Wineries, shopping, bush walks and waterfalls - this region has it all!

Fitzroy Falls is a spot you could spend a whole day, take a picnic lunch and adventure off on one (or more) of the many walks!

Robertson, the home of the Big Potato and the famous Robertson pie shop. Here is another full days worth of fun with shopping in Robertson, lunch at the pie shop or one of the cafes and a visit to the Belmore Falls.

The Kangaroo Valley has breathtaking scenery along the winding roads. There are lots of cafes and other quaint shops to wander through. If you live in Canberra or Sydney - what a weekender!

In Morton NP, coming through Bundanoon, there is Gambells Rest that has a picnic area, camping (with hot showers) lots of great walks and lookouts. We went on a couple of walks here one to Echo Point, where the boys had to test it out and see if it really was echo point! Then to Mt Carnarvon lookout which was a more challenging walk for all of us.

The Wombeyan Caves  a great long weekender - cabins, camping, cave tours. We were only passing through and just missed out on a cave tour - this has been put on my list to come back and stay sometime. The road out to Wombeyan from Mittagong is winding, narrow in places and quite rough. Take it easy and sound your horn on blind corners. If you are concerned the road in from Goulburn is much better.

Bungonia State Conservation Area has The Lookdown - a steep drop off where you can look down through the mesh plate they have put at the lookout. Not for those who suffer from vertigo! We were there late in the afternoon so the pictures don’t do it justice.  This area was packed with activites, camping, picnicing, bushwalking and spelunking.

We made a two day trek with our Kimberley Kamper from Lake Tuross to Tumut. This took us along the southern most end of the Deua (a much more sedate section) and the Wadbilliga NP and into Kosciuszko NP the second day.

It was a beautiful start to the day at Lake Tuross…

We headed to Bodalla then west to Nerrigundah. Nerrigundah has a lively bushranger history, however the town that once had a population of 600 is now very small. The history of the Clarke gang can be found in 4WD Touring - South East New South Wales and East Gippsland by Craig Lewis and Cathy Savage.

(http://www.hemamaps.com.au/search.asp?txtSearch=4wd+touring)

We stopped to see Comans Mine - an historic gold mine site. We couldn’t complete the walk as a mudslide has washed out a section of it. You can still walk to see the stamper battery and sections of the old rail line.

At Tuross falls there is a lovely camping area with toilets and fireplaces nestled in a valley not far from the walk to the falls. We spent the night at Adaminaby where the previous night it had been minus 4 deg - brrrr! I suspect it was something similar that night too as the next morning there was ice all over the pod!

As we headed into the Kosciuoszko NP there were still some snow drifts around, the Little Mappers wanted to make a snowman, but it was all too hard and icy.

The Kosciuoszko NP is a great place to go when it isn’t snowing. There is bushwalking and four wheel driving activities, canoeing and camping at places like Three Mile Dam, not to mention the highest point in Australia to look out from!

We went into see the Buddong Falls which is a part of the 440km Hume and Hovell walking track that goes from Yass to Albury. You can walk the whole journey as there are campsites along the way or just sections of it. There was a campsite at the falls and from the road only a short walk into see them.

We took the Kimberley Kamper on its first offroad excursion. It handled really well, we barely noticed any difference than when it isn’t there. Although it wasn’t anywhere near as steep as the Deua!

We went to Pigeon House Mountain (Didhol is the aboriginal name for it). According to the sign the walk is 4 hours, steep in places and requires moderate fitness so we decided that maybe it wasn’t a good one to take the little mappers on in case we had to piggy-back them out! 

We took a picture from the Mogood lookout. It was named by Captain James Cook in 1770 (while he was still Lieutenant) his comment was ‘…saw a remarkable peaked hill which resembles a square dovehouse with a dome on top and for that reason I name it Pigeon House.’

We did Pigeon House and Shallow Crossing in two separate loops, there is a fire trail you can take to combine them in one loop should you wish to. See 4WD Touring South East New South Wales and East Gippsland by Craig Lewis and Cathy Savage for trek notes for this loop.

There were a couple of nice camping areas we saw today, one at Yadboro flat and the other one at Long Gully. They are beside a creek and have lots of shade and privacy. Great place for a summer weekend!

We spent two days in the Deua NP - we could have spent many more. If you like four wheel driving this is the national park for you!

The first day we headed to Bendethera from the west. Bendethera is a great place to camp. There is a walk to a cave, campsites along the Deua River,  you can explore what is left of the Bendethera homestead, but most of the fun is in getting there! It is a beautiful national park.  There were steep climbs and many creek and river crossings.

Bendethera is the ruins from a pastoral lease going back to the mid 1800’s. There are some remanents of the homestead and other pieces from the pastoral days. There are information posts at various locations around the area detailing the history. You can enter the cave - this is not lit or guided, you must take a reliable torch and wear sturdy shoes.

 During our time on the road I have come to the conclusion that there is a “God of the Impassable Roads”. Every time we are driving along a narrow track where there is a steep drop off on one or both sides and there was no means of passing another car (unless you could grow wings and fly over), we have not actually come across another car. As soon as the road widens - all of a sudden there is a car. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened. I just hope that we are doing whatever it takes to appease this God!

As we have bounced along the rugged tracks the little mappers have invented a 4WD version of ‘corners’ as they bounced over the steep berms in the backseat - complete with sound effects.

On the second day we headed into the Deua via Araluen - the steep inclines and declines are a little breathtaking (but great fun!), they start just after crossing the Araluen Creek.

After meeting up with where we had previously been we were pondering our exit for the day and in my infinite wisdom I said lets take the road less travelled rather than double tracking, after all some of those steep climbs were a enough of an experience the first time…

I am sure you are all aware of the old adage “better the devil you know”, something I should definitely bear in mind in future. The less travelled track was definitely that - so much so that there were saplings growing in the middle of the track and the folliage was pushing its way across in an endeavour to disguise the track all together. To top it all off it felt like this track traversed every mountain peak in the Deua. These climbs weren’t always as steep as the inital ones of the day but were a little worse in that they were very rocky and pitted so the 4WD was bouncing and sliding around. Even more hairy than before!

I may be banned from navigating soon…

The locals around Bawley Point and Merry Beach are all extremely friendly. It makes it a very welcoming place to stay.

There is an abundance of wildlife in this area. Kangaroos graze all around you. The bird life swoops in during the mornings and again in the afternoon. It was really nice having all the animals around us, however, they are getting used to being fed and are also becoming quite a menace.

Kangaroos are not scavengers by nature, but due to being hand fed they are unafraid of people and will approach you face to face if you have anything in your hands. One afternoon we even had a kangaroo that waltzed into our kitchen and was batting at the rubbish bag.

Another example are possums. There was one in particular that brazenly wandered into our campsite while we were preparing dinner. He rampaged all over our camp area trying to nab food while we we tried to scoot him away. Then for the rest of the evening we were on possum watch making sure he didn’t return until we had finished dinner and stowed everything away.

It is important to avoid feeding the wildife (inadvertantly or otherwise). They become too comfortable around people. This isn’t good for their wellbeing and certainly not good for the safety of young children.

Something we have found to be very useful in these situations is our “Dity Things Bag” made by Michele’s Sacs. It is a durable bag that attaches to our spare tyre on the back of the Map Patrol. It is great for rubbish, dirty clothes or dirty dishes.

Our Dirty Things Bag has been through a lot on the back of the Map Patrol. It is very durable and has stood up to it all!

It took a while for me to wrap my tongue around this national parks name - much to Al’s mirth! We took the 4WD route through most of this NP. It was a great way to see the park but if you take this option make sure you check with parks Victoria as many of the roads have seasonal closures.

This national park was full of surprises. The most dazzling were the Dunes near the Point Hicks lighthouse. It was hard to get a photo with a good point of reference to show their enormity.

The camping areas were really well laid out and generally had plenty of privacy screening and there seems to be a camping area for everyone depending upon which leisure activities you want to partake in, be it fishing, birdwatching, motorised or non-motorised boating, bushwalking, or just plain relaxing! For more information see http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=99

I am also pleased to report that the boys are earning their keep on this trip. Each time we stop to mark a point of interest, like a picnic area, I get a chorus of facilities I need to check off in the database. Their eyesight is outstanding - they have spotted toilets we didn’t and they are very good at interpreting all the symbols. With some of the information the boys feed us from signs Al and I are also trying to decide if the boys can actually read and just haven’t told us yet…

A must see destination!

The Buchan caves are in the Buchan Caves Reserve, Buchan, Victoria. The reserve itself is very peaceful. At this time of year, as autumn is beginning, the trees are changing colours and the leaves are snowing down as the gentle breeze blows. We spent the night camping there - it has made it onto my list of favourite campsites.

There are two caves that have tours; the Fairy Cave and the Royal Cave. The number of tours a day differs depending on the time of year. Check the parks website to find out more information so you don’t miss out. http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=74

The Fairy cave was discovered in March 1907 and opened to the public in December of the same year. The Royal cave was discovered in 1910 and opened to the public in 1913. They have been wonderfully preserved in this time, please heed the requests of rangers when you visit to help continue their preservation for generations to come.

Walking through the caves is mesmerizing. The Royal cave has beautiful examples of calcite-rimmed pools - the most impressive is the font of the gods. The calcite sparkles with it’s “fairy dust”. The boys were in search for the fairies that left the fairy dust but came up short - probably too many disbelieving adults around for them to show themselves. The flowstone formations, which look like waterfalls, had the best fairy dust display. We also saw some fossils - there was a perfect fish fossil in the Fairy cave and shell fossils in the Royal cave. There were stunning stalagmites and stalactites and some shawls that had laminations where the calcite was stained in some layers by iron oxide in the soil above.

The boys were in their element no ducking or bumping of heads for them! It is probably not a great place to visit if you have a bad back or are claustrophobic, but there are plenty of relaxing walks in the reserve as an alternative! Definitely go see them for yourself - our photos really don’t do them justice!

There is a volunteer group called Friends of Buchan Caves. If you are a hands on person and love caves - this is the perfect group. Their main aim is the preservation of the caves and the fauna found in caves. They donate their time to work on cave conservation, rehabilitation, management and revegetation. If you wish to join them see their website: http://home.pacific.net.au/~gnb/fobc-bf
When visiting please donate to their work, every little bit helps them buy tools and other necessary things to carry out their work.

What a little treasure! This island is about 10km east of Nowra. The eastern coastal strip is all nature reserve, while the western side is dairy farms. There are two secluded picnic spots on the island with access to the beach and estuary.

There is also a lot of history surrounding this island, or rather the creation of this island. In 1822 an early European settler, Alexander Berry, had tried, unsuccessfully, to land at Shoalhaven Heads. He had to sail further south and so sailed up the Crookhaven river, only to discover that he could not get to the Shoalhaven river because of a sand spit.

He then got his men, who were mostly convicts, to haul his boat over the sandbar, then instructed Hamilton Hume and some men to stay there and cut a canal. It took them 12 days and became the first canal cut in Australia. This canal diverted the waters of the Shoalhaven and the canal widened as the river deepened and so Comerong Island came to be.

There is a car ferry that runs all day across Berry’s canal (from 6am to 11.55pm). There are plenty of warnings that the road is not suitable for 2WD vehicles. The track was deeply rutted and boggy in places after periods of rain, but definitely worth the effort with an appropriate vehicle!

Minnamurra Rainforest
Nature at its finest! The icing on the cake was that the rain stopped just before we arrived so the rainforest was at its sparkling best. The rainforest board walk is a 1.6km elevated board walk, the first part is suitable for wheelchairs. It takes about an hour. Apparently there are lyrebirds in the rainforest but our two little foghorns, who were excited about everything they saw, kept the lyrebirds hidden and quiet. All along the board walk were posts with information about the plants and trees. The boys are little sponges and had to read every single post! Their favourites were the stinging nettles and the giant strangling figs.