A long weekend camping trip to Ganguddy/Dunn’s Swamp Camping with me and Liam.
A bit different, just a single post for the whole trip.
Preamble
After the Tassie trip, the days have been numbered keeping the van. The family, while enjoying it, seem to have moved on. So, with that, I’ve looked at what options I have for the odd quick getaway. Just to recharge my batteries.
There was a week in November, with all the guys at work being on deck, so I arranged to take a few extra days off and do a bit of camping.
I had asked Liam if he might be interested in coming, but I got a decidedly lukewarm response.
Anyway, we all did a trip out to one of the local camping stores, more to look at a car fridge than anything else. While we were there, the kids got really excited with the swags and tents, and by the drive home Liam seemed really keen on coming.
If it was just me, I’d probably plan to just sleep in the car, but that’s not practical for the two of us, so I started to look at what options we had for a tent or some swags. In the end I did a quick look on Gumtree only to find some bloke selling two, practically new Swags, for a real bargain. To top all this off, he was about 2 km away. I could have walked there! The offer was too good to pass up.
Keen to given them a try, A couple of weekends ago Liam camped out in the backyard overnight, and loved it.
So, we’ve got the swags (bargain), I’ve spent too much money on a huge car fridge (less of a bargain). While I got a few extra bits, we had a lot of camping gear from the van. So, we’re all set to go.
I really need to build a new box for the rear of the car to fit the new fridge, but I’ll leave that till we get back, so for this trip it will be on the folded down back seat.
If it was just me, I’d probably just tour around the country side and find a freecamp to pull up at night and move on the next day. Given Liam is coming along, I thought I’d try and find something that would interest him a bit more and setup base for the weekend. So, I’ve booked at Dunn’s Swamp campground, apparently everyone other than me has heard of the place. Given post Covid all National Parks need to be booked, it won’t be the complete chaos that it might have been beforehand.
24th – Sydney to Ganguddy/Dunn’s Swamp Campground
Liam’s gone to school, I’ve taken the day off. I’ve been packing the car for the last couple of weeks (yes, I know). Mostly to make sure everything fits and to try and think of everything we may need. Of course it really doesn’t make much difference if you’re going for 3 days or 3 weeks, other than food and maybe extra clothes you need practically the same amount of stuff.
Kayak and Gazebo loaded, the final food and I think I have everything
As arranged, I picked up Liam at the start of his afternoon break, this way he’s only missing one period and this week that happens to be Visual Arts, one of he’s least favourite subjects. Quickly home and changed and we’re on the road by 2, unfortunately not early enough to beat the inevitable accident on the M4…
Over the mountains, through Lithgow, and we turn off the Mudgee road just after Ilford.
We pull into the campgrounds around 5:45 and take a reccky around. We’ve booked a trailer site, rather than a tent side so we can be beside the car. None of the sites are really near the water, very few are that level. We pick the best one we can find and start to setup. Out of the 20 or 30 sites only about 5 are taken, that’ll probably change tomorrow as they are fully booked then.
Liam sets up the swags and I get some other things ready.
Fire started and we make dinner.
It so quiet here. There must be some low cloud as the stars are not super clear.
All ready for a full day tomorrow.
25th – Day 2
A good, but restless night sleep, I must have woken up half a dozen times. On one occasion I’m sure some animal (possum) was trying to get into the swag (paw prints the next morning confirmed). It was also a lot cooler than I expected, we weren’t freezing, but it was certainly fresh.
Finally, we get up just after 7. In the distance you can see the fog over the water. Everything has a heavy dew.
Some breakfast, and I suggest we do the lookout and dam wall walk before it gets too hot.
The walk starts out easy enough. We hit the turn off to the lookout track and head up. The track pretty much stops as we hit the rock, and best we can tell you just find your own way from here. We scramble upwards. We finally hit the peak of one set of rocks. The view up here is pretty amazing and you can really see the river/dam snake its way back up the valley. Liam’s not satisfied and rock hops all the way over to the next and much taller set. The whole area is pretty spectacular, and you can see why the similarities with the bungles is often mentioned. Oddly up here we have mobile reception so a quick txt home to let them know we’re fine.
We scramble back down, then continue on to the Dam wall. I’ve seen lots of photos from the base of the wall, but as we approach, we find them all barricaded off. Seeing we’ve come this far, we keep on going to the Long Cave, nice enough, but not sure if it’s worth the extra time. Along the valley/river floor we can see this old pipe, but it seems broken in quite a few places, so if this is for the town’s water, they must have another newer pipe somewhere.
After about 2 ½ hours we make it back to the campsite. A rest is in order
When planning this trip there where photos of people jumping for rocks into the water, Liam loves this stuff. The ones I’ve seen online are pretty big, but in the water near us there is a rock that is more manageable. There is a place to launch the kayak the river is not too wide here. So we both jump in the kayak. It takes our weight, but we only get about 4mtrs from shore when Liam goes one way, I go the other and then next thing we know we’re in the drink. The water is fresh, but not super cold. Laughing, we right the kayak and climb aboard….very carefully. We gingerly make our way over to the other side. Liam spots a way to climb up on the rock. For a first attempt I suggest the point of the rock that is lowest, I swing around in the water with the paddle and it seems deep enough, and in he goes. Unsatisfied with that we want to jump from the top. Another search and it seems clear. So after a few moments of nerves he jumps in. I video it with the GoPro, only to find out I’ve got it in time-lapse mode, so he has to go again.
A bit of paddling around in the shallows and we make our way back to camp.
As the afternoon wears on, the hordes start to arrive. Camper trailer after camper trailer arrive. It quickly become obvious they all know each other. This should be interesting.
There is a company here that hires kayaks out on the weekends and does tours, the Sat/Sun ones are each morning, but they do a Friday dusk tour. We book in, and around 5pm a group of 8 jump in our double kayaks for the 2k paddle down to the dam. These twin sea kayaks are pretty easy to paddle, so it ends up being much easier than I think anyone expected. The view from the water of the rocks and cliffs is amazing. About halfway down the guide, Cindy, pulls us all together in the middle of the lake and give a talk about the area, its history and geology. All pretty interesting really. At this point she tells us the dam was build for the Cement works in Kandos and not for town water. Apparently, some self-taught engineer in the 1920’s approach the company with a plan a proposal and they said “go for it”.
After this rest, we paddle the rest of the way to the dam and jump out of the kayaks and take a walk to the damn wall. We dutifully walk straight past the “do not enter” sign. With the recent rains we’re told that water was flowing 2 metres over the wall. We get a bit more of the story here and then return to the kayaks. The trip back is pretty much full steam and Liam and I take the opportunity to break some more rule by going on the other side of the “do not cross” Buoys, then hug the cliffs and caves on the way back. It was such a good trip, they did a really great job.
It’s about 7:30 by the time we get back to camp, we quickly get the fire started and then get dinner ready. The star are so much clearer tonight. That and the neighbours are having a bit of a party, fortunately they’re not super loud.
Somewhere during this I realise I’ve lost my glasses, must have been on the kayaking trip. Crap. At least I have my spare set. Later in the night I recall, hearing something drop when paddling back, at the time I thought it was the GoPro I had, but thinking back it must have been the glasses, maybe they didn’t go in the drink after all.
With the fire starting to die down it’s time for bed.
26th– Day 3
A much better night sleep last night, only waking a few times. It seemed a little warmer too… and no possum. I am a little stiff though. It’s really nice waking in the night and seeing the night sky though the mesh screens.
So, it’s not till just before 8 that we get up (although the neighbours have been up for hours). Some scrambled eggs and bacon for breaky and we get ready to set off for a drive to Capertree National Park and the Lookout, over what they’re calling the widest canyon in the world??? It’s meant to be a pretty tame 4×4 track with a few creek crossings.
While not particularly hopeful, we drive down to the main area and ask the kayaking people if they’ve seen my glasses, they haven’t, but no one has taken the kayaks out yet this morning. We look at the two green ones and low and behold, Liam spots them, just sitting in the seat. Wow that was lucky.
Cindy in inquires about what we’re doing today, so I mentioned the lookout, she reminds me we need to call the Parks office to get a gate code… bugger, I’d forgotten about that. She also gives directions, but I pretty much knew all that.
So, we head off, out of the park back towards Kandos, only to be followed by this guy in a ranger that decided to sit right up by butt. I figure he’s edging to overtake, it’s not like we’re going slow. Generally I’m happy to let a car that catches me overtake and will happily pull over, but this guy is just so close, he’s pissing me off, so he can wait! After a suitable amount of time following, we finally let the guy pass, oddly no wave???
We reach the turnoff that heads south to the lookout, we’ve got mobile service now, so I call the Parks office. After a bit of confusion if they have the code or not, they eventually tell me the Park is closed, it closed last Monday and will open in a few weeks for “pest control” … Crap! It was fine when I checked a week or so back. Oh, well. We decide to do a lap into Rylstone. The main drag seemed quite busy. Then back through Kandos, which was also a lot busier than Thursday afternoon. While much earlier than anticipated, I need to stop at the bakery for a pie. Which for the record, was pretty damn good. 
(4 / 5)
And after that rather futile trip at around 11:15 we’re back at the campsite. It’s a bit disappointing to have missed it.
After a discussion with Liam we decide to hire a double kayak again and this time go up stream. We book it for 3, as we did the tour yesterday the orientation is much quicker. We paddle the meandering dam water about 2km until we reach the head waters. Here Liam decides to have a bit of swim and even here the water is so deep he can’t touch the bottom. We paddle back, thinking we’ll have more time to pause and take it all in, but while not flat out, we need to continue on to get back on time.
We start the fire and dinner early, probably too early. At one stage I think we might be in bed before 9, but we having a great chat and end up going till about 11.
27th– Home
Up around 7:30, it’s a nice, but overcast morning, so it’s not too hot. Liam’s dead keen on having pancakes for breakfast, so I make him cook them. Yum.
It takes just over an hour to pack everything up, which is not too bad. The main trouble with this campground is all the sites are crushed rock, so while not boggy, everything is covered in this dirt and sand. We clean of stuff as best we can and load up the car.
Done, we pull out at 10:30. A quick detour and a lap of the freecamp at Wallerawang, it’s pretty busy as expected, but might be an option in the future.
Lunch at Lithgow, then just for a change, we take the Bells Line Of Road back. I’ve decided I don’t like either way over the mountains, but this is a little more scenic.
Home and we unpack the car.
A really good trip, and it was so good for Liam and I to have some time together.