying, visitors, sore heads, seediness.  The first week was fun but I think by the time the second week came I had had enought of too many people.  Josh and Sam were great together watching DVD's and exploring on the beach.

Gaz and I went out in the kayaks a few times and Sam would fall asleep in the middle.  Definately a good thing to take the kayaks.

Went out in Marks boat - lost a few things in the "Big Seas"  Windscreen (Gaz, Mark and John) Anchor (Sheree Kyla and Mark)

The last night before we had to pack up everything it decided to piss down with rain.  Woke up to it thundering down on the canvas roof - would have been awesome to be able to sleep in with the rain thundering down but alas pack up was imminent!

We managed to get a bit of a break in the down pour to pack up - first time we've really packed up wet.  Luckily we had Gaz's workshop where we could set it up and dry out as little did we know at the time, the rains were here to stay for the rest of summer.