I knew where this years travels would end. I’d be heading for the Victorian coast for the summer, as it will be my jumping off point in 2025. But I wasn’t going to just barrel down the national highway like a lemming. Yet again, some interesting information had drifted past my eyes. I could see a path through some national parks, inland, and heading south. It’s a slice of New South Wales that’s a sort of no-mans land for popular tourism. Wedged between the coast and the outback, it hugs the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, running between Muswellbrook and Bathurst and two National Parks – the Goulburn River and the Wollemi.
After stocking up at Raymond Terrace, I skirted Newcastle and headed towards Singleton and the Golden Highway. My first stop was a free camp, just off the highway at Jerry’s Plains. It was just going to be one night, buy with a big storm front coming in from the west, I decided to wait it out.
The highway runs through some pretty lush country. Passing world famous horse studs like Coolamon, and historic homesteads, there’s plenty of ‘old money’ around. I turned off the highway just past Merriwa and headed down the Wollara Road. The destination? Big River Campground in the Goulburn River National Park. I eventually arrived at a tiny village called Mogo and then found the dirt road in. When towing a van, you always cling to the positive assumption that getting in and out of places will not be a problem. If it was, someone, somewhere would tell you -right? This time, it wasn’t the road per se. – good condition and no traffic. I knew my destination was on a river, but watching Google maps as I rolled along, as the campground got closer, looking out the window, I could see that I was way above the valley floor. This could only mean one thing – a steep sharp descent that I could only hope I could climb out of later. Yep!
If you wanted to read the complete works of Tolstoy undisturbed, this is the place. Quiet, peaceful, no internet or phone. Unfortunately access to the river is difficult. Parks NSW have made the Goulburn River a look but don’t swim venue, unless you’re prepared to ‘go bush’. Still, not a lot of flat ground for vans, but most of the facilities you’d hope for in a remote location.
There were a couple of walks, just to stretch the legs. I quickly got reacquainted with the massive sandstone outcrops and boulders, some perched precariously above the river bed. I had defrosted a roast pork to camp oven that night, but was informed that there was a fire ban from October till April here. Well, no reason to hang around I guess. One night would be enough, and besides, my escape prospects had been nagging me a little. There were two climbs to navigate in quick succession. I cleared the first after a ‘runway’ start, but the second was low range 4WD and a few Hail Mary ‘s. The Jeep pulled through and it was all over in a couple of minutes.
When the internet becomes the font of all knowledge, or at least access to it, even 24 hours can have you breaking out in a cold sweat. So, being a Sunday, 100klms to Rylestone would be sufficient. I had two choices and this time did NOT choose wisely. It wasn’t long before Hayes Gap Road turned into Fool You Road. Not that it wasn’t driveable, but between playing dodgems with the potholes and testing the suspension on some dips across creeks, not the most pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning. I eventually got back onto tar and pulled into an old railway village called Lue for some lunch.
Rylestone was only 20 minutes further on and there was a free camp site at the Showground (with internet…of course). What I WAS excited about was my next destination, the Coorongooba Campground nestled in the Capertee Valley. I had read about a fairly long dirt road in, but just for once, my luck was in, it had recently been sealed. Only the last 5klm was dirt, just to maintain the impression of an off-road adventure I’m sure(they even throw in a creek crossing).
The Capertee Valley is part of a 100klm long canyon system that is the widest in the world and one of the best kept secrets around. It is one of the top 5, I have seen in my travels around Australia. No phone or internet, but in a place like this, who cares? The amazing view is omnipresent, the colours of the canyon walls different every few hours. Fires WERE OK here, so preparing the roast was on the to-do list.
Mondays are always a good time to lob into a place. The weekend warriors and party animals have all left giving you the opportunity to just soak it up. This time, the river was an easy get-to, with a walking track running parallel for several kilometres downstream. Although the sandy river bed made for an easy walk, there were rockpools and swimming holes everywhere.
Either side of the river rose up to what I would describe as a mezzanine level, maybe 200 metres wide before reaching the cliff faces. With no obvious way up, it was hands and knees through dense undergrowth to reach there. It was worth the effort. Temperate rainforest on fairly open ground, where human visitors would be rare. I had seen a potentially good photo op and was making my way though the trees trying to find a clear shot.
A noise to my left, and I had come face to face with a very large Lace Monitor, about 2 metres in length. There was this awkward moment when we just stared at each other before it sort refuge in a nearby tree, but initially only a few feet off the ground. As a photographer you’re immediately under pressure. Getting the right lense on, the right setting, is the light OK – all this in just a few seconds. You can never bet on how much time you have.
But this guy was pretty obliging and time was on my side. He eventually climbed further up the tree and when I had a look on my way back, he was no-where to be seen. If I had come better prepared, I think I could have spent some hours just poking around. However, no-one knew where I was and that 20 metre climb back down to the river would seem impenetrable carrying an injury.
By now I was well into the second day. The wallabies would assemble en masse late in the afternoon to nibble on the campground lawns seemingly oblivious to the human activity going on around them.
There was however, a sub-plot that was beginning to unfold. Several of us had noticed a ute parked under some trees, that had been there for at least three days. No-one had returned and there were no clues.
A car with Victorian number plates, obviously travelling, parked in a remote location for no obvious reason? There was concern, rather than alarm, but plenty of theories got an airing, a couple of which were quite ‘dark’. It was delegated to the gay couple to alert the park rangers when they next called by. I had some history to follow up the next day, probably the only one of it’s kind left standing in Australia
