Lake Wallace, NSW (Gone wrong)

This camp didn't go well for a few reasons but this will be explained as time goes along.

Dave and I arrived in camp at Lake Wallace on the night of Friday, 11th October and set things up in our usual ways. After making tea we sat by the fire which had to be in our fire pits because fires are banned at this ground and we didn't want to leave evidence behind. It probably should be said that we weren't the only ones with fires - I mean, who is going to camp without one in the Central West at this time of the year?

The night went without any drama and after breakfast the next morning we broke camp to do some touring of other camping areas in the region and also to find a spot to camp on the second night. We weren't that successful at finding a good spot that wasn't taken but it did give us the opportunity to have a look around anyway. This weekend is the weekend the Bathurst 1000 motor race is held so there are plenty of people out and about and quite a few campsites had portable televisions and jerry-rigged antennas set up so the campers could watch the race.

The day came and went and as we couldn't find another place to camp we went back to Lake Wallace. The site we had the night before was taken so we headed around the other side to see what was available and we picked up a site near the baseball oval. Camp was set up and we prepared our evening meals before once again sitting by the fire, again in a fire pit, and sipping on a few alcoholic beverages. Bed time was at around 22:30 and things went fairly peacefully until about 02:30 when campers from two neighbouring sites started a brawl over some apparently stolen firewood. I slept through this but Dave was woken by the commotion. After a short time the fight broke up and everyone settled down again. It wouldn't stay peaceful for too long though.

At about 04:00 I was woken by the same people who decided that Round 2 was in order and the voices of around ten people could be heard bellowing at each other. Being partially deaf it was hard for me to hear exactly what the yelling was about and shortly after I woke, Dave also woke up again and would later let me know it was over a dispute about firewood. At the time though, because I had no idea of what the problem was, I had to assume it was a bunch of drunks just walking from camp to camp causing trouble so we both went into defence mode - ready to defend our camp at any cost.

After a good twenty minutes of brawling and shouting, the police arrived to break it all up. Once the police left, things were quiet again and I was able to get up and have the piss I wanted to have at about 04:00. The thing I just don't understand is why people need to:-

1. Enter someone else's camp and interfere with it or steal things. Whilst camping areas don't strictly speaking belong to the campers that occupy it, there is an unwritten rule that people don't encroach on anyone else's camp. It's all about respect for others and camping areas are usually occupied on a first in, first served basis.
2. It's probably just as important not to consume a volume of alcohol that one's body cannot tolerate. We all like a drink but we all have different levels of what our bodies can put up with too and when alcohol winds up fuelling a petty dispute over a few sticks of firewood then it is a clear indication that those people should not have taken the amount they did.

The next morning came, and a quick break of camp led to a return to Sydney to unpack and prepare for the next week back at work. However, this is not where my bad weekend ended. I had wind all weekend and some of the farts absolutely stank to the high heavens. They came thick and fast for the whole weekend, leaving me wondering what I ate to cause the flatulence in the first place. I have never discovered the answer to that question but accompanying that issue was the tender issue of me having a haemorrhoid expanding to the size of a golf ball and I spent about a day and a half wondering whether or not I should go to the local hospital and have it snipped off.

The bad news is that about three hours after arriving home, it decided to do the job itself. It burst, leaving me with a small mess to tidy up and boy did it stink. Not wanting to risk the wound taking too long to heal, I spent the rest of the week taking a daily dose of Metamucil to keep things soft until the wound had started to heal.

All in all, it was probably the worst camp of 2024 all up, with adults behaving like children and leaving the other campers wondering if there was going to be a murder to clean up after and the aforementioned health issue I had, I am just glad this camp didn't go for a third night. There is one thing I'd like to tell everyone with regard to the issues we had through the night and that is this - if you have problems with alcohol then don't drink. The rest of us, who go out bush to enjoy time outdoors just don't need the shit that arises from people who cannot hold their piss. Likewise, those who seem to think that everyone else's camp is public property, also stay away. Your light fingers don't just start trouble but may one day get you injured or killed by an irate victim who would rather deal with the matter themselves instead of making a 000 call.

Written at 19:05 on 19 January 2025 by Brad.

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