DAY 36 – Sat 22nd July / Hidden Camp Pie Creek
- Hugo alarm at 4.45am
- Slow start in our secluded camp. Loved it here. Leave at 8.10am.
- FOUND the caravan parking we missed last time for lunch at Childers. Great stop over.
- As were leaving i see smoke building in the distance along our rout. Quick in the car lets GO. Just made it in time before they shut the highway down driving through a grass fire that had jumped the highway.
- Jimmy calls = Jett’s mentor from the boot camp.
- Hip camp time again.
- This one is trendy
- Kids having a ball.
- Lots from Brisbane doing a weekend camp. Because they can!.
- Running low on water.
- Chicken soup and grilled chicken.
- Sitting around the fire and already notice the difference in temperature 5 hours south. Were cold.!
- Jett’s still out playing in the Dark (he’s such a cool eschay bro).
DAY 37 – Sun 23rd July / River View on the Clarence.
- Hugo up at 5.32am
- Batteries are very low and weve run out of water so we refill with rain water before we leave.
- Break controler is playing up. Later i discover its the Anderson on the car along with the smart altinator that can keep up with chargin the big lithium in the van aswell as charging all the kids devides in the car while we drive.
- Screamed all day in the car ride. It was epic.
- Now we’re almost there and google has taken us on a ferry! Its cute.
- We get there after all the stops and screaming from Hugo and Tanya final breaks. She hates hip camps and wants to cancel Tasmania.
- I get to know the owner. She delivers me free firewood and we talk about cattle and how there has been no rain. I have a fire outside with Leo and we watch star wars again. Then it rains all night!
- In the morning it’s still and calm. We have beacon and eggs and check out the river. TANYA has changed her mind and apologises. We decide to do a short trip and recharge in a caravan park in Port Macquarie.
DAY 38 – Mon 24th July / Port Macquarie.
- Hugo alarm goes off early. 4.45am.
- Cows come up near the van and were all happy. We hit the road late 9am as its a short 3 hour drive.
- We arrive at Port Macquarie and try to do so washing. No cash no coins and no cards.
- Quick supply run to top up for 3 last nights of HIPCAMPING.
- I take the boys shopping. LEO gets air pods on Telstra points (to silence Hugos screaming) and Jett gets a free-standing box bag. I grab seafood for Tan and put on a romantic last caravan park dinner with some soft Jazz.
DAY 39 – Tue 25th July / Pure Valey
- Hugo is set to 5am.
- Jett’s still asleep so we nick off to look at the light house and grab some breakfast.
- It’s a 4 hour drive to Pure Valley. We come in through an old run down caravan park on the river with private no entry signs everywhere. Its spooky.
- On arrival we meet the caretaker. He gives us instructions to get to the top paddock. There is a narrow bridge ceek crossing on a bend and I almost lose the van wheels off the side. We then do a creek crossing into paddock 2. The care taker shows us where to camp to avoid the leaches. We set up and go for a hike to the waterfall. It’s a rock track covered in moss, so we have to turn back.
- We have a massive fire with crumbed cutlets for dinner on the BBQ. Starting to get Jett into bed at a respectable time ready for his return to school. 9pm!
DAY 40 – Wed 26th July / Karoola Station
- Today’s drive is a big one. Over 5 hours to Gundagai. Ive checked my exit trail. Heavy fog on the way out. I cant leave Dezzies lighting strike piece of wood behind. Its been on the back of the Van since Valla beach.
- Naturally I take a wrong turn going through Sydney with highway number signs and google miss matching. Adds 40 mins.
- We have lunch in Goulburn and a massive Staffy joins us.
- We stop and the Gundagai railway where the dump point and potable water is.
- Then we head for our farm stay. Google takes me way past the entrance. We arrive late at 4.30.
- Set up fast and light the fire. Were on a fast-following river all alone. Another beautiful spot. Id happy book this place out and have a massive camping session with all my camping like minder mates.
- Wagyu beef on rice with steamed veg. Everyone hits the sack by 8.30pm. Bliss.
DAY 41 – Thu 27th July / Bordertown
- We awake at 6am to a 1 degree frost. Everything outside that was wet is frozen. We make a slow start with bacon and eggs. Were not in a hurry as its only 5 hours to Melbourne and were making another stop due to my sudden sickness.
- We book another HIPCAMP on a river just over the VIC NSW board. We take a walk along the river bank after breakfast and I get a message. The HIPCAMP has been flooded. We can go but need a 4×4 to tackle the mud. I’ve come down with a head cold so we decide to give it a miss and head for a caravan park for our last night.
- We stop at Holbrook and do the submarine museum. Brings back memories of the times ive been here with mum traveling to Sydney to see the family when i was young.
- We arrive at Bordertown big4. It’s the worse CP I’ve ever stayed in! the drive through site I’ve been given is so skinny I can even open the awning so I move to spot away from everyone right next to the dump point!. What a way to end our amazing tour.
- My head cold is bad now so tanya takes the kids to bounce across the road and I get some rest. We have pizza for dinner and an early night with a good old fight with Jett about his burner phone that’s gone missing from my draw.
RIP Dezzies Wood.
DAY 42 – Fri 28th July / Collingwood
- Its been pissing rain all night. Get me outta here.
- Were out by 9am and home just after 1pm.
- What a trip…..
- Im sick but wont miss a Collingwood game. I rustle up enough energy to head to the MCG with Matty. Collingwood loses!
