How it all Started:
My wife was lucky enough to be given a free entry into a trail running race in Newnes, near Lithgow in NSW and we thought it would we'd try camping for the first time with all 3 kids. We were originally planning on taking our tent and trailer (no camper yet) but I haven't had a chance to change the wheel bearings yet and I'm not sure how long they've been in there (father-in-law gave me his old trailer and I'm in the process of doing it up). Thankfully some friends of ours offered up their camper trailer to use so I got to planning and packing for the 6 hour drive each way.
And then good became less good:
In the lead up to the trip we watched the weather and were getting a bit nervous as the date approached. The forecast was supposed to be ok, but all was not as it seemed. When we left on Friday the light rain forecast from Canberra to Goulburn that was supposed to clear before Lithgow, turned out to be torrential rain and howling wind that followed us all the way, with a stop in Oberon seeing heavy rain and 6 degrees.
Brief stop at the Abercrombie River between Goulburn and Oberon:
The weather finally broke leaving Lithgow and the run into Newnes was uneventful. The campsite was beautiful and there were kangaroos and wallabies everywhere.
I'd prepared for the close to zero temperature expected over night, but once I opened up the camper I knew we were in for a rough time....
The chemical toilet (a freebie I picked up in almost new condition) had leaked! I had filled up the fresh water in it prior to leaving but had made the mistake of making it too full. With the changes in pressure up and down the hills it and the bouncing ride it had sent some out the breather in the filler cap, and there was quite the puddle of pink liquid under everything in the camper. Unfortunately it had also wet a number of our blankets. It was pretty warm and mostly clear skies so I spread them out to dry on a nearby picnic table while I set everything up.
Our camp:
We went on a bushwalk after setting up the trailer, but about 10 minutes in the wind started howling so we turned back, only to have the heavens open and dump down rain on us, not the start we'd planned. We got back and changed into dry clothes and settled in for the night. It cleared right up and the stars came out. It was cold but pleasant so we headed off to bed.
Remember those wet blankets..... could have used them right about now. After struggling to get to sleep with too few coverings, we ended up putting on multiple pairs of socks and pants and wearing our parkas to sleep in. We were just settling down when thumping music started up and another group at the campground began their drinking party. This lasted until 2:30am and meant pretty much no sleep was had. I'm pretty sure they only stopped when they did because a thundering wind came up, strong enough to shake the tent violently. Our two younger children were woken up and scared by this stage, although the two year old was pretty unsure what was happening and kept asking for more dinner. We settled them down and went back to bed, hoping the worst was over. After about an hour and a half of the wind I could hear our gazebo making some extra noise so I went out and re-pegged it down, set it as low as possible then headed back to bed. It was now 4am.
After a couple of hours of fitful "sleep" we were woken up at 6am by our 7 year old asking for breakfast, oblivious to what had happened the night before. Hmmm.....
The sun was coming up and the skies were blue, so my wife grudgingly prepared for the half-marathon and while she was running I took the kids exploring:
To add the icing on the cake: remember that wind from last night? It started up again during our walk and we came back to find our gazebo a mangled mess 30 feet away from where I'd pegged it down.
We made the call after she finished her race to pack up and head home a night early. It was a good call as we drove through a blizzard for 40min between Oberon and Goulburn and the forecast was for a maximum temp of 5 in Newnes on Sunday.
In all it was a comedy of errors, but we're chalking it up to experience and the kids had a wonderful time. We've booked another camping trip for August, this time in a caravan park on the south coast with a powered ensuite site. We'll be taking my trailer and the tent then so we'll see how that one goes...
Adventure away in the KJ
