Milton Moments

Coming up towards Easter we were faced with the problem of finding somewhere to stay near the coast that wasn’t booked out and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. So we planned to arrive at Milton Showground https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton,_New_South_Wales two days before Easter and stay till the mad Easter rush was over.

Milton Showground - busy but  nice and green

Turned out to be a good plan as we found a nice spot at the showground and great value at $20/night with power, water, hot showers, lovely green grassed areas and close to town and other tourist attractions (AKA fishing spots).

Milton on the south coast of NSW is nestled between the green inland mountains and the beaut surf beaches and estuaries of the coast.

Son Arron with his first "walk the dog" beam

It may be surprising to readers of this blog that we soon located a quiet little river upstream from the pristine Lake Conjola where we could launch the tinny and refresh our bream lure fishing techniques. First expedition out and Linda and I caught enough bream for dinner and some left over to give to our caravan neighbor at the showgrounds. We were lucky to have our two sons drive down for Wollongong to stay a night each with us at Milton.

There is a heaven!!

Took them both out in the tinny to provide fatherly guidance on the gentle art of catching bream on small surface and diving lures.

We made it to the carpark!

Whilst at the showground we took a day off fishing to do a drive through the National Parks inland from the coast and attempt a walk up Pidgeon House Mountain – something I had done as a young Navy Apprentice when I was 16 yrs old. Surprisingly the 46 years that had passed since this first climb had taken a toll and after we got half way we turned pack to the carpark (must have been something to do with my gammy knee and Linda’s artificial hip?). A cheeky lady we met coming down suggested that it was perhaps too many of the things on my T-shirt that caused the problem? Unfortunately it was a rainy day when we went and thus no photos – some info is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_House_Mountain

The south coast of NSW is a great place to visit and Milton is a good base to see some of this  - a recommended stopover at Milton Showgrounds.

Western Plains Zoo

Endangered species at the zoo.

We had heard about the Western Plains Zoo ( https://taronga.org.au/taronga-western-plains-zoo) at Dubbo from family and friends and decided we would stay over for a couple nights at a free camp near Dubbo so we could tick this one off our bucket list.

A couple of hippo's ??

The Western Plains Zoo is a little different from other zoos I have visited as it is set out so that you can drive our own vehicle through the exhibit areas and stop where you like to get out and check out the animals.

Linda gets up close and personal with an elephant

I didn’t realise until we visited that the Zoo was a subsidiary of the famous Sydney Taronga Zoo and thus is very well funded and a top class set up.

Piggy back Galapagos Tortoise style ??

We spent five hours slowly driving/walking through various exhibits and would recommend a visit if you are in the area. At $36/person (concession cause we are old ) it’s a good day out and our savings while free camping nearby paid for the day out. The $36 covers 2 days (consecutive) entry to the Zoo - so good value.

This photo has noting to do with the zoo.

For other travelers the free camp at Terramungamine Reserve (about 10 km outside Dubbo) is a small but nice area next to the Macquarie River. There are limited caravan sites but most are level and close to the river. You need to get in by midafternoon to get a site but if your running late there is an overflow area where the road comes into the reserve. Reserve has some nice picnic tables, a couple of fire/BBQ places, and flushing toilets. Sign says only one night but most folk we talked to stayed a couple of days to enable a visit to the town/zoo.

Chaffey Dam

Our Camp at Chaffey Dam

After exactly 4 years we returned to Chaffey Dam - near Nundle just out of Tamworth - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaffey_Dam . The camping area was not quite as we remembered it – the lack of rain meant that the green grass around the dam had disappeared and water levels in the dam were down about 8 meters from our last visit.

View from Hanging Rock above Nundle

However – this is still a beautiful spot – campsites overlooking the dam, scenic views morning and night, hot showers, flushing toilets,  dump point, drinking water on tap, plenty of yellow belly and so quiet.  All for $5/night per car and a $1 donation for a hot shower.

Linda chilling out in the shade - 35C most days!

The Bowling Alley Trust (the group that looks after the public access area and camping area) does a fantastic job with toilets and showers cleaned daily, stacks of rubbish bins, and lots of tables around the dam perimeter.

a couple of nice yella's

While we were here this time the construction for raising the dam height another 6 meters was nearing completion and when they finally get some good rain the dam as we have known it will disappear under water.  Sure going to be a much smaller camping area and bigger dam next time we visit.

Jim and friends

We have been travelling with Jim and Jen, and my cousin Sharon and hubby Gary  for some time now and after Chaffey Dam we are all heading off in different directions – going to be a little sad to say goodbye but we will be sure to catch up again in the future.

Good food, good friends, and sunset- this is living!

The mornings out chasing yellowbelly and the evenings  sitting around having a drink, chat, and watching the sun set  will always be remembered when we think of Chaffey Dam 2016.