 |
| The Hut |
It was a beautiful trip out through the Scenic Rim and around Mt Lindsay with one of the drive's highlights being the hot air balloon near Cedar Ck. That's the closest I've been to one of those things ('cause god knows I'd never get in one!).
 |
| Surprising how big these are up close |
The last 5klms in to the property is slow going and it took us over an hour to pull the van over some very rocky and slippery terrain. The van bottomed out on a few occasions, and like on Fraser, it was the spare wheel holder mostly to blame. It's time I started to explore an alternative option - for no other reason than it's now half hanging off anyway.
Camp setup was going to plan until a freak gust of wind blew in literally picking up the gazebo and turning it into a metal tumble weed.
 |
| motherf&$@£r! |
The river was flowing brilliantly which meant a swim was on the agenda for the afternoon. Later, we fired up the Ozpig, BBQ and then we set our sights on an alcohol fuelled oblivion.
Day 2: Woke at 2am to the sound of rain on the roof. We hadn't prepared for it so I dragged my groggy butt out of bed and went out to put the chairs etc under cover. We have one of those camping cupboards which was also outside full of non perishable foods. It was getting a drenching so I did the right thing and moved it to high ground. I'd no longer put my head back on the pillow when, crash!! Sure enough that bloody cupboard came down harder than a fat kid up a tree.
 |
| The 'Caravan Park' |
We got up later that morning to an overcast day. We're running both a fridge and a freezer so I cranked up the genny for a couple of hours. Truth be known, I was just keen to try out the new 50amp Projecta charger and am pleased to report it passed with flying colours.
 |
| Genny was great during the overcast days |
The weather put a dampener on the days proceedings but we still managed to give the quad bikes a run for their money. It was my boys first time on them and needless to say it was a winner. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked "Dad can we buy a quad-bike" - well then, I'd be able to afford one.
 |
| Quads were a great bit of fun |
Day 3: Weather was similar to the previous day - overcast, blowy with scattered showers that got pretty damn cool at times. I hit the bush with the chainsaw to gather some wood and we fired up the Ozpig early just for some warmth. Other than the mandatory chores (like collecting the days water from the river), the rest of the day was spent lazing about with my biggest achievement being the chunk of pages I got through on the latest book.
 |
| The Pig earned it's keep again |
Day 4: Weather today was brilliant so the agenda turned to exploring. We set off for some light 4wd'ing through the property before hitting the blacktop to explore the townships of Bonalbo and Tabulam.
 |
| Beautiful contryside |
Beverage supplies were topped up (do you know how hard it is to budget ones alcohol consumption when off the grid for 9 days?!) before heading back to camp to put a hole in the new purchase.
Day 5: Another beautiful day called for some exploring of the property. We drove to a section named Crescent and took a river crossing to a neighbouring property.
 |
| Over the river crossing at Crescent |
It's a beautiful part of the world where the river snakes through the landscape. We crossed from our side of the river to a neighbouring property onto a large flat section that's surrounded by hills and cliffs all around.
 |
| These ladies had no beef with us |
Other than disrupting the cows, we had the place to ourselves to explore. One interesting feature was the old style of hut here were a farmer raised his 3 kids. Certainly makes you reflect on what we have these days.
 |
| Back to basics |
After a bit of exploring we crossed back over the river and hung a hard steep right up to "the lookout". We were basically climbing the cliffs that had just been looking down on us, so it was great to get a different perspective of where we'd just been.
 |
| View from the lookout |
 |
| Crescent from the lookout |
We'd packed pretty heavy for this trip and while the term "including the kitchen sink" would generally apply. It's hardly a claim when you've got an Expanda. So I'm moderately ashamed to say we packed so heavy this trip we included the washing machine!
About 6 months ago the missus scored a portable electronic Lemair washing machine off Gumtree for a absolute bargain. Up to now I'd refused to take it anywhere with us, after all just because we camp in a caravan that doesn't make us completely soft does it?? Anyway this trip was it's maiden voyage and today was it's first load in anger. Apparently it performed brilliantly, not that I'd know because after fetching the water from the river I refused to acknowledge it's existence until I was able to switch the genny off.
 |
| Everything including the washing machine |
Day 6: Was another perfect weather day. We spent the day around camp getting through a few more chores like digging a hole for the toilet waste (gotta love that job), filling the jerry cans from the river and hunting for firewood. We still managed time for some R&R, cards - with Romoli being the game of choice and of course a swim in the river. The camp oven got a run that night with the family favourite Boss Hogs on the menu.
Day 7: We got in plenty of river time during another perfect day. We were expecting a pretty cool night so out came the tractor and chainsaws as we set about building a big bonfire for the evening.
 |
| The perks of camping on private property |
What a great night it was too. The bonfire, the best feed of lamb cutlets with gravy I've ever had - cooked to perfection in the camp oven. Then to top things off we settled into watch the Broncs take the bickies in Friday night footy!
 |
| Central heating for the evening |
 |
| Got bloody cold that night so the fire was perfect |
Day 8: Plenty more R&R today before deciding to load the tinnie and head back to crescent for a fish. Didn't catch anything but hardly surprising with a boat full of excited kids under 10 making enough racket to wake the dead.
Day 9: Easter Sunday meant an early start with the rugrats who were jumping out of their skin to begin the hunt for eggs. They had a ball looking in all the nooks and crannies to discover the surprises the Easter Bunny had left behind and spent the rest of the day high on cocoa and sugar.
 |
| Sugar overdose here I come! |
We'd been talking about it for nine days and today was D day. That's right D stands for Damper. The first annual great Damper-off has been conceived so a couple of us set about pulling together the ingredients for our secret recipe of doughy delight.
 |
| The Damper-off |
Unfortunately I succumbed to my more experienced counterpart by making two amateurish mistakes. I used a trivet instead of flour, and went overboard with the salt. Regardless they were both pretty mourish with a splash of golden syrup.
 |
| I lost points badly for presentation :( |
In the afternoon we took a short drive up-river to a place known as "the Rapids"
Day 10: and it was time to head for home. We were packed and on the road by about 10am. The trip out was as slow as the trip in yet I managed to catch the step of 'Panda on a rock. Needless to say the step came out worse for wear so there'll be a few running repairs required before the next trip. Can't wait...
No comments:
Post a Comment