Wallagaraugh River Retreat

Yep - uggies and beanies - its getting cold

A visit to Mallacoota Inlet was on my bucket list - so a stopover was mandatory as we travelled south into Victoria and the beautiful East Gipsland area. As it was the middle of the Victorian School Holidays we decided to camp at Wallagaraugh River Retreat Web site here which “strange as it may seem” is on the Wallagaraugh River which is one of two tannin coloured rivers flowing into Mallacoota Inlet.

Kerry out chasing bream

What a spot! – we camped on the bank overlooking the river just 30Mtrs from the boat ramp. With mullet jumping day and night, pelicans feeding all day this looked to be the Promised Land.

Nice bream on poppers!

Mallacoota is famous for big bream and flathead and the Wallagaraugh River delivered the goods. Lots of big golden bream on “walk the dog” poppers and big black flathead on both diving hard-bodies and plastics.

Happy flathead angler

Linda (AKA the Flathead Queen) was constantly pulling in flatties every midday fishing expedition and out fished me 3 to 1.

That's three!

Must have something to do with my expert guiding and lure selectionJ.

Mallacoota Wharf - wow!

The camp has no phone signal or internet so we gave the flatties and bream a day’s rest and drove the 65kms into Mallacoota township to do some shopping, stock up on fuel ,have lunch at the pub, do some sightseeing and catch-up on emails, facebook and missed calls.

Mallacoota Inlet looking back from entry

You can see why Mallacoota is so popular – huge expanses of protected inlet, sandy beaches and fish jumping on your hook!

After a week on the river - we leave with one more item on the bucket list “ticked off” and our freezer full of flathead fillets.

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.

Pindari Dam

That's our van on the hill in the distance

We had spent some time at a few campsites late last year with "Budgie" – keen fisherman from Byron Bay in NSW. He told us that the Byron Bay Freshwater Fishing Club has an annual outing in February to Pindari Dam to fish for the mighty Murray Cod, Yellowbelly and Silver Perch. Murray Cod, a keen bunch of fisho’s, and great free camp with hot showers- we were going to be there!!

Jim and a yella

Linda's 56cm cod - our best for the dam

Pindari Dam is on the Severn River 83 km from Inverell in Northern NSW. At Bingara we had met up with Jim and Jen (who we met at Tinaroo Dam in far North Qld in August 2015) – so off we went to Pindari Dam with a plan to decimate the local cod and put a dent in the NSW XXXX supplies. After one night imagine our surprise when a couple from a nearby van walked across and yelled out “G’day Kerry”. It was my Cousin Sharon and her husband Gary! I had seen Sharon only once in the last 45 years!





So with old Friends, new Friends, long lost relatives, 5 boats, some obliging cod and yellowbelly, boxes of lures and beer – we had all the ingredients for a perfect and memorable stay. And we had a ball!

Nice yellow belly (and fish)

After picking up some tips from Budgie and his fishing mates we had some success in the cod catching outings.

Cooling down at the boat ramp

After 11 nights and 9 days fishing twice a day - when it was cool – as it was over 35C every day by midday - our combined tally was - 4 cod , 10 yellowbelly, one eel-tailed catfish and three turtles – not bad for a bunch of amateurs.

view from under our awning (a salt and battery)

For other travelers - the road into Pindari is all bitumen (if you come via Inverell and Ashford) with a few short steep sections at the dam as you come up to the campsite. The site only has room for about 7 vans but is well set out with lots of tables, rubbish bins, BBQ’s, toilet block (long drop), a boat ramp nearby and flushing toilets and hot showers a short drive away. All for free! If the site is full there is room for 2 vans up at the lookout above the camp (where you can get mobile phone reception) and spots down near the boat ramp where you can stay.

Bingara on the Gwyder

Yowie at Tooloom Falls!

After we left Brisbane we headed south to Bingara in northern NSW. On our way to Bingara we stopped over for two nights at Tooloom Falls free camp near Urbanville just over the NSW border. Nice spot next to the falls but a little close to civilization and thus frequented by younger folk in tents. We didn’t have any noise whilst staying there but has the potential for loud parties.  Didn’t spot any Yowies (Click Here)  but you could hear them rustling through the bush at night !

Bingara (Click Here) is a beaut little town on the northern  end of the New England Highlands in NSW. There are three free camping areas at Bingara – two are close to town and one  5 Kms out of town. All are on the Gwyder River  and all are great spots.

Washing Day

We stayed at the free camp near the boat ramp which was about a kilometer from town. Great spot – grassed spots near the river, and only a few minutes away from town. The folk in town were true country folk friendly, helpful and happy to have a chat.

Murray Cod on surface lure!

Also the local fishing clubs stock the river with Murray Cod and Gloden Perch. So in went the tinny and I was lucky enough to catch three cod on lures.

Gwyder River - Boat Ramp

Two were legal (55cm) and one just under. Cooked up one to share with friends camped next to us – bloody good tucker!

Chilling out with friends - way to go!

Bingara is a great place that goes out of its way to make grey nomads welcome – highly recommended.

Our Brisbane Break

Home in Brissy! For sale in March!

We spent 2 great months over the Xmas period camped at “Site 243” - a five star resort on the north side of Brisbane (also known as my sister Desley’s and husband Paul’s house in Joyner).  Great water, hot showers, manicured gardens, free WIFI, power, men’s shed, swimming pool, BBQ on deck and Netflix – wow talk about the perfect free camp – thanks so much Des and Paul. Reason we stay in Brissy is that most of my family live in the area and as I live in Perth the opportunities to see everyone are limited.

We stacked a lot into two months!!

Tom and Toga

I ventured out to Coochin Creek  (world famous whiting spot)for a morning’s fishing but caught little. There is a nice free camp there which would be great for a stay if you were into fishing or was looking for a spot close to Brisbane. I did manage to sneak away back to Imbil for 2 nights with my brother-in-law Tom to chase some mighty Toga.

Xmas breakfast - with family

We house-sat my nephews house for a week – situated in the Gold Coast Hinterland with views over the entire Gold Coast (pretty hard to take!!)

White pants and white fisted on tree top walk!

While staying there Linda and I did a day trip up to O'Reillys Resort - a drive not for the faint hearted - narrow, winding and steep (I loved it !)

Nothing better than Xmas morning for Dallas!

It was great to spend Xmas with our extended family and old friends.

The girls!- Amber and Tay at Sea World

We flew two of our grand-daughters to Brisbane for 2 weeks so Linda could have some “granny” time!

Get my rod!

Sea World, Wet and Wild, and Movie World – we were “theme parked” out by the time the girls left.

While the girls were here we stayed at my other Sister Donna’s house near the Gold Coast. Linda, Donna and the Girls spent a day shopping to you drop at harbour town (lucky Linda had been saving for months – I didn’t ask how much was spent!).

While the Girls were over Des and Paul went to NZ for a holiday so we house sat “Site 243” for a week – the girls loved the place –Netflicks, Pool, and free WIFI  – a teenagers dream!

The "gang" ready for NYE night out! I have a fat shirt!

We are on the road again on the 31^st Jan – heading slowly south thru NSW then down to Portland in Victoria before spending a month or two on the mighty Murray.  So more travel blogs soon!