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Hill End, NSW - Gone wrong

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later, though this camp would not go the full stretch and mostly due to matters that wouldn't have bothered me much soemthing like 30 years ago when modern conveniences weren't to be had by most.

The plan was to spend two nights at the Glendora campground at Hill End. It was going to be a hot one, 42°C on Saturday, 40°C on Sunday and 43°C to finish things off on Monday. Monday is/was Australia Day, the day the British landed in Port Jackson with the First Fleet on the 26th January, 1788. So there was a bit to celebrate, even though I would be on my own for this one.

I decided to go to Hill End via Mudgee so I could do some shopping and get a bite to eat before heading into camp. A stop at the Mudgee Bakery is always tempting.

The camp started well enough, considering how hot it was, and my arrival at lunch time allowed camp to be set up, and making sure there were enough fluids in the fridge to ensure dehydration would not become an issue. At that time the official temperature, from the Weather Bureau, stated that it was 34°C with a humidity of 24%, you could taste how dry it was, and just remembering that the temperature sensor from the Weather Bureau was not out in the open getting scorched like I was. The only good thing was, as there was no wind to speak of, that meant no fire bans in the area, so it was safe to have a small campfire as night came and the temperature fell to about 17°C.



Anyway, as night came, so did my chance to cook tea and prepare to relax by the fire for a couple of hours and ponder on my immediate future, as I don't think things are going that well at work at the moment. I've been at the same place for just over 11 years now and I am thinking it may be time for a change. More on that at some other time though. Tea was a couple of home-made hamburgers - beef, bacon, egg, onions, barbeque sauce x 2. Boy did I need all that protein and it kinda prepared me for what would have come on Monday at lunch time - the biggest mixed grille I would eat in years with a bit of everything thrown in.



After tea I did my washing up and sat by the fire. I didn't have to walk far to get some wood. Across from the campground there is a patch of Crown land, no fences, no signs, nothing. So in I went and out I came with a few sticks. I don't know whether that piece of land was subject to firewood collection restrictions or not and in this time, where rivers are drying up and the risk of bushfire is increasing I don't particularly care that much either way. The government allows fuel build up on the ground and that is the chief underlying cause of bushfire in Australia. I just did my bit to help prevent it and kept the mozzies out of my camp in the process.



It would be close to 22:00 when I decided to retreat to a much cooler tent and spent some time on this fantastic airbed that I have and these are getting quite popular now. It stands about 400mm high, maybe slightly more, is 3/4 of a double bed wide and the usual 2,000mm length, allowing my 6 foot 3 inch frame to just fit. At the foot end of this mattress is a 240V air pump, used for both pumping the bed up and sucking the air out when packing.

I got a drink, headed into the tent with my laptop to watch a bit of Youtube and laid on the bed. Life was grand, until the Starlink dropped out. I thought to myself, it'll come back in a sec and waited...

And, waited...

And, the signal didn't come back. I got up to reboot the Starlink and decided that I'd give the mattress one last pump up before retiring for the night and found that wasn't working. I headed out to the car to see if I could find out what was going on and as it turns out, the batteries that were there to make all my camping dreams come true were not only flat but dead, with only 0.8V across the terminals.

Now, I did test these batteries after bulk-charging them through the week prior and everything seemed fine. However it has been a few years since using them and they were getting a bit old anyway. But with no way of keeping the food in the fridge cold (mostly meat, eggs and dairy) and no way of keeping my mobile phone connected to the world (my job requires me to be on call and I need the Starlink for this at Hill End, where useless Telstra doesn't provide meaningful coverage) I would unfortunately need to end the camp early.

The next morning, Sunday, 25th January, I didn't bother with breakfast. Instead I just got up, got dressed and started to break camp and I wanted this done by 08:30 so it could be done before the heat arrived. During this process, the batteries I mentioned before would be called on just one last time. I started the engine to charge them up a bit so I could use the remaning power in them to suck the air out of the mattress. I also plugged the fridges into the car's cigarette lighter sockets so I could have a cool drink on leaving the campground.

With the mattress down, there was no further barrier to breaking camp, so this got done and I then headed to the tip to dump my rubbish and dispose of two now-useless 100Ah batteries. By that stage it was just on 08:30 and time to hit the dusty track back to Sydney, via the Razorback Road.

I'd arrive at the causeway at the Turon River just before the start of Razorback Road to find that the once-mighty Turon River has all but dried up. The photo tells the story. It would only be a year ago that saw around half a metre of water flowing over this causeway. Times have changed and the time of plenty is about over for the time being. I reckon we have a drought coming our way and it will be long and dry, just as the last five years or so have been wet and the landscape lush and green. This is Australia - a land of extremes.



A quick stop in Blackheath on the way home for some grub and the trip would soon be over - more than a full day early, just because we now rely on electricity for so many things. Whilst this is most certainly by choice and with some of the careful planning we once did to survive in the bush without Internet connections and electric fridges, I suppose it is fair to say that as we age, proving that we can tough it doesn't seem that important anymore. And as mentioned earlier, my job as a building manager requires me to be contactable. So I don't have the luxury of just going off grid when it suits me. But who knows, that may change in the near future.

It is now time to prepare for the next camp. I do have a day of catching up to do! I have to book my 4x4 in for a timing belt replacement as I do not know how old the current one is. Whilst it may be the case that it could have been done just before I bought it, it is a case of not knowing and I need to know. These things have to be replaced typically at 100,000km intervals and I've done more than 20,000km since owning it. So it is time to do it and then not have a belt snap wreck my day.

Written at 17:01 on 26 January 2026 by Brad.
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Camerons Point - The Last Camp For 2025

With no chance of getting leave over the Christmas break, public holidays aside, I just barely managed to squeeze in a one-nighter at a place I have been driving past for 35 years but never found the time to explore. Well, having just spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day stuffing my face with food and drink, it was time to hit the road and visit the Gardens Of Stone National Park in the Central West of New South Wales.

Camerons Point is a rocky flat that looks out over Wolgan Valley. It is quite small, and if one is not careful, it would be easy to walk off the cliff, with a 40-50 metre drop to the bottom. There is a rocky outcrop to the right with a large fracture. It has probably been this way for hundreds of thousands of years and may last this length of time again before it breaks off and rolls down into the canyon below. That said, I decided to remain on the 'mainland' and gain the benefit of reassurance.


After arriving, I got the drone out and started taking some photos, some of which are below, and then I popped the rooftop tent and settled in. The Christmas period was quite mild, where I live in Sydney, though the 27th was a bit warmer but still liveable. Climate change be damned. I do not remember the last time Christmas Day was in excess of 30°C. It'd be six years I reckon and this year gave us the mildest day in that period of time. Anyway, back to the camp!

The afternoon was quiet and still, with an occasional breeze passing by. A couple of hours went by and I kept drifting off to sleep without a care in the world. That was until some tourists showed up, one group after the other, wanting to drive right into my camp and make as much noise as possible. One couple came and went and it's hard to believe but I did have to offer them some advice on the risk of getting too close to the edge of the rocks. It mattered little to them that if they fell I would be spending part of my own holiday watching it happen and then not being able to do anything to assist them. They then left and ten minutes later three other vehicles arrived with a bunch of adolescent buffoons on board. Loud, raucous and care-free, just like many from that age group these days and again, seemingly unaware that they'd driven into my camp and breaching my fucking peace.


It is hard to imagine that there are so many inconsiderate pricks in the world today and the ones that come my way are just lucky that I have a high pain threshold when it comes to tolerating this bullshit. I don't mind sharing the space - it is Crown land after all. It is the way others intrude that tends to bother me. The night was finally spoilt when two others rocked up in a station wagon and decided to drive between my location and the cliff and set up camp there. These two were foreigners (Dutchmen I think) and they didn't even bother asking if I minded if they obstruct my view - a good example of typical European stubbornness if ever there was one. I'll give them this, they were fairly quiet and otherwise unintrusive but parking right in front of my camp was just bloody rude. They slept in the back of their wagon, which wasn't exactly roomy. I hope they had a lousy sleep.


As night fell, I decided to set up my camp kitchen on the left side of my truck, giving me a bit of privacy to go about my business without those two monitoring the situation or wanting to come over and give me the shits. I cooked and ate tea, did the washing up and settled in to the tent for the evening, watching Youtube mainly. The Starlink performed flawlessly in its new low profile bracket.


The following morning, I rose at 06:30 and made as much noise as possible whilst cooking my breakfast. Let's just say that I didn't care who else I woke up whilst I was going about that chore. The usual fare was on offer - cereal with chocolate milk and toast with Vegemite, washed down with a glass of orange juice. Once the camp kitchen was tidied up and put away it was time to fold down the tent and break camp. It was a quick one but the time spent out of the big smoke was still worth it.

Here's to 2026 and more camps. My first for the year will hopefully be in February, after I get the ute serviced. I also want to get the timing belt replaced as I do not know how old it is and would prefer to replace it before it breaks.

Written at 14:23 on 10 January 2026 by Brad.
Posted in the Camps section. Comments: 0 ·

Return to Shooters Hill

This trip was in planning for a week or two and we finally settled on dates that each could accomodate. However it would not be a good start to the day for me. On Thursday, 6th November, the first day of the camp, things went south right from the outset. A trip that should have taken something like three and a half hours took almost twice as long. The whole 65km length of the M4 Motorway was a car park due to a broken down truck just west of the Lighthorse Interchange and by the time I got to Blackhealth to get the traditional fish and chips for tea it was almost dark. By the time I got into camp, it was nudging bed time, yet to make up for it we stayed up for an extra hour or so just so I could set up, get my chair out and relax a bit before calling it a day.

Between Mt Victoria and Oberon, I also managed to slam into a fairly large kangaroo. The animal was killed instantly - such are the fortunes, or misfortunes, of driving at night and whilst the only collarteral damage was the loss of the Lion bagde off the grille and a small crack in the grille itself, stopping further up the road to make sure there was no harm done to the cooling system ensured that my arrival in camp took even longer than planned for. The bad news did not end there and in reality, it was a weekend of disappointments I have to say.

On the upside, we knew where we were - a small campsite on Crown land near Shooters Hill, south of Oberon and a place once visited by the well known 4x4 videographer, Shad Donaghue. The place hasn't changed that much but I couldn't help notice that a few of the trees on the shoreline had disappeared. HINT: freshly cut trees do not burn - do not cut down live trees and expect them to burn in a campfire - they won't. Collect your wood from the ground.

Also, on the upside, I brought along a new item to try out, knowing that we'd be camping near water. A new kayak is now a part of my arsenal. It's a 3.2 metre Pryml Titan from BCF and came with a comfy chair and the dual paddle. I did struggle getting into it the first time due to the shoreline I was using to board it, however practice makes perfect and I managed to go for the maiden voyage without falling in the drink. I hadn't used a kayak or canoe in about 30 years, but it didn't take long to get used to. The one downside to it is that because I have a rooftop tent, there is no practical place to put it during travel, so it had to go on top of the rooftop tent and be tied down with four straps to ensure it stayed there. A minor inconvenience.



The next morning gave us good weather and the chance to pack up a dry camp. We had brekky, which is most often just cold stuff (cereal, etc) and maybe toast. Dave has his coffee and I pour myself a big orange juice. I reckon the days of the big fry ups are gone. There comes a time when it is just too much effort and all the meat just sits on your stomach all morning which drains more energy than the food provides.



We then packed and set off for a drive along the Abercrombie Fire Track - apparently one of the steepest fire tracks in the state and I reckon they aren't wrong. Some of the hills had inclines of around 35° and the surface was a bit marble-like in terms of the small stones covering the road. Iroincally, I'd only purchased new tyres for my truck the Thursday prior and boy did they perform well. I am very happy with the new Yokohama Geolandar MTs.

We did divert to the Burraga Dam for a look around, thinking that we may well stay there on Friday night but there were too many noisy types there and we stopped to relax for a bit. It was here that I launched the new kayak and went for a row. Thinking that my 20 minutes in the boat was up I returned and was politely informed that I'd been on the water for more than an hour! Time flies when one is having fun.

It was then time to pack and find a place to camp and we stumbled upon. We ended up at the Silent Creek campground, which did seem peaceful enough but there were a lot of insects flying around. More bad news was to greet me the following morning. For a while I thought I'd been struck down with a big bout of hayfever - a problem I had a lot as a kid but not tended to bother me that much as an adult. However it wasn't hayfever but a cold. A cough developed and my head filled up with enough phlegm to drown me and the rest of the camp would be a bit on the miserable side. As I write this article, I am still slightly affected by it but the worst has passed. The confines of a rooftop tent is not the place to be when breathing is difficult and the fact that I had no snotrags (tissues) to blow my nose with just made matters worse. Anyway, we had brekky and then packed and departed, looking for night three at a new place.

At lunch time we arrived at the Bummaroo Ford campground, run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and found that the ground has a park fire ban in place - it is a spoiler alert for the fact that we now have a government in this state that seems all too prepared to remove fun from peoples' lives. We did note that not all the campers there were observing the ban. If this ban was put in place by the RFS for safety reasons, I'd understand, but there was no fuel build-up in the ground, plenty of rain in the days prior and those disregarding the ban were using the alloted fireplaces - so there was no danger being created. The days weren't really that hot either and the nights were quite cold. It is a disgrace that where there are proper facilities and no fire danger that campers are banned from lighting fires. I mean, who wants to camp whilst not being allowed to have a campfire? Watch out - Fun Police about!

We had lunch at Bummaroo and then decided to head back to the spot we had on Friday night near the lake. There were too many idiots flying past the spaces we occupied, throwing dust around instead of just taking it easy to create little impact. Some people just don't deserve access to public areas - the lack of respect for others is breathtaking.

We set up camp just in time for a storm to fly over. I didn't really know how close until I decided to put the kayak in the water and go for another row. When I got to the other end of the lake I heard the rumble of thunder and decided that I'd had enough boating for one day. We were fortunate that the lightning was just to the right and we copped very little rain and a couple of dumps of tiny hail but that was about it. The show was over in 30 minutes and we began to set up our fire and chairs before starting tea. I cooked a couple of bacon and egg hamburgers and Dave had a bit of a mixed grille.

Sleeping was not fun - even though it did drop to 4°C overnight, I was forced to turn off my electric blanket and only have one cover over me due to my cold giving me a couple of degrees of temperature. I was that hot that I did give some thought to terminating the camp but I didn't want to leave Dave there on his Pat Malone so to avoid spoiling the occasion I toughed it out and just monitored my own situation to see if I was going to deteriorate any further. An hour or so later I turned the blanket back on, rolled over and managed to get back to sleep.

Morning came, and I got up for a piss and to blow a gallon of fluoro-green snot out of my head. Then it was time to prepare brekky - again just cereal, toast and OJ. We relaxed by the fire for about an hour before breaking camp. Dave took off to Tarana for a look around and I was planning on making the trip but my sickness got in the way and I just didn't feel up to the extra driving. So I made an early exit and headed back home, which is just as well because the traffic bottleneck at Blackheath (a well known problem on Sundays) was starting to build up. This is another issue caused by this government we have - the Blue Mountains Tunnel project, providing an 11km dual carriageway under the Blue Mountains between Katoomba and Little Hartley would solve this traffic problem but because this area isn't in Western Sydney, the Government doesn't give a toss. People want the tunnels built and the Premier should just get on with it.

Written at 20:22 on 15 November 2025 by Brad.
Posted in the Camps section. Comments: 0 ·

A weekend on the Central Tablelands

It was a case of us not really knowing where to stop for the night and whilst we fully intended to check out the area, the exact locations for the overnight stays would remain a mystery right up until a late decision was made. This would be a theme for the whole weekend.

Whilst race car drivers were preparing for the Great Race - the Bathurst 1000 - a mere 100km to the north-west, Dave and I decided to check out a one horse town called Rockley, west of Oberon, and possible visit the pub for a meal to break with the usual arrangement of self-catering.

Night one involved a change of plan and we wound up staying the night at Burraga Dam, quite the scenic spot and only two other groups of campers in a reasonably large ground. I assume there are times when one cannot swing a cat in this place, but on the weekend in question, it was quite peaceful. I arrived at about 20:00hrs and Dave was already set up and was using his new folding fire pit for the first time on a joint camp and it performed fairly well. The days for this camp were mild but the nights still had a nip in the air.

The next morning, brekky was made and eaten before a break of camp and travel to Rockley to check out the one thing that keeps this town afloat - the pub. Brekky for me consisted of cereal and chocolate milk, orange juice and a serve of peaches and that got me through to morning tea. We arrived in Rockley at about 13:00 and hit the pub for a drink before walking the main street to see some of the ancient artifacts and buildings. Everything from abandoned shops, old trucks and firetube boilers were on offer, highlighting a once industrious town where copper and gold were once mined.



Along the way, a flat tyre held up progress for about 40 minutes. It is hard to believe that for a bloke that can change a standard car tyre in around five minutes took far longer with this one but there are some differences with a 4x4 ute. The standard jack is a factory bottle jack and the spare tyre is held in place with a mini chain block under the cargo area. 4x4 wheels are also bloody heavy. It was a learning experience and my new Dewalt rattlegun did help a great deal.



After the brief tour we checked out a sports ground where camping was permitted but the welcoming committee, a cranky magpie, changed those plans and we decided to have a late lunch at the pub before heading to find a camping spot for the second night. By the time we arrived at where we wanted to stay, there were fishermen parked right on the sweet spot by the creek so we headed up the road a bit and stayed on the shore of Native Dog Creek and unknowingly camped just across the road from a few other people who seemed to be in the area just for the evening.





For tea on Saturday night, I went back to basics - canned spaghetti on toast - a quick and easy one followed by a peppermint Bulla ice cream for dessert. A peaceful night's sleep preceded the same offering for brekky on Sunday morning. After packing up a few things and waiting for the morning sun to dry the frost off the tent, that was put away and we headed off for the return trip to Sydney.



One thing that I did try out on this camp, with some success, was my new lighting system, consisting of three weatherproof bulkhead light fittings, two of which have both manual and automatic control. It all worked a treat, especially when I got up in the middle of both nights for a midnight piss. The automation does two things - it lets me get out of the tent to go about my business without faffing about looking for a torch or fumbling for the light switch and it will also make intruders to our camp site think twice before doing anything stupid. This gear also saves me the effort of needing to bring lights and leads, a feature of most of my camps for the best part of the last 20 years.

Lunch on the way home was fish and chips from the takeaway in Blackheath. Then it was back down the mountains to the concrete jungle.

Written at 20:14 on 20 October 2025 by Brad.
Posted in the Camps section. Comments: 0 ·

Hill End - just a quick getaway to test a few things

Early on Saturday, 17th May, I set out for a night at Hill End so I could test out my new plumbing system in the back of the ute. A 60 litre water tank connected via 12mm John Guest pipe and fittings to an automatic water pump, then again in 12mm JG pipe to domestic copper pipe and brass fittings, including a stop cock and a folding laundry tap completed the job. All I had to do was pour in some fresh water and see how she goes.

Saturday afternoon came and I drove into camp after stopping off at Green Valley to cut and bag some firewood. This made me a bit tired so I headed into the rooftop tent for a lie down. I ended up regretting that because whilst the day was sunny and warm, the night was not and my lie down went for a bit longer than planned.

Hill End can turn on some pretty cold weather so when I woke up I was freezing to the point where I could barely stop shivering. I got down, emptied the firewood onto the ground and got the fire lit with the help of the usual dose of kerosene and then proceeded to put on some warm clothes before preparing a snack and settling down by the fire for the next few hours. Just before sitting down, I turned on my electric blanket - a handy accessory during the colder weather.

Snack and drink prepared, I sat by the now quite hot fire and relaxed, knowing that the fire would keep me warm until bed time. By this stage however, it was too late to be bothered testing anything and I just relaxed by the fire, watching some old school wrestling until it was time to turn in.

Bed time came around and at about 22:30 I hit the hay, which by that stage was nice and warm and I slept well all night with the blanket switched to medium - just right for a night down to 4 degrees. Whilst some may think that camping is a time to prove how tough and resilient one is, that is best done when one is young and generally does have things to prove. At my age, I just don't see the point and would rather be comfortable all night. So there.

The following morning, I did sleep in a bit, which is unusual for me, as I do normally like to rise early and get brekky out of the road. When I got up I decided to postpone brekky and break camp - a big black storm cloud was looming and I wanted to pack up a dry camp. And, so it was - I got packed and I was in the truck ready to go as the first drops fell.

I decided that it was time to head home via the Bridle Track and heading down there I discovered that the Hawkins Hill stretch has been graded and smoothed out, which helped my old kidneys out a bit. When I reached Black Gate campground, I stopped at a picnic table and rolled brekky out. Fruit muffins and orange juice did the trick.



After a stop lasting about half an hour it was time to get going again and I headed straight home from there. The next camp will hopefully be a bit longer and if I do happen to have another lie down, I'll be a bit more prepared for the change in temperature.

Oh, and yes, that is a new snorkel on the truck. It will get used very soon.

Written at 19:14 on 25 May 2025 by Brad.
Posted in the Camps section. Comments: 0 ·