Hi all .
Myself and a mate towed our Trak Shaks into the
Bendethera Valley from the east last Saturday . He was towing his with a Prado and I was towing
mine with a 100 TD .
What a beautiful place . The bird life was the best I have ever seen anywhere in Australia . We were constantly entertained by a circus of monitors who climbed , fought and made love in a seemingly constant display . At one time my mate complained he was having trouble reading his book as there was too much happening around our
camp .
We twice had wombats within 20 feet of us , and they seemed unconcerned by our presence . The numbers of wallabies and roos down there was mind boggling .
By Tuesday we were the only campers in the valley so it was very peaceful .
I think that the rabbit plague there has missed out on the calcivirus plague - I have not seen rabbit numbers like that for a few years .
I saw the damage allegedly caused by the 4WD club and it was pretty bad .I am glad that Ozexplorer is more aligned with touring than with that type of macco 4WD enthusiast .
We decided to travel out of the valley by the western track . This was a challenge
towing the campers and my mate's Prado could not get up the hills because he had the tyres which came on the car and the blacktop treads just left the car wheel spinning on the steep rock track . My Cooper A/Ts did a perfect job of hanging on and my diff locks helped too . I had to tow his camper out and then come back and tow
mine out . There was a very tight switchback on this firetrail that was quite difficult to negotiate with the campers on . It was a bit scary doing a three point turn with the camper on the back and a huge drop off and loose edges - especially if your scared of heights !
It was very steep on this track and much more difficult than the way in from the east .We certainly could not have got out with the campers , on either of the racks,if it had rained , but we had plenty of time and could have waited if that had happened
We travelled south through the Badja area and then headed down the Wadbilliga FT to Cobargo and Bermagui .The Wadbilliga FT was picturesque but the
camping area at the bottom was a real bummer - what a dump .
We played golf at Bermagui the next day and then headed off to the Mimosa NP. This looks like the jewel in the NP crown as they have spared no expense in creating a beautiful
camping area with great facilities . It must be very difficult to get a
camp site here during the school holidays and weekends , but we had no problem midweek .
The beach right at the Mimosa Rocks was pretty poor - I think it is a bit flat and featureless for the fish , but great for swimming .
Friday morning it rained heavilly , so we decided to go home to
Sydney . Now I am about to attempt to put my camper up in the driveway so that I can dry out the canvass .
Cheers ,
Willie .