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Exploratory Trip In Nsw Over New Years

benno573

By benno573
in Boating

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benno573 Rising Star

benno573

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Hi all,

 

not a specific fishing report but thought I'd post it up as I know a lot of members like 4wd'ing and camping and alike.

 

after a late change in plans and a cancellation of a planned trip to vanuatu, I was left with a week off and nothing to do. The weather looked completely rubbish for boating/coastal activities so I hatched a plan to go exploring down in the New England area of NSW, east of Glenn innes/armidale. I packed up my truck, esky, swag, chair, bourbon, spare fuel and water, dropped the dog off at mums place and off I went. Got to Glenn innes and turned left and went along the old Glenn innes - grafton road through mann river reserve. Went through a hand carved tunnel in the rock and pulled up for the night at a camp area at dalmorton, an abandoned settlement dating back to a gold rush in 1860. Rolled the swag out, poured a bourbon and enjoyed the serenity. Went exploring at night down on the river and saw many frogs, 4 different snakes and several eels and tandans in the river.

 

woke up the next morning, Vegemite on toast and 2 cans of sardines later I was on my way. Continued along the Glenn innes grafton road and eventually got back on the bitumen at nymboida. Followed the very scenic road down to ebor, stopped to check out ebor falls which was pretty cool. Then headed into cathedral rock national park, realized I'd forgotten to pack any shoes other than my slides so climbed the 4km to the top of the rock in my slides, much to the amusement of people who were busy preparing (over-preparing) for the same walk with gps watches, boots, hydration packs and clothing that cost more than I care to think about and the worst combover I've seen in a while. I'm sure they had as much fun as me... Climb was a bit challenging but not too bad, view at 1514m above sea level was awesome. It was 12 degrees when i left the car, was about that with wind chill on top at the top of the rock, very glad I took my wind proof jacket.

 

after a quick lunch on the tailgate, I headed into armidale to top up fuel and water supplies. Went in to armidale sports and outdoors, the guys there were awesome and gave me heaps of information about where I could catch a bass or a trout. I ended up buying some deadly flathead lures there that I hadn't been able to find anywhere else, random but hey, I'll take it. Actually found driveway service at a servo there too... 

 

Headed back east from armidale, stopped in at wollomombi falls which is the 2nd highest in Aus, unfortunately there was no water this time. Awesome gorge and a nice walk along the top too. Headed down the armidale-kempsey road into oxley wild rivers national park. The weather turned for the worst so I slipped and slid my way into wattle flat camping area. Had a break in the rain which allowed me to set up quickly, pour a bourbon and sit down and cook my kangaroo steak while watching a mob of kangaroos grazing in front of my camp... Irony?

 

woke up the next morning to sunshine and complete stillness, sat up in my swag, kangaroos grazing everywhere, thought of having a flick in the creek in front of the camp ground, saw a disturbance on the surface but it turned out to be a platypus cruising along the surface so I just watched for a bit. Turns out there was two platypus in the one long pool, first time I've seen two in the one place.

 

packed up and slid my way back up the hill out of wattle flat, headed back up towards point lookout (not the straddie one). At 1563m I was hoping it would be out of the clouds... But unfortunately not. :( So the view wasn't all that great. Just lots of cloud. just up the road there is a trout hatchery so I amused myself there for an hour or so. You're allowed to feed the trout, unfortunately no fishing in the stream beside it, there was some massive rainbows in there!

 

headed off along the armidale-kempsey road again which I would have to say is one of the most scenic drives I've ever done. Lots of places to access the river, stopped for a bit of a fish, managed a small bass on a bubble pop 35, couldn't use a diving lure due to weed. Awesome looking river though. 

 

Eventually got to kempsey, stopped for a pie (or 3...) at Freddos pies, had a bit of a think about where to go next. Opted to head up the pacific highway to grafton and then turned left and headed about 80km to washpool national park. Got there fairly late, set up quickly and chilled out. As it got dark, the fireflies started to come out which was pretty cool. Went for a bit of a walk after dark and saw a spotted quoll and a powerful owl and a few different kinds of frogs.

 

it rained most of the night but the awning and swag kept me dry. I was hoping to go for a bit of a hike but the rain was persistent so I started a wet pack up. I was distracted when a lyrebird just wandered into my camp site, first time I've seen one in the wild. Headed up through Stanthorpe to Warwick and decided to take a scenic route home via queen Mary falls and then back to Killarney via the Condamine river road. Very scenic drive (4wd only along Condamine river rd) with many river crossings, would be a nice day trip from brisbane.

Headed back home, set up the awning and swag out the front in the sun to dry it all out much to the amusement of my neighbors.

 

thanks for reading, here's some pics for those that are interested.image.jpg

bourbon!

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The set up

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Ebor falls

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Ebor falls

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Crimson Rosella

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Orchid - @Dinodadog care to identify?

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Cathedral rock

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Wollomombi falls/gorge

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Mud!

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The view from point lookout

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Armidale-kempsey rd, oxley wild rivers NP

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Daggs falls near Killarney 

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Queen Mary falls

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View from a lookout just up from falls

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condamine river rd

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benno573 Rising Star

benno573

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3 minutes ago, Do$tylz said:

Epic solo trip there Benno.

How many K's do you think you covered?

Hey mate,

from the old lady's on the sunny coast I did 1950km to get back to bris.

 

@samsteele115 - pretty basic but swag was well comfy enough, loved being completely set up in 15 minutes. Had to put an extra tarp up on two of the nights owing to rain but that wasn't a big hassle.

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samsteele115 Newbie

samsteele115

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57 minutes ago, benno573 said:

Hey mate,

from the old lady's on the sunny coast I did 1950km to get back to bris.

 

@samsteele115 - pretty basic but swag was well comfy enough, loved being completely set up in 15 minutes. Had to put an extra tarp up on two of the nights owing to rain but that wasn't a big hassle.

Basic is best. Minimilist. I love that sh!t

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