The Others:
Glenn, Sarah & the boys – Prado + camper trailer
Gio, Monica & Carina – 100 series + camper trailer
Ant & Monika – GQ wagon
Brett – GQ wagon
Sat 6th
The designated meeting time at Lithgow Macca’s was 1:00pm and with a few of us driving up via the Great Western Highway, traffic delays were inevitable over the long weekend, so by 1:45pm were had all arrived.
Heading off towards Capertee our convoy is provided with some running commentary over the UHF from Shane Davies, who had coincidently followed me up from Richmond and was heading out near Glen Davies to his old man’s property for the weekend. Providing stats and figures on the Point Piper Power Station and surrounding features had as all amazed at the size and dollars involved to keep the thing going.
Hitting the dirt at the Turon Gates Rd we wound our way amongst paddocks of cows and horses, bushy, overgrown, narrow bush trails, over causeways and through numerous gates until we reached the First Crossing camp ground. With many campers already setup leaving not much room for us, we decided to try the next site along called Ration Point camp ground.
With the daylight fading fast we were lucky to find this campsite vacant, and so began a mad rush to set up camp in the semi darkness whilst some of the boys searched for wood to get a fire burning.
A couple of dots of rain as we sat around the campfire eating delicious pumpkin soup that Monica had made, had us retreating under tarps and into camper trailers, but fortunately the rain stayed away.
Sun 7th
A misty Sunday morning greeted us as we awoke and the sun slowly rose to show some blue sky. Heading off towards Hill End we passed through the historic town of Sofala with just a couple of buildings still standing to remind us of the past era.
As we made our way into Hill End our first stop was the National Parks centre which has set up a small museum depicting the history and events of Hill End in the gold rush era. Heaps of artifacts and treasures are on display with plenty of photographic evidence and notations to go with them.
With the temperature starting to drop, the wind picking up and a sleety rain falling we head into the centre of Hill End to find a nice hot cuppa coffee and hot chocolate. Ant notices a sign showing a mine tour that commences at 1:30pm and the time now is 12:30pm so we all book ourselves in and head off to the designated meeting spot for lunch.
With a large crowd of some 30+ people turning up for the tour an additional guide was called in to accompany the group. With hardhats on and a brief chat on safety etc we head of into the mine. The mine basically goes 80 metres straight ahead into the dirt and then rock and then ends with a 30 metre shaft that has been cut on a 45 degree angle and requires you to climb 10 ladders to reach the top. Very impressive considering it was dug out back in the mid 1870’s by candle light with pick and shovel and some small explosives.
After the mine tour we decide to head down some of the Bridle Trail that leads out of Hill End and heads south towards Bathurst. With the afternoon getting on we thought a quick trip down the track and a look at an old quartz crusher would have us back at camp before dark. Wrong!
We drove up a small, steep, muddy, slippery track that lead past the quartz crusher and up to the top of a hill where we proceeded to cut up and collect fire wood for our campfire that night. Making our way back down proved a little testing as some of the trucks started sliding off to the edge of the track. With Max getting the rear of the GQ off the track, the more back and fills he did, the worse the situation got. Now wedging himself between a tree and some small rocks, the snatch strap was deployed and Gio tried a gentle pull in reverse as Monika warned that Gio’s 100 series front diff could break by doing it.
With that method still not working, I managed to maneuver my truck around at the top of the hill to a 90 degree angle to Max’s truck and attached my winch cable which enabled us to drag the rear end of his truck back onto the track. With all cables and straps now disconnected, Gio attempted to reverse his truck slightly further up the track when BANG!, his front diff gave way and broke.
Limping back down to the base of the hill, the rain started to lightly fall and daylight was disappearing fast. Hoping Gio could drive his truck back to camp we started to make our way back to Hill End but with his truck making some very loud clunking noises we knew we had to fix something before he could drive any further.
Initially we thought that removing the front drive shaft would fix the problem, but after 15min of Ant and Gio under the truck, this didn’t work. It was decided that the axle would have to come out. (although we later realised that we didn’t need to go to this extreme). With daylight all but gone, we sent the group back to camp to get a fire going, kids dry and dinner cooking, whilst Ant, Gio, Glenn and myself attempted to fix Gio’s truck. With Glenn and Gio getting their hands dirty, me holding the torch and providing Lightforce lighting and Ant drinking beers and supervising, we had the axle out and everything bolted back together in record time.
Making our way back to camp had Gio adjusting his driving style to compensate for his truck now only having 2wd for the first time and after a couple of hairy corners we made it back to camp without a drama only to find that the rest of the group had only arrived back at camp 5min before us. Huh? Turns out they had taken a wrong turn heading back through Hill End and had started making their way to Mudgee! Opps!
With a bunch of exhausted ‘mechanics’ and tired campers & kids from a busy day, an awesome dinner was very kindly provided by Rose with a huge pot of vegetable curry and Sarah with a huge pot of beef stroganoff which, combined with rice cooked skillfully by Max and myself, made for a really deliciously hot meal. And if that wasn’t enough, Sarah whipped up some freshly made custard with fruit and Rose made a delicious upside down cake for all to enjoy as desert. I have now worked out that going camping with the families in the club means you get feed really, really well!
Sun 8th
After packing up camp mid morning, Ant and I did a little exploring on foot and found some goats climbing the surrounding hills and cliffs, a really cool cave and some awesome view from the rocky outcrops that surrounded out campsite. Sifting through the remains of old mining claims and piles of excavated rock and quartz, watched over by some big grey kangaroos, had us wondering and amazed at how they lived and worked back in the 1870’s during the gold rush era.
Thanks to Rose for organising a really enjoyable club trip and to everyone who came along.