Blog Now Closed

Thank You for joining me on my adventures over the past few years, but it's time to close it down.
Tracey =^..^=

07.01.12 Riverbend & Sharp Park – Puppies Big Weekend Out

Wanted somewhere close to home this time, somewhere we could go and be in some water before lunch with the pups.  Two solutions are within 100k’s of home, so it’s a choice between the two … which ever is the least busy I guess.  So we decide to check out the 2 sites a short drive from CunungraRiverbend & Sharp Park and the alternative being Spring Gully Stays.

We are in 2 cars, as we have The Kid with us for 2 weekends, so that we can bring all the pups as well.  Working on a solution for a one vehicle ride, but that’s a little while off yet
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Leaving at a leisurely pace from home, we hit the M1 or Pacific Highway to the rest of you, and head for Cunungra.  On the way I notice that Dreamworld (a theme park on the Gold Coast) has opted for a few more rides.  We take the next exit which states Nerang / Mount Tamborine and head for the mountain, take all the turns marked Canungra, then the last turn states Binna Burra, but we aren’t going that far. 

4k’s past the turn off we come across our first site and I head in to check it out.  It’s only 10am, but there are quite a few caravans and tents set up already, probably due to the school holidays, but there are still some spaces available.  We are hoping for one near the creek side of the campground, so we don’t have far to go to get in the water.

I get on the CB to the boys to let them know that we can have almost the same spot as last time if they want it, which they agree to.  They head in and we start to set things up.

By 1030 we are in relaxation mode in our chairs, and The Kid’s tent has been erected.  Alex is down checking out the Coomera River, which he mistakes for a creek, but I set him right on that point. 
After an hour or more, we take the pups down to the water for a look ourselves.  Getting our feet pleasantly wet, we see if we can find a deeper spot so my youngest can have a decent paddle as she loves the water.  We find one not far off the opposite bank and once she’s thoroughly wetted, we head back to the path and start downstream.  Kids have obviously had a thorough ball creating dam walls across from one side to the other as there are 3 or 4 of them, all in various stages of construction.  And that’s just here.  There are small dam walls up and down this stretch of the river.

Crossing over from the Riverbend side to the Sharp Park side is very easy in appropriate footwear, not so in thongs.  Sharp Park is much smaller in size and also includes a day area with picnic tables, one of which is in use as we approach.  There are quite a few people camping in this side of the grounds as well.  The Kid also turns up, so we hand him a dog to lead, whilst Glenn checks out the facilities, and then we head downstream below the bridge, looking for some deeper water for the pups to swim in.   We spend a while letting the pups wear out and drown their fleas and The Kid heads further downstream and we lose sight of him.  We head back to camp by around 1300.  Must be time for lunch I reckon.  Not long after The Kid appears … must have heard the sound of munching.  After about ½ hour he heads out again and disappears.
The lady and kids next to us have started packing up and are gone rather early afternoon.
3 hours later, Glenn is starting to panic.  No Kid to be found anywhere.  He should have taken the handheld CB with him, but obviously has forgotten Rule # 1:  We must know where you are at all times.  Glenn heads back down the river past where we swam the pups and keeps going till he reaches a private property sign, comes back, searches upstream as far as he can, then returns to camp and starts on the campgrounds with no luck.  1 minute later The Kid wanders back into camp with no idea the panic his father is currently in, so I send him to find dad.  And so ends The Kids wandering ways for today.

A new tenant moves in next door.  Grandad, dad and the kids.  They set up quickly and set about having some fun.  I notice that the camp past them has 2 pussies with them.  All harnessed up and wandering around outside.  So nice to see people taking their pets with them.   Last time I heard of someone taking their cat camping (apart from myself years ago with Norman) was Wen & Dags at the CTA meet.  They took their pussy camping and now never leave home without her.  I head over to visit.  The couple, Jason & Michelle (if I remember correctly) have only had their camper out a few times and are trying an almost full set up this time to see if it’s a working plan with the cats.  Good to see.  I hope they have a successful time of it.
Next on the agenda is dinner.  Steaks with veg is the plan, so it’s time to start the OzPig and get things under way.  Once cooked, I start to serve, but get interrupted by our landlady dropping by for payment.  Things appear to have gone up since we were last here and it appears the GFC has affected more than just interest rates.

I check what’s gone into the batteries today as it’s been very overcast, we only receive 4.5AH but that’s great for the 2.5 hours we’ve have the solar panels out.

Lots of camps have been playing music through the afternoon and it continues after dark, but by bedtime the music is down to a camp side pleasant sound and we can hardly hear it.

At sunset a few bats flew over … well a few hundred … and some head into the trees near us.  We hear them through the night.  Hope they aren’t pooping on our canvas!

08.01.11

Next morning dawns warm and sunny.  Out of bed at 0815 or so as it’s too hot to stay reclined even without a sheet on.  Lots of people going past on motorbikes and in cars heading for Binna Burra and the National Park at the end of the road.

As penance for yesterday, The Kid is now our Dish Pig and will continue after breakfast.  For breaky the boys are having snags and I’m having bacon and eggs, and the pups are already digesting theirs.   Whilst I’m eating I can’t believe how hot it’s getting.  It feels like that heat wave the bureau predicted for tomorrow is hitting us a day early.  Once breaky is over, we have to make decisions as to what to do next.  I put out the solar panel once more.  If it’s sunny as, those panels will top up the battery fairly quickly
I suggest we take the pups down for yet another swim to wear them out and so I can cool down.  The pups swim up and down and round and round and so do I, then we sit in the creek on a dam wall.  I reckon we were there for more than an hour before I realise today is perfect for another case of sunburn.  We head back to camp to think about thinking about packing up, but we don’t for a while. 

 

It gets hotter and hotter as the day goes on.  I check the temp guage that I always have in the pantry draw and it tells me it’s 39C.  Yep that’s warm alright.  Probably not what the bureau will report at all though.

We continue to sit and dry off while I watch the Grandad and dad pack things up super quick and head the family out after a quick paddle with the kayak.  Once they leave, I watch the Cat Couple packing things up.  They appear to be doing things slowly and methodically which isn’t a bad thing.  Glenn mentions that they have painted poles a certain colour, so we assume they are marking out what goes where for next time.  They definitely fold up flooring and walls with a fascinating precision … which isn’t a bad thing as it makes everything neat and tidy so that it packs well into the camper interior.   There is a lot of velcro in that camper as we can hear it ripping apart for over a solid minute.  Happy there isn’t that much in ours as it drives Glenn potty.

Eventually we start the pack up and I note that we’ve gotten 13.2AH today.  Packing up is a bit slower than usual this time due to the heat.  Instead of dripping with cooling river water, I’m soon dripping with sweat.  At least I have a tree close by to put the car under (Mental Note: get that air-con fixed).

We are on the road by 1430 and happily home by 1530.  It’s been a mostly relaxing weekend and being so close to home, it’s great.  Hopefully one day we’ll go there and won’t have any neighbours to speak of.

Trip Kilometres: 140
Trip Duration: 48 hours

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good writeup Tracey however you may need Robyn's eye for spelling and grammar ;-]

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