August, while signalling the last month of winter is traditionally still quite cold, this year threw a spanner in the works and I got to experience it in its full summer glory.
Sit down, grab yaself a coffee (or port) and enjoy the trip write up.
It’s been a very long time since arrival at camp has been well beyond sunset. It was a Thursday night, Brad and I met up at the Blackheath fisho after a long day of hard yakka working for the man. From there after a quick pitstop at Lithgow for supplies we made our way along the Castlereagh, then onto Razorback and finishing the trip at Green Point campground.
After a bit of campfire time, we decided to hit the hay. To be honest I don’t recall getting my head down, it just suddenly became morning…
Not having camped at Green Point for well over a decade I decided to walk down to the river which has changed so much over time.
The following two photos are the same location, both looking upstream and 13 years apart. The first was taken May 2013 and second August 2026.
The big slow moving pool of 2013 held some really solid rainbow trout, I’m not sure what the fast moving water holds in todays climate. Trout stocking is now only above the causeway at Green Point.
Green Point is not what I remember it to be; a well maintained open campground, the river overgrown with casuarinas and walk down only access. Today the ground is full of noxious weed, there’s plenty of left over rubbish, fire’s have been lit all over the place and down by the river is littered with 4wd tracks. Talk about a place losing its charm!
With the morning fog clearing we packed and were ready to go with no real destination defined. Hill End, Green Valley, Dixons Long Point and The Bridle Track were all floated around.
A quick pitstop for firewood along the way, we then drove through Hill End – yeah, nah, nah.
Down the Bridle Track we went, Cave Hole – nah, Mary Flynn – nah, Root Hog – water way too high to cross, Randwick Hole – nah.
Brad suggested a secluded spot just behind Johnsons Hole…
We set up camp on a perfect warm winters day.
Brad taking in some of the rock formations.
A bit of “levelling” ingenuity!
Spent the afternoon kicking back and enjoying the sights.
With the sun setting over the escarpment and temperatures quickly dropping, it was time for a real man’s feed, some time behind the fire and star gazing to finish off an absolute cracker of a day.
A crisp dewy morning greeted us, and with no real urgency to be elsewhere we took our time for a very slow getaway.
We certainly could’ve stayed another night, but decided to pack and try another ground on the Bridle Track.
Next stop was not far at all.
A sandy Black Gate Reserve.
Boy was it warm, if I wasn’t sitting in the shade of the awning I would’ve been sunburnt! Not bad for a winters day…
Brad doing some of his famous “barn door rice”.
As all good things must do, the day came to an end. With the fire well and truely alight and Brad’s camp oven cooking up a damper, I decided to take pics of the moon.
The final morning of this trip was another fog filled adventure, a great sign to sleep in. After a couple coffee’s and some breakfast we broke camp on what was to be another warm and sunny winters day.
And that wraps up another great relaxing getaway!