The weather bureau predicts hotter than yesterday … so over 32°C … and very sunny. Excellent camping weather. That’s what it’s been like all week, but overnight we hear rain on the roof and wake to a dismally overcast day. And it starts raining as we pack things in the car.
Glenn has built a ramp for the pups to get in the dog box on their own and surprisingly, by the time we finish camping for the weekend, they are getting used to coming up and down it which is fantastic. However, the first few times we use it, it’s hilarious.
Because we’ve been giving them training runs at home on a plank … they want to go up and then come back down … hard to convince them they need to stay put and get out of the way for the next dog up the ramp. I’m sure it will get better.
We leave home after 0800 … I’m guessing about ¼ past … but forgot to look. The drive there is relatively uneventful, but it’s raining in places and I wonder how the pups are doing in the box as it’s not got any waterproofing on the security grills. Guess we’ll find out once we arrive and start putting up camp.
Note the debris still in the tree on the right.
It takes about 1 & ¾ hours to get to MCE from home and today is no different. Traffic is good the entire way. Once on the grounds, you must head to the office (far end of the grounds) and let them know you’ve arrived. Things are a bit different this time. I have to sign a “we’ll be very good campers” form, which states common sense things like: pups on a leash / don’t put rubbish where it ain’t supposed to go / you have to be out by 11am (that’s new) / keep the noise down / etc / etc / etc. All things the average person knows to do, so it’s reckon it’s a case of a few idiots stuffing it for the majority. We also get a “camping tag” for the car. By the time I make it back to the vehicle, it’s already smudged by the rain.
We notice that the fire place is the same as we left it after putting out the roaring fire. The treated pine logs are still in place exactly how they were once doused, so it seems no-one has been up to check on things since the end of January. A pity, as there was a bit of loo paper roaming around they could have collected.
The Hobbo House has someone in residence. Huge tent can be seen from where we are. And later in the day, another resident moves in across the road. It’s not directly across the road, but we can hear them from our site. 4x4’s come up and down the hill and head past us into the state forest.
Once completely set up to our satisfaction, we relax for a bit and enjoy the rain. It’s not set in as such, but rather is these annoying light showers coming over on a regular basis. We haven’t had a wet pack up for awhile and if things continue the way they are going, then we will be this weekend. I stick a 20 litre bucket under one drip at the front of the camper and by nightfall it’s filled. We replace the bedding this trip after a good wash. Something we’ve been doing regularly since we purchased the camper. Since it’s so muggy this weekend, we aren’t sure if we’ll need my Minkie blanket though, so it get’s put in the draw.
The track goes quickly down to the south west and then turns back to the north a bit before it finally flattens out right near the creek. The walking is very easy as the track is not overgrown at all, so I guess the log hasn’t been in place for very long. It’s a bit overgrown at the end though, which tells me that not many people head down on foot once they see that sign. Peter (MCE manager) assures me that this is
We even find the kitchen sink!
After a little while, we clothe up again and head upstream of the right hand branch to see if we can see around a corner and see the lookout. We can’t, so head straight back. The two branches here converge into the main stream of MC here and I reckon that’s the reason the swimming hole is so deep. There is also a nice beach here to relax on as well. There is no where to turn a car around here anymore, so I guess I can understand the reason for the log (not the sign, but definitely the log). Some idiot is bound to drive on the beach and get themselves well and truly bogged. The entrance to the beach could do with a whipper snip though. Have to check the pups for ticks when we get back to camp just in case.
Back at camp, Glenn hits relaxation mode and falls asleep in his chair. Trains have been going past since we arrived, and a few more do through out the night and into Sunday. Today was really bad for solar input, but we did manage 1.7AH which is more than I though we’d get.
View from my chair.
Chinese fry up for dinner ... Chicken, with veg and noodles. Very yummy as always. As we settle down for the evening, we listen to trains in the distance and the sounds of nature all around us.
04.03.12
Rained on and off all night which sounds absolutely fantastic on the canvas and we’ll have to wait and see if it will dry off for our 11 am departure. We haven’t had a wet pack up for some time so I suppose we can’t complain too much about it. Reheated leftovers for breakfast are just divine. It’s still raining on and off, but the sun does pop its head out between clouds today, which it didn’t even attempt yesterday.
As the morning wears on, the showers let up and the canvas manages to appear dry. We wipe it over where it’s particularly wet and give the Velcro a wipe down as well. Glenn looks over the way the rain has been coming and see’s a very black cloud coming, so we bite the bullet and ensure we have the canvas away before it hits us. Murphy’s Law states that once the canvas is away the cloud will head away and this is exactly what happens.
As we make things secure around the camper and car, the sun heads out again for the last time before we make it home. We fill in the holes we’ve made to level the camper and pat them all down, so that they don’t become erosion issues and then load up the dogs. One more check of the camp site to ensure we’ve left nothing behind and picked up any garbage we’ve missed and we are reversing out and on our way down the 4wd track and back into the regular campsites.
As always the place looks overly green, neat and tidy. I notice that many of the camps we saw yesterday have packed and gone, but a few still remain packing things slowly. We pull into the office car park and I head in to let them know we are on our way out.
That done, we are on the road before 1230pm and driving home through a few showers on very wet roads. No incidents at all on the trip back home and we arrive and are packed away by 1410pm which is really early for us. Guess it means our weekend is over once more. *Sigh*
Trip Kilometres: 286
Trip Duration: 48 hours
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