Imagine travelling 25km’s along a fire trail to discover the route to the campsite you were headed for had a trail closure that was not documented on the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) website. Then having to turn back and travel 3.5 hours to reach an alternate campsite!
This is the kind of organisation NPWS is, they are so far out of touch with the average recreationalist and thrive through their empowerment of bureaucratic untouchable red tape.
Well, well, well; a recent ePetition requesting information surrounding, national park closures, track closures and general user lock out received 27,230 signatures, resulting in it being forwarded to the NSW Government for response; the time for accountability is near!
Back to the storyline and backtracking to the prior night, I met up with Brad at Yass for a stop over in anticipation for a planned trip into Brindabella National Park; McIntryres Campground, Lowells Flat Campground and then across to Long Plain.
Next morning after overcoming a few stumbling blocks we started our journey along Wee Jasper Rd to the Brindabellas.
As mentioned in the first paragraph of this update, we both travelled a fair distance off the beaten track to discover an undisclosed track closure, I was so angered at the situation that I didn’t take any photos documenting the situation. In hindsight I am glad for the overnight stop over at Yass, I’d hate to have driven late in the day to discover this.
We spent the next few hours retracing our route and then taking the long way to Flea Creek Campground located at the other side of the national park, arriving late in the day.
Flea Creek Campground is a quaint little ground, located at the bottom of a 3 odd kilometre trail known as Gentle Annie Trail, below footage covering the track from the gate to the ground. Some of the scenery is stunning.
Above: we camped by the barely flowing Flea Creek.
The next morning after a well earned sleep in the plan was to head back up Gentle Annie, turn back onto Brindabella Rd, then jump on Boundary Rd and cut across to Broken Cart Trail.
The drive along Brindabella Rd is quite scenic and peaceful, apart from the odd logging truck and speeding forester driver. The bridge crossing the Goodradigbee River would be a perfect place to stop for lunch.
That peaceful relaxing feeling very soon turned into anger again after turning onto Boundary Rd and discovering yet another locked gate. I hate sounding like a broken record, but I have nothing positive (or nice) to say about NPWS.
Next option was an unnamed track that cut across to Barnetts Rd which would eventually end up at the trail head of Broken Cart Trail. The unnamed track in its prior life was a forestry trail that hadn’t been used for quite some time, approximately a kilometre from its junction with Barnetts Rd it became too overgrown to traverse so we had to reverse our way out. By this time the rain had started to set in and on the return to Brindabella Rd this happened…
It took six attempts to make it through a small but very rutted out soak that had become mud soup. It was at this point that we decided cutting across to Long Plain may not be the best option as the rain was much heavier and closer inspection of Barnetts Rd showed positive signs of more red clay. The new plan was to do the trip in reverse, by the time we got to Rock Flat Campground the weather had cleared up and sun was out in full force.
After a relatively early night of stargazing we hit the hay eagerly awaiting the next leg of our trip.
First light revealed what we did not envisage nor want to see, about two inches of rain fell overnight and it was raining on and off. With a break in the rain we quickly packed and made our way to Tumut for a brekky pie and discussion of where to next.
Over a pie, snot block and coffee, and several views/reviews of the weather forecast we decided to make our way to Behrs Flat as it had the most promising outlook.
Above: airing out some wet roof top tents!
Behrs Flat is definitely a place I will never get sick of, and perched in my chair with a beer in hand there is no better stress break! The mornings were crisp with a visit from Jack Frost, the days mildly warm and cool evenings, it was perfect.
Two nights passed very quickly and before I knew it we were on our way, Brad headed home and I was off to Thredbo Diggings for the night via an undercar wash in the Swampy Plains River.
I’ve for quite some time wanted to stay a night or two at Thredbo Diggings, it is unfortunately one of those campgrounds that is always busy and I’ve never before been able to secure a site.
If you are wanting to camp somewhere quiet and peaceful, Thredbo Diggings is not the place for you! It’s very cramped and you are very intimately close with your neighbours (whether you want to be or not!). I must admit I was glad to see the sun rise in the morning signifying the time to leave was close.
With my close knit neighbours marvelling at my coffee machine and the sun quickly drying the frosty tent, my stay at Thredbo Diggins was thankfully over.
And just like that another camp came to an end, while the trip didn’t go to plan the experience is always great with memories to boot. A quick stop off at the Bredbo Pie Shop for brunch eased the burden of the five plus hour drive home.
Till next time…