Queen's Birthday Outback Bash

Hi everyone,

After some very brief preliminary discussions I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a Navara get-together and campfire in Central NSW and throw it open to anyone from these forums that wants to come along.

I investigated McPhillamy Park (on top of Mt Panorama) - campers go there, but the gates are locked in the evening locking them in so in an emergency that's not a good place to be.

Ben Chifley Dam is no longer available as a campsite either, but day visits are permitted as are water sports such as skiing, canoeing and fishing (no swimming).

My enquiries led me to a place called Macquarie Woods, which is a large area that caters for big rigs (our setup is 13m long on the road).

The site is 28km west of Bathurst, 26km southeast of Orange. They have water, toilets and allow dogs (on a leash).

When?
Queens Birthday Weekend in June (Sat 12th June through to Mon 14th June). I'll be getting there late (very!) on Friday night so I can make sure signs go up, but I live in Newcastle so won't be there until 9pm or later as I'll be towing the van there. We'll be looking to leave some time on Monday morning.

Where?
The entry to Macquarie Woods is on the Mitchell Hwy and is well signposted.
GPS coords for turnoff: -33.421793 149.300103 (33°25'18.31"S, 149°18'00.32E) (definite)

About 600m off the highway turn off Cashens Ln onto Macquarie Woods Dr and into the campsite.
GPS coords for campsite: -33.409734 149.312767 (33°24'34.93"S, 149°18'46.32E) (to be confirmed)

What To Bring
It's going to be bruddy cold at night so bring extra warm clothes and sleeping gear. Be equipped for rain but don't count on it. There are no shops at the site, so bring food, water & refreshments. The ranger said that some firewood should be available. Bring fresh drinking water - there is water available but it must be boiled before use.

Camp Rules
We don't want to be thrown out by the ranger. It's not a 4WD track and there are other campers about so:

* Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times
* Rubbish must be disposed of properly
* Use the toilet that is available
* No antics, burnouts, mechanically-induced dust storms

If we treat the people and the place with respect we may be able to go again. What's even more appealing is that we may be able to turn this into an annual event!

If you're interested in coming along ... let me know so I can give the ranger some idea of numbers of people and vehicles.

Distances (in km) from major centres in NSW:

Albury: 486
Armidale: 577
Broken Hill: 990
Canberra: 329
Dubbo: 228
Grafton: 771
Lismore: 870
Mildura: 851
Newcastle: 350
Port Mac: 565
Sydney: 233
Tamworth: 472
Wagga Wagga: 350

Interstate members are welcome of course!

I'll change this post as needed to keep it up-to-date.

Hi Tony. It took a bit of finding but I now know it is 28Km W of Bathurst & 26Km SE of Orange. If any one has the 'Camps Australia Wide' book it is site 891 and has the authors tick of approval.

I would like to come down there but the Queen's Birthday weekend is the Brisbane Caravan & Camping show, which I enjoy & try to attend. However it does start on the Wednesday prior which would allow me to go that day and head off Thursday for a two day trip down. I will have to work it out a bit nearer the time as at the moment all thoughts are on leaving for Ireland & UK Thursday week, due back beginning of May.

Put me (plus wife and caravan) down as probable and will confirm closer to the time. :turtle:

I've updated the first post with the km from Bathurst & Orange, I forgot to put that in, so thanks for the reminder!

Be great to see you there if you can make it!

I've also made it clearer that this "event" is not just a campout that my wife and I are going to, but it's deliberately set up to be a get-together for anyone from these forums.

I've just added a note to the original post to ask for people who want to come along to put their hands up. It'd be polite to give the ranger a heads-up about numbers of people and vehicles.

I spoke to the ranger today, nice guy, he told me that there ought to be firewood there for us to use when we get there and the place will take quite a few large rigs - and we're quite welcome.

He did advise the the water is bore water and should be boiled before being consumed, although he's had no trouble with it himself (fine, we're bringing our own anyway!).

We're definitely going, and should arrive late Friday night. We may just stop somewhere convenient in the grounds to sleep until we can get a daylight look at the place for setting up the van.

If you want to come along, you're more than welcome!

will have to see my financial situation at that stage, as i am moving 2 weeks prior and. well. we know know how busy and time consuming that is.
also my busy season at work kicks off then (jindabyne) so will have to see

Great idea Tony, unfortunately a bit far from Melb for me. Maybe a get together some where near Broken Hill or in the high country one day?

hows this trip tracking along?

We're still going, the ranger knows we're going and we can't wait, we've not been able to hook up and get away for a few weeks now.

Sorry Tony, cant make it now. I do exam monitoring (invgilating) for Griffith Uni twice a year and exams start on the Saturday of the long weekend for two weeks. I had thought they would be a week later. Looks like my next outing will be the Camp Cooking Comp at Millmerran at the beginning of October.

No drama at all. We're still going regardless - if we manage to meet up with some people, great, if not then maybe another time!

I would have been there, but am working all three days over the long weekend

Update: it's this coming weekend!

We're taking our 2KVA Honda generator, an axe, blocksplitter, basic tools, RC helis (3 of them) and our dog. I might also throw the bow saw in but think I'll leave the chainsaw at home.

We still plan to leave Friday afternoon. It's supposed to be 350km from here, but we'll have to drive to Sydney then out the motorway through to Penrith etc. Ought to be plenty of traffic to be annoyed by some goose dragging a caravan through peak hour!

We're here!

The place is huge. Lots of sloping ground, some decent level spots. Firewood already cut and placed by the fireplaces. Toilets that are halfway decent and picnic benches around the place, even some kids' playground equipment. A couple of homeless-looking people that you'd expect from time to time, sure, but they keep to themselves.

It was about 3C when we got here last night @ 22:45 with a 30km/h wind (give or take, the weather site called it 36km/h). It's 9.6C inside our van at the moment, and they say it'll be -4C overnight - woohoo!

We're camped right down the back near a pond, the ducks are coming out to meet us. Photos will be taken and posted when we return - although I have internet through my 3G phone tethered to my laptop, it's not speedy or 100% reliable, so you'll just have to wait.

Besides, I'm going out to light the fire and sit around it for a little while.

Sounds great If I only I didnt live in VIC.......bit far for me this weekend......I like the High Country idea bought up earlier though....?

We're good for a trip right down to the Vic border as long as nobody expects us to arrive until Saturday morning - we'll do an overnight stop near Canberra(ish) and continue the next morning.

So, where would you define "high country"? Do you have a place in mind? When?

Old.Tony said:

So, where would you define "high country"? Do you have a place in mind? When?

Click to expand...

A trip to Tom Groggin is being planned for Melbourne cup weekend.

Tom Groggin is National Parks turf, our little doggy gets left at the gate. Might not be easy to do - but who knows!

Okay, we left early so that the drive home on Monday would be shorter (we're at Broke right now). Attached are some pics!

1) Dawn, Saturday. We'd just planted ourselves when we arrived the evening before, so it was time to find a better place to stay here as we weren't very level at all!

2) Found a good spot, firewood provided, plenty of space around us. Not bad at all for a fly too ... which reminds me ...

3) My Air Force is ready to go! After the flights, the Chinook shattered a rotor blade in its clumsy attempt to deal with a gust of wind. The Blackhawk's battery is toast, so the Blade - a full CCPM micro - was the sport of the day.

4) Next morning we woke to -3C and everything iced over. Even the dog's water in the caravan had a sheet of ice. Glad I'd filled the kettle the night before or my coffee would have had to wait - NOOOO! Got the ice off the car by running the engine and letting the heater do its thing.

5) How cold? VERY!

Ok, on the way home we decided to pay a pilgrimage to a famous place and see how the Navara performed. An incredible 10 minute lap which was punctuated by a stop at the end of Skyline (the handbrake wouldn't hold us here, had to put it in park as well).

1) On the grid - let's go!

2) Coming off Skyline

3) Approaching the Esses, braking hard from 50km/h

4) Pouring on the power to enter Conrod Straight at almost 60km/h!

5) Approaching Murray's Corner, a hotel had popped up out of nowhere, people were running along the track and probably laughing as we finished the lap 10 minutes later with the caravan still behind us.