We were all geared for our first family camping in the Easter School break. Our tent site was pre-booked at the beautiful Depot Beach down south and the camping equipment purchased. The weather, however, had other ideas. For days before the trip, it poured and poured and poured. Not just in Sydney, but down the entire coastline of the state of New South Wales. The forecast was for more rain mixed in with strong winds and thunderstorms. In desperation, we scoured the weather forecast for ANYWHERE with no rain predicted that wasn't booked out. The only option was inland. And so it was, that we found ourselves changing directions on the morning of departure, forfeiting our prepaid camping fees (the horror!), powered tent site, showers, flushing toilets, and heading towards the township of Mudgee for the nearby
Wollemi National Park. After picking up supplies from Rylstone and 20 minutes of travel on unsealed roads, we arrived at
Dunn's Swamp, our camp ground and home for the next few days.
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| The beautiful Wollemi National Park |
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| Cudgegong River |
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| Driving inland. Look! No rain! |
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| Yep, that's where we're going |
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| The quaint small town of Rylstone where we picked up supplies |
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| The last stretch of sealed road |
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| And we're here! |
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| We had to bring our own firewood and drinking water |
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| Non flush toilets |
We were pleasantly surprised at how tranquil the site was. It was close to the river with picnic tables, non-flush toilets and firepits dispersed throughout. Despite having the capacity for 80 sites, it felt spacious and private. I was personally relieved at how clean the non-flush toilets were and the fact that it lacked that awful toilet smell. We set up our tent, had lunch and explored the area in the afternoon. There were many short walks as well as numerous rock formations that would prove to provide hours of entertainment for the children. Malcolm put his firestarting skills to good use as we cooked up a BBQ meal and roasted marshmallows in the evening. Most of all, we enjoyed our day with no rain!
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| The huge tent site! |
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| Sorting out the pegs |
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| Give me a home among the gum trees |
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| Meredith and Jonah tasked with making lunch while the rest set up the tent and unpacked |
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| Our 10 man tent! |
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| Making the beds |
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| The "living room" with the children's "bedroom" in the far end |
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| Testing out his campbed |
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| Look! No rain! |
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| Let's go exploring! |
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| Time for a bush walk |
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| Aboriginal cave art |
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| A wombat hole perhaps? |
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| So many little areas for the children to explore |
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| Time to get dinner started |
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| Our good old fashioned billy |
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| Supplies from Rylstone |
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| Happy children, happy au pair |
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| Sticks collected in preparation for marshmallows |
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| Enjoying the beautiful sunset through the trees |
