Lake Wallace & Hill End, NSW

It was decided that in early October there would be a two night camp out west and on this occasion, it was myself, Dave and his mate Paul, plus Dave and Paul's sons along for the ride. As far as camps go, this was routine despite the larger number of people but quite unique too - with three major Oztent products being used for the accommodation. My RV-5 came along and for a couple of years now has been my go-to tent for its room and ease of set up. That said, these tents are quite heavy to move around, as are the sister series, the Jet Tents, which I also have one of for winter camping. Dave brought along his RV-1 which is the same type of tent but a one man version and Paul brought what I believe is Oztent's latest version, the RX-5, which is basically an RV-5 with a zip open skylight and has the ability to have a tub floor in the front section, providing more insect-free sleeping room. All these were used on both nights.

The first night was at Lake Wallace which is located between Lithgow and Wallerawang at the western foot of the Blue Mountains. Dave and I have stayed at Lake Wallace a few times in the past. There's nothing that special about it but it is free and close to Sydney, so it is a good stepping stone. The pie shop, which is a five minute drive from the ground, is a good opportunity to buy some good wholesome food and support the local economy too.

Aerial shot of the Lack Wallace camp - 05/10/24

On the first night, the rain was a bit problematic but fortunately intermittent, which meant that we could pack up a dry camp the following morning before heading to the pie shop for breakfast and then move on to our second camp site at the old gold mining town of Hill End. Hill End has two camping areas, the Village Ground and the larger Glendora Ground. I am happy at either ground though Dave prefers the Village so that is where we stayed the second night. As can be seen in the accompanying photos, the camp was quite large compared to what we usually have in place. The van and ute to the right in the second photo are not part of our camp.

Aerial shot of the Hill End camp - 06/10/24

There was plenty of food going too. Dave and Paul wolfed down half a pig's worth of ribs whilst I settled for a couple of serves of home made fried rice. Halfway through the day I did acquire a mild tummy upset but it wasn't severe enough to ruin my appetite. The next morning, we all had a light breakfast and then broke camp for the trip home.

Written at 18:19 on 19 January 2025 by Brad.