Copi Hollow – Menindee Lookout & Kinchega NP River Drive

by David Sloane | Sep 30, 2018 | Darling River Run

Copi Hollow – Menindee Lookout & Kinchega NP River Drive

Had a fun day today. Went for a drive to a place called Copi Hollow for a look around. It’s a water skiing park near Lake Pamamaroo. Not much water skiing going on the moment though due to a lack of water.

Driving Out To Copi Hollow

Next we went to Lake Menindee lookout. The lake is as dry as anything, more like a depression in the desert than a lake but it was still extremely interesting to see.

Menindee Lake From The Lookout

We had to cross the railway tracks and on the way back we had to wait for ages while a freight train took quite a few minutes to rumble by.

Freight Train At Menindeee Lookout

Then we went back in to Kinchega National Park and followed the River Drive from start to finish. It’s a great drive about 30ks in length that winds along the bank of the Darling River beneath overhanging red river gums. There are a lot of very good camp sites along the river.

Darling River Kinchega National Park

Between camp 32 and 33 you can see the remains of the boiler from a paddle steamer that exploded after running dry back in 1872. The chinese cook got thrown in to a tree by the explosion and wasn’t found for two days. They pulled him down and carted him off for medical assistance but the poor bugger died a bit later.

Remains Of Old Riverboat Boiler In Kinchega National Park

We also stopped at camp 34 which is meant to be another Burke & Wills camp site. It is certainly a magnificent spot. Back at camp we had a few beers with friends Suzi and Mark and then settled in to watch the NRL grand final on a massive projector screen. Was a great day.

Mars Enthusiasts 2018 NSW Muster at Wee Jasper

by David Sloane | Jun 11, 2018 | MARS Enthusiasts Facebook Group

Mars Enthusiasts 2018 NSW Muster at Wee Jasper

Had a great weekend camping with the crew from the Mars Enthusiasts group at Wee Jasper down near Yass. Had a heap of fun with them – they’re a really good group of people. I think Tracey Kelly added up we had 11 trailers/vans, 21 adults, 9 kids and 10 dogs. Bloody great turn out.

Beautiful Views At Billy Grace Reserve Campground Wee Jasper

Firewood Collection & A Bit Of Exploring

Thanks go out to Sean “Big Daddy” Weaver for organising the even and to Peter Woolsey for doing all the behind the scenes stuff.

We got there early on Saturday morning and it was raining a bit. After setting everything up we went out with a few utes and some chainsaws to get some firewood for the nights big camp oven cook. Out of Billy Grace Reserve we turned left and the wood was pretty ordinary but we got a couple of ute loads of the best we could find. We probably drove maybe 10 or 15 kilometres down muddy twisty narrow tracks, it’s pretty spectacular scenery. On the way there we drove through another 3 or 4 camp grounds similar to Billy Grace Reserve that are worth checking out in the future.

Firewood Collected At Wee Jasper

Muster Night – Camp Ovens Everywhere!

Muster Night Camp Oven Cook Up

Saturday afternoon we had a beer pong tournament. I’m rubbish at it. Dinner was great, it was cooked on the fire in camp ovens and everyone had a great feed. Took a while to get it done but it turned out great.

We also had a trivia competition, we were rubbish at that too. Afterwards we sat around for ages and talked and had a great time. Oh and at some stage of the evening for whatever god knows reason I apparently agreed to go for a swim in the river the following morning. The evening finished off for me by being the subject of the NSW Muster’s pillow talk session.

On Sunday we got up early and Amanda and Johnathon made some damper for everyone. A couple of plain ones and a couple of fruit ones, they all turned out great albeit they tool a while to cook as the coals we had available weren’t all that hot due to the dodgy wood we collected on Saturday.

A Great Day On Sunday

After breakfast it was time for my swim. It was freezing, absolutely bloody freezing but I said I’d do it so I did it. What an idiot I am! To be honest it wasn’t too bad once it was over and I got out. The creek was only about waist deep in most parts but they managed to find a deep hole so I could get in and do my swim spa thing and flop about a bit.

Cold Morning At Billy Grace Reserve Wee Jasper – Ice Everywhere!

After my swim I had a nice hot shower and sat around the fire for a bit to warm up. When I had thawed out properly Simon, peter, Matthew and myself took a couple of utes and chainsaws out to get some more firewood. This time we turned right out of camp and a couple of kays down the road found a heap of nice dry gum halfway up a really steep hill. Simon and I climbed up with the chainsaws and cut a few uteloads. At one point Simon rolled down the hill a bit and tried to shishkebab himself on a branch. I was worried for a second but he was ok.

Lunch was cooked on the fire and then we all settled in for the afternoon and evening. We had a bloody great time and had heaps of laughs.

Lunch Was A Group Effort Cooked Over The Fire

All up the first ever NSW Mars Muster was a huge success. We met up with some friends we already knew and made a heap of new ones. Amanda and I are really enjoying the whole muster thing and we are really looking forward to going to Menindee late September for the national one.

Graciee Loved Billy Grace Reserve Wee Jasper

Camping By The River And Just Doing Nothing

by David Sloane | May 17, 2018 | Cameron Corner & Farina, Our Travel Blog

Camping By The River And Just Doing Nothing

A relaxing day camping by the river, enjoying homemade damper, exploring the area and appreciating simple outdoor moments. I got up early and got the fire cranking so we would have some coals to make a damper. Was a bit of a cool start to the day but be we were nice and warm overnight in the van. I don’t really get why people fit diesel heaters etc, we’ve had plenty of nights around zero and below and all you need are some warm clothes and a decent quilt. Was the same when in the old camper trailer.

Camping By The River Some Firewood Collected

Anyway, Amanda made us up some nice mini dampers in the camp oven. Normally we just do one big one but this morning she made up smaller bread roll size jobbies. They were very nice.

Exploring The Area While Camping By The River At Happy Valley Landing

We were camping by the river at Happy Valley Landing campsite on the Murray River near Robinvale. I went for a bit of a walk around the area we were camping in and found quite a few other nice spots. One of them even has a nice smooth walk down the bank of the river to a sandy beach. The track at that point had a tree fallen across it however you could clear that out of the way easily enough with a chainsaw and towing strap. Another spot had a massive old tree in the middle and then a circular track around it, could get maybe half a dozen vans all camped around the tree with your fire off to the side. It’d be excellent for a small group.

Mini Dampers In The Camp Oven

We just sort of sat around all day reading books and had another go at playing UNO. I got the chainsaw out and cut us up some more firewood. I also cut up a fair whack more to take home with us to use at the NSW Muster we are going to on the June long weekend with the Martian Enthusiasts Camper Trailer Group we are a part of.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River

All up it was a really relaxing day. Amanda and I love doing outback touring type trips but we have also rediscovered just how nice it can be to be camping by the river with a fire going and just doing nothing. It’d be great if we can do a bit more of this type of thing in the future.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On The Murray River

by David Sloane | May 16, 2018 | Cameron Corner & Farina

Free Camping Near Robinvale On The Murray River

Free camping near Robinvale at Happy Valley Landing on the Murray River. It’s a nice, quiet secluded spot. I found it on WikiCamps not that far from Robinvale VIC. I’m not going to tell you the name of it or exactly where it is suffice to say it’s on WikiCamps. You can look it up for yourself.

It’s such an awesomely great spot that I’m not going to plaster it’s precise location all over the interwebs. Otherwise the nice quiet secluded spot could be overrun with people. Running generators 24/7 and blasting about on their quad bikes scaring the sheep. Send me an email if you are interested and I will give you the exact location.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River Near Robinvale VIC

From Berri To Robinvale

We drove through from Berri to near Robinvale in VIC, the roads were excellent. Most of the way we were on B and C roads so traffic was at a minimum. Mostly local trucks and a few cars travelling between small regional towns. If you don’t know the difference between what the M, A, B and C classifications for example “C727” mean for roads within Australia it’s worth your time to look it up. WikiCamps has a good explanation of it here. It can help you assess the quality of road and the amount of traffic you are going to encounter. All of the states we have been in use a similar system.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On Murray River

The track in is a bit tricky. It’s not too bad but you definitely need a 4×4 and an offroad camper trailer or SMALL high clearance offroad van to get in to it. No it isn’t suitable for on road vans. Same goes for semi-offroad vans, motorhomes or big rigs and you can forget bringing in your 5th wheeler. It’s quite sandy in patches with some fairly tight turns and some humps and hollows to climb up over or through. It’s really 100% guaranteed your effort if you can get in there though. At a few places the track forks off and it’d be worth your effort to get out and go for a walk down them to assess their suitability. All up I reckon there are about a dozen spots all spaced well well from each other along the track.

Awesome Spot To Get The Camp Oven Out

And there is heaps and heaps of deadfall firewood lying about for you to cut up. There’s literally more than you could poke a stick at. After setting up camp we got the fire going and sat around all afternoon reading or books and playing UNO, it was very relaxing. Just before dark a big mob of sheep wandered down the bank for a drink on the other side of the river. They were the only other things we saw all day, very peaceful.

Lamb Shanks In The Camp Oven

For dinner we cooked some lamb shanks in the camp oven and they were absolute monsters, the biggest lamb shanks I have ever seen. They were absolutely beautiful. Later in the evening while sitting by the fire and having a drink Graciee got all stirred up about something – scared shitless would probably be a more accurate description. Turns out it was an echidna that had wandered in to camp for a bit of a poke around.

Best Caravan Park In Orroroo SA: Flinders Ranges Launch Pad

by David Sloane | May 14, 2018 | Best Caravan Parks By Location, Cameron Corner & Farina

Best Caravan Park In Orroroo SA: Flinders Ranges Launch Pad

We stayed the night in a caravan park at Orroroo. It was a nice park and was only about $25 for the night but we just don’t like van parks much. After camping in the bush for over a week it felt really claustrophobic. We did however really appreciate the nice hot showers.

Originally we had scheduled to drive through to Peterborough and then do a long 650km trip through to a camp site on the Murray at Robinvale however since we had a day up our sleeve because we didn’t go to the Dig Tree (still spewing about that) we decided to break it up a bit and go to Orroroo, Berri then Robinvale. On the road down to Orroroo we drove past some very interesting places, a lot of turnoffs to places of interest in the Flinders Ranges. I think we might go there next year.

Orroroo Caravan Park

We stayed the night in a caravan park at Orroroo. It was a nice enough park and was only about $25 for the night but we just don’t like van parks much. After camping in the bush for over a week it just felt really claustrophobic. We did however really appreciate the nice hot showers.

Main Street Orroroo SA

We did some stocking up for the next few days in town, and Orroroo is a really nice little town. I could see myself living somewhere like it. It was the first proper little town we’d been in since leaving home. They have an IGA, a couple of pubs, a great old fashioned servo. I loved the servo. You walk inside and the joint is packed to the rafters with car parts and smells like a workshop. In fact that’s pretty much what it is. It reminded me of what servos were like when I was a kid. I guess once the older bloke who was running it retires it’ll get turned in to a Coles Express or something similar.

Magnetic Hill Near Orroroo

Anyway, after stocking up we went for a drive out to Magnetic Hill. The idea is you stop your car, whack it in neutral and release the brakes and it rolls uphill. Bugger me if it didn’t work! I know it’s just an optical illusion but hey, it sure felt like the magnet was pulling us uphill.

Pro Motors And Hunts Fuel Orroroo SA

We ordered pizzas for dinner at the pub and they were good. Really good. Surprisingly good! While they were cooking we sat outside with Graciee and had about three beers and had a good chat with one of the locals. He’d been a truck driver delivering general goods out in the push up the Strzelecki, Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks and further north and west all of his life based out of Orroroo. He reckoned Orroroo was a great place to live. Sounds like he’d had a really interesting life

Commercial Hotel Orroroo SA

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