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From Goulburn at 5:00pm, I went on to Braidwood where it was getting mighty cold. Apparently it hadn’t got into double figures all day! I went through a little rain in Tarago, just as the sun was going down, but it wasn’t much. Then arriving at Braidwood at 6:00pm, I topped up with fuel, both me and the car! Then headed south to The Big Hole which would be my camp site for tonight.

I arrived there at 6:45pm, after avoiding the wildlife on the road. There were heaps of roo’s and wombats on the road, and I still don’t have that bull-bar on the front! The Big Hole campsite was empty, to my surprise so I had my pick of camping site.

I have a few new items on this trip, other than the car!! A new hiking tent is being tested and a new hiking sleeping bag. The tent went up very quickly with no problems other than losing the bag the tent packs into!! The tent is a little small, but it is 1.5kg lighter than my current tent!! The sleeping bag appears to be a little thin also, but another 0.5kg saving!

After setting up camp, I sat around the fire for a while with a few free beers (Thanks Lauren). Bed was early as usual on the first camping night. And it was cold!! Too cold for the new bag I’m afraid! Middle of the night and I had to open up my old bag to keep warm, and put on a jumper!! There was heaps of wildlife around too, I heard wombats eating roots only about a foot from my head!

Day 1 – Saturday

In the morning, there was evidence of some late night arrivals. Two tents and three vehicles were slowly coming to life. I was up early and packing up right away. I wanted to get on the road before they did, as we were all heading for the same place.

I left The Big Hole 8:00am on a beautiful morning. It was still cold though, about 3 degrees. The entry to the park is 25 minutes down the road and then the track should have started getting difficult. But, although it is always nice the National Parks work on the tracks, when they grade the tough trails to highway smoothness it is a little frustrating!! Took me no time to get to Dampier Trig, I was there by 9:15am. Still no vehicles on the road, and still beautiful weather J

From there, it was on to the main trail and down the hill! Most of this track has also been graded well, but it is still very steep. I was at the bottom of the valley at 10:15am, and still no vehicles! However, while sitting at the bottom of the hill, I could hear some trail bikes buzzing around.

The river was running very low, so crossing was no problem. I travelled through the valley checking out all of the usual spots. There were two other groups camped, one at the first area, and another group at “Eddy’s Hole”. I settled for my new regular spot on the other side or the river at Racecourse flat. I was a little concerned about the amount of fire wood here, but later realised that 1km down the track there is heaps of timber. Time was now 11:30am and the temperature had gone up to 4 degrees!!!

After setting up camp, I went for a drive to collect timber as I realised that I was going to need lots!! The bikes eventually got across the river and started buzzing around MY paddock! They even came over for a chat as they had lost one of their mates, and were looking for a long lost track up the mountain.

I cooked Sausage stroganoff for dinner, was very tasty but very filling! I was so full I had to go for a walk around the paddock before settling down for the night. I saw many many stars and even a shooting star before going to bed early. It didn’t feel as cold as last night, but I was still going to use my old sleeping bag J

Day 2 – Sunday

Sunday morning and I was up bright and early. I had been nice and warn during the night, but there was a significant frost on the tent! I got up and started the fire up as quick as possible before my fingers and toes froze off! By the time I had the fire going, coffee drunk, the bikes were already out!! I knew they would be leaving early today though as most people need to get home for work tomorrow!

Bacon and eggs were cooked to perfection as always. I went for a walk around the area and found a lovely creek setting not farm from the tent. In summer this would make a great spot for hanging the hammock! I also found a number of wombats still grazing in the midday sun!

At lunch time I sat down and tried to cook a banana cake. It would have worked out really well, but the fire lacked heat so it didn’t cook completely. I still ate most of it though! And of course the rest was donated to the possums!

After lunch, I laid out in the sun and actually reviewed some work documentation!! The MLC 7.2 MVP for Motorola/Sprint! Not really the sort of thing I should have been doing while camping, but is better than being at home!

Later in the afternoon, I went for a drive along the valley. It was 3:00pm so the wildlife had started to come out to graze. The valley was almost devoid of people, there was just one Cruiser out for what looked like a day trip with the kids, but nothing else. Nothing but wildlife, more roos and wombats than I have ever seen down here!! Was a beautiful afternoon though so I spent an hour driving around the valley, crossing the rivers and taking photos.

I returned to camp around 4:15pm which was pretty much beer o’clock time! I had collected more timber today so it was also time to stoke up the fire!

Dinner was a return to the Sausage Stroganoff from last night! I had the fire going pretty well so it was nice and warm. I had spotted a number of satellites but spotting the southern cross was proving to be tough!! This was because of the brightness of the milky way!

I took another walk after dinner and freaked myself out a little from the wildlife! I wrote this when I got back to the fire, it makes for interesting reading now!

“After dinner I decided to take a walk, yes it is dark and freaky, but I have a torch! But let me tell you something, you don’t know how alive you can feel until you walk 200m away from camp with nothing but a head lamp to illuminate your way. There is no moon. Just the sound of the river to guide me and a narrow beam of light emanating from my forehead. At first I was being careful to not fall into any of the wombat holes, but quickly I realised I was more likely to trip on a wombat first! They were scurrying away from me just outside my vision, but I could hear every one of them! Oh cursed sense of hearing, why exemplify yourself now! Then as I approached the track down to the river, I hesitated. The track was only car width wide, and no escape but back track, or forwards into the frigid depths of the Deua river. I stepped forward… As quick as my foot moved, so did the wildlife!! I jumped, I turned, and scurried back up the track as I heard not one, but a dozen roo’s dance off in a direction unknown, to a place unseen… I waited… I found another torch in my pocket. I found more courage. I turned, and I tried again. This time, the movement was from a smaller number of wild beasts that thought they were braver than I was on my first attempt. I made it to the river!! Hmmm, it’s dark here… I see nothing”

Day 3 – Monday

Thanks to our Nortel heritage, we were given an extra public holiday to the rest of the Aussie workers. This gave me a chance to see in paradise just a little longer. I was still up early, after surviving the night in my new sleeping bag again! I got up quickly and started up the fire, the temperature was only 2 degrees so my hands needed some warmth again.

The kangaroos from last night were still out grazing, and getting braver and closer to my camp than before. I packed up slowly as there was no rush to be heading home. I finished packing everything into the new truck by 8:30am and decided on one last traverse of the valley before heading back home via Moruya. I left the valley at about 9:00am. Moruya at 11:00am for a quick break before continuing on to home by 2:00pm.