Time to get the hell out of Sydney

It has been a while since I have posted here and it is a shame, as there have been camps undertaken but I just haven't had the time to process images and upload content in the usual manner. Work has been a nightmare of late and it was time for a mode reset so I allowed myself to be talked into working all weekend a few weeks ago, to get an opportunity to take a couple of flexidays and get out of the concrete jungle and enjoy both moments with mates and moments of blissful solitude.

Last weekend Dave and stopped off at a free camping ground on Crown land near the Central Western gold town of Sofala for a night before shifting to more Crown land camping areas on the Bridle Track, south of Hill End, another old gold town out that way.

The drive in was fairly easy, thanks to my new floodlights. A pair of Lightforces lit the way between Lithgow and Sofala, along the Castlereagh Highway and Razorback Road, the latter being all gravel. These lights combine the nice close-up spread of LED tech with the proven ling distance performance of HID Xenon lamps to provide a truly high performance light which did not let us down. They cost a lot of money but are worth every penny and more because it is not just the amount of light but the attention to detail regarding colour temperature, which at 5000K, is the most ideal for night driving. Anything lower will require more power to provide the right amount of light for the maximum possible distance and anything higher causes a loss of colour rendition making things like wild animals harder to spot. As I have killed two kangaroos and paid out lots of money on front-end repairs to both my truck and my station wagon in recent years, it is something I want to avoid in future and these lights help a lot with that.

The first night was supposed to be at Ration Point, however it is not a large area and with several campers already there, we shifted to nearby Green Point, near a causeway that allows all vehicles to safely cross the Turon River - most of the time. The water is up on the Turon at the moment due to recent heavy rain but was no problem for the trucks.

Time went by fairly quickly and the long drives take a bit of a toll these days and by 22:00 we were buggered so it was off to bed for a peaceful night's sleep.

The next morning was a late start due to the usual things that occur at this time of the year - crisp temperatures and moisture all over everything. Up we got, lit a fire and then prepared our breakfasts. I rarely do a hot breakfast these days as there is just too much work in it with the cooking, the waiting and the clean-up. I routinely serve up brekky cereal with some chocolate milk - a habit I inherited from my grandfather at a young age, where I'd watch him sprinkling Nestle's Quik on his cornflakes instead of sugar. I wash that down with a serve of fruit juice and then most times will follow this up with toast and vegemite though on this occasion I did have a packet of crumpets in stock.

At some time in the last year, I made it my business to stop using a gas flame and one of those camping toasters to toast anything as the result is usually quite random and there is a risk of burning things and wasting food - I have shifted to using an electric toaster, as my rig has more than sufficient battery power on tap for it. Dave has recently joined the fray and purchased the same toaster for his set up. That and his coffee machine complete his setup.

"I thought you guys were camping?", I hear some exclaim. Well, indeed we are, though the time to have something to prove or put up with making camping a chore rather than something to enjoy has well and truly passed. Gone are the days of 3-man nylon wall tents, eskies and cooking sausages wrapped in foil. Cooking tea is usually a little more complicated for me, as can be seen below, though sometimes it is simpler for the sake of making life easy.

It's part of the overall theme these days - spend more time in the bush and less time doing chores. The rooftop tent, folding tables, water on tap, 240V and 12V on tap, fridge, 600Ah battery pack, automatic camp lighting (handy for when one has to climb down in the middle of the night for a Jimmy Riddle), bedding kept in the tent - it all joins forces to make life easy for any middle-aged camper.

After brekky, we slowly made our way through washing up and the break of camp. We made our way through Sofala and up to the Bridle Track via Hill End, where I stopped to buy a loaf of bread. Then down the Bridle Track in search of our next ground for night two. We found some of the grounds, including one that we wanted to stop at, already had a few campers and they were all spread out. We stopped at Johnsons Hole Reserve, a place I camped at two weeks ago solo. The good news is that we managed to get the spot I stayed at before, which was isolated from the other campers and close to the shore of the Macquarie River, which, like the Turon River, is flowing freely due to recent and regular rainfall. The white noise from rapids a little downstream helped a lot with sleep.

The afternoon was just spent by the river with discussions including what a lousy government we have at the moment and trying to work out a way of camping more often. Tea time approached and it was time to cook. Dave rustled up a mixed grille whilst I turned my attention to the three stage process of making a big batch of fried rice.

I got up twice for a squirt on night two, which is a bit unusual. If I need to visit the lavatory during the night, it is usually once and around 03:00 - again, the automatic lighting means I don't need to carry a torch or hunt down light switches. An infra-red sensor does all the work and turns the light out again after a three or four minute time delay.

Morning came and another brekky of cereal and crumpets. Then there was the wait for things to dry out a bit before breaking camp and moving on to the next and last ground for the night. We drove further along the Bridle Track and stopped at Black Gate Reserve and once again found a spot by the Macquarie River. The camp site was a bit on the sandy side, but not really an issue except for the finer grains working their way into the extension ladders we use on our rooftop tents. The ladders will need partial disassembly to get all the grit out and a good blast of water should do it.

By the time camp was set up, it was lunch time and I consumed the rest of the fried rice I made the night before. Following that I set up the firewood on the fire and we just relaxed until night fell, meaning that it was time to get that fire lit. Being the last night, I heated up a can of soup and toasted up some bread for tea. About an hour after tea I decided to get the camp oven out and make a damper, something I haven't eaten in more than 20 years and haven't cooked it in equally as long a time. Some self-raising flour, a pinch of salt and about a cup of milk and it was in the oven for an hour and boy did that taste good. It would have been better with some proper butter and golden syrup but I forgot to get those items when preparing for the camp. Margarine and some honey had to do, but it was good anyway.






At about 22:30 we called it a night. I think Dave went up to his digs and went to sleep and I climbed into mine and watched the wrestling for about an hour before nodding off. I got up once for the usual thing at around 04:30 and then the sun was up at around 06:30 - time to get up, have an extended brekky and slowly work through the pack and we were on our way home by around 10:30 or so.

A stopover at the pie shop in Wallerawang, near Lithgow, was in order. It was pies, sausage rolls and cakes all round, followed by the trip home and an end to another enjoyable and successful camp. The next one is being planned right now, so expect another update in a few weeks.

Photos to come...

Written at 20:44 on 31 August 2026 by Brad.

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