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After Mudgee we really wanted to get into Central NSW as soon as possible so we had a couple of long days drives ahead of us.  On the first day we stopped en route at some caves in Wellington and then the radio telescope just outside Parkes.  This telescope was the main feature in the film ‘The Dish’ and it is very impressive to see it towering out of the surrounding farmland.

The second days drive went through a lot of barren sheep and cattle farming land.  It was extremely flat and the wind was very strong.  This has been the only time that our car has struggled pulling the trailer.  We were down to 80 km/h at points.  It was also a long way between petrol stops and we were doing about 300 km to the tank of petrol.  This was pushing it a little to say the least.  To be on the safe side, we are also carrying a jerry can of spare petrol behind us.

Once you get within 100 kms of the Mungo National Park it is all dirt road.  And the roads were in pretty poor condition, a lot of old hard ruts and red sand on top of the hard layer of road.  So it was quite hard and slow going into the National Park.   We eventually reached the park headquarters next to the old farming station and the Mungo Woolshed, and got out to have a look around.  The heat was extreme, well up into the 40’s and a mass of flies.

The campsite we went to had very few facilities, but was within some trees to give shade and would have been lovely, if it had been a little cooler and less flies.  As it was we have a short walk to a lookout point and then spent most of the time inside the trailer camper.  We had planned to spend a couple of night in the national park, but the kids weren’t enjoying the heat at all and there was not a lot for them to do.

So the next day we packed up the trailer and then left it while we went on a self-guided drive around the Mungo Lake. This is an old lake which dried up hundred of years ago.  It still has the sand dunes and archeologists are constantly finding new evidenve of ancient human habitation as the sands move.  The oldest evidence they have found is 60,000 years old.  Impressive.

It was great fun driving around the park without the trailer and not only seeing the natural sights but also the old homesteads and imagining how hard it must have been for the people trying to make a living out there.  One homestead was even dug into the ground to try to excape the worst of the heat.

Once round the tour we attached our trailer and set off out of the park.  We knew we would be tight on petrol but should have enough without having to resort to the spare.  Then we came across a T junction of dirt tracks.  We thought we should turn left, but the road sign was missing.  After driving left for a few 100 yards, the track went through some bushes and became ven smaller, we thought this couldn’t be right and so turned round and went the other way.

About 20 minutes later we passed a sign to a property and realised we should have gone the other way.  So we now worked out a new route along some even smaller roads, and a little bit further.  We cut across another old lake and onto a more substantial track and then made it to a general store with petrol bowsers just about running on air.  We were very relieved until we noticed a sign that said, pumps out of order, next petrol 150 kms.  We knew we couldn’t make that so we went into the shop and, to our relief, the owner had just forgotten to remove the signs after a powercut that morning.

We thought it was then tarmac road to our next stop at Menindee, but just out of Pooncarie it became another rough track.  150 kms of bouncing later we finally arrived at Menindee and found a caravan park for the night.

We left Forster on the Saturday morning, a bit later than planned, and drove about 3 hours into the Hunter Valley to Singleton. Here we met Dee who’d driven out from Newcastle to see us. Not only did he give us some good company but he demonstrated his excellent skills on the barbeque. Well fed later, he drove home and we spent the first night of our trip together.

The next morning we drove through the Upper Hunter. It all looked very dry and barren, except the areas that were being watered which were a ver bright green in comparison. This dryness was a sign of things to come through Outback NSW and into South Australia.

We drove through a National Park on rough roads and over the hills to Mudgee on the other side of the Dividing Range. Here we were staying with our friends Dave and Fiona and there children Thomas and Emily. Thomas and Emily are a couple of years older than Jack and Grace but they all played together and made a big impression on our 2.

Dave and Fiona have a pool in their backyard and so Jack and Grace were very keen to jump in as soon as we arrived. It was lovely to spend a couple of evenings with Dave and Fiona and we were also able to pick up a few things from Mudgee that we needed for the trailer. We did try to persuade Dave and Fiona to join us for the next week but unfortunately they could not be persuaded. Maybe next time!!

After 3 weeks we’ve finally got to a computer to update our story. We arrived in Melbourne yesterday and we’re staying with some friends, Dave and Simone.  With a computer to use I shall slowly catch up on the past 3 weeks.

After a lot of planning and preparation we’re finally off on our camping trip today.  The trailer is a all packed up and ready to go, we just have to through in our bags and some food and off we go.

We’ve tried pulling the trailer on rough tracks and the 4 Wheel Dirve is up to it, it just loses a bit of its power at speed, but then we’re not in a hurry to get anywhere.  We’ve tried the camper trailer at 3 different types of sites, 2 unpowered and 1 powered.  It made a big difference having a 240V supply to the van, as then we have use of the kettle and microwave and the fridge runs a lot colder than on gas.  But when we go into the national Parks we’ll be on simple unpowered sites which is when we’ll be on battery power.  Apparently the battery is big enough to last a week without being charged up so we have plaenty of time.

Today we’re going to stay in the Hunter Valley en route to Mudgee where we’re staying with some friends for a few days.  They also have young children so that will be good for Jack and Grace.  Mudgee is over the GReat Dividing Range so from there we are into the outback.  I’ve never been in this area before, so I am very excited about this.

We do not have any exact plans, but have a few National Parks we want to visit on the way to Adelaide on the South Coast.  From there we sahll just head back around the coast to Melbourne, Sydney and back to Forster.

Grace was 3 yesterday.  She had a great day and was spoilt by her parents and grandparents.  As it is the school holidays at the moment there are lots of holidaymakers in Forster and there is a few fairground rides set up in town.  So we took Grace and Jack there during the afternoon.  They both made friends with other children as they were sliding down the slides.  This was followed by ice creams in Forster main street.

Last weekend, Grace had a ride on a Shetland Pony and has been mad on horses ever since.  So after been been to the fair rides we went out to see some family friends, the Beggs, who have horses on their property.  Grace was thrilled to meet these horses, despite their size and enjoyed patting and talking to them.  There were also a lot of wallabies around which added to the atmosphere.

Then came tea with Omma and Poppy and a fairy cake for Grace.

We had our camper trailer delivered last Wednesday and we were all impressed how well-thought out and spacious it was.  The guys spent an hours or so showing us how to put the roof up and the beds out, and how to attach it to the car.

The on Thursday morning we went off for our first trip.  We drove about an hour north and then inland to a campsite within a forest.  It seemed a lovely quiet campsite (at first), until the trail bikes started up.  We took our time setting up the trailer and getting ourselves organised.  Then after a walk around cooked ourselves some food and sat around a campfire.  The kides very much enjoyed the fire, though they were mucking up a bit.

It actually got quite cold during the night and there was a heavy dew and thick mist when I got up early the next day.  After breakfast, We walked along the creek where Jack had his first introduction to leeches when there was one stuck on the end of his thumb.  We also saw some crayfish that some of the other campers had caught.  We decided that some of the other people in the campsite were a bit dubious and probably druggies, so we packed up and left before lunch.

We did not drive far, but went to a campsite on the coast in Crowdy Head National Park.  The campsite was really busy but we found a good spot very close to the beach.  This campsite was much better and had a really good family atmosphere to it.  As it was a long weekend it became absolutely packed during the Friday afternoon.

There were a few kangaroos nearby the campsite and they were grazing between the tents after dusk.  I also saw an echidna on my way to the beach, which I’d never seen before.  Unfortunately it had gone before the others could see it.

On the Saturday morning we went for a walk around the headland.  It was about 4 kms which Jack managed with not too much moaning.  It was, apparently, the season in which the humpback whales migrate down the coast of Australia.  But we did not see any despite much seaching with the binoculars.

Carol and Bob came up for a picnic and to inspect the trailer.  They then helped us pack it up and we drove back to Forster following them.

We’ve made a list of various things we need to organise before we start our next trip in a few days.  Including, fixing the electrics so that the power sockets and the microwave work.  It was a hard life having to do without an electric kettle and the microwave while camping!