14.04.12 Yandilla Camping and Farmstay … Pups on the Farm

I had a few choices up my sleeve for this weekend.  On the last weekend of the school holidays, we were expecting a couple of them to still be really busy.  One had a 2 night policy which we couldn’t fit into our schedule.  After a chat via email with the owner about our dogs, Yandilla it was.

We were packed and on the road by 0810.  Up the gateway motorway, it’s a left turn at Caboolture to drive along the D'Agular Highway.  Once near Kilcoy, we miss our turn on purpose and stop for a sausage roll at the bakery
just after 0930.  We park the rig in the Kilcoy camping area just over the bridge and near the public toilet and showers.  It’s a nice place to stay, but being on the main road, not our cup of tea.  The day started out cloudy but fine and slowly deteriorated the closer to our destination we got.  Seems that every time we head north, we find some little pocket of drizzle and it follows us till we set up camp.

This disabled cow is above the Kilcoy Motel.

Back on the road once more and heading back out of town the way we came.  Our turn off is just before the Kilcoy Meat Works … that’s if you are coming from Woodford of course.  Glenn misjudges the turn, taking it a little fast and the ABS kick in a bit.  Hope the pups are okay in the dog box.

We head west along this narrow road for a few kilometres, before heading north once more on the aptly named Mount Kilcoy Road.  This is a very scenic drive lasting about 20 minutes to Yandilla’s front gate.  The road twists and turns so take it slowly and enjoy the view.  It’s not a very wide road either, so be prepared to get a wheel dirty when another car approaches.  The closer we get the more mountain tops I see in cloud.  But it’s very beautiful.

Once at the front gate, I’m on gate duty.  Leave them how you find them is a Must Do Rule in cattle country, and this one is closed.  The driveway is very pleasant tree lined affair for a short distance, then we cross Kilcoy Creek and up to some sheds, where we see a sign pointing us in another direction, keeping us away from the main house.

As we weren’t 100% sure where we were to set up, Glenn gets a bit worried.  David, the owner, has allowed us to stay in the overflow area rather than the campground, due to us having 3 dogs and being self contained.  They are well behaved, but there are other campers to consider, and he’s agreed to give us a private area where we can allow the dogs to move around untethered, as long as we keep them away from his stock.  No problems there.  Jack will probably be asleep the whole weekend anyway and the other two are rather scared of them.  As we start to drive along the track, I notice a bloke on a motorbike approaching through a paddock so I guess that must be David.

It is.  I note that it’s only 1000 and we are a bit early.  Glenn stops the car and I hop out to have a chat with him and give him out camping fee.  His dog gets a little barkie with our pups, but it’s just the excitement of chasing us down beside the bike.  Once it’s all quiet, we can chat.  David gives us directions to our campsite, takes our fees and promises to visit with us later in the day, and we head off again.  It’s not very far to the main campsite and once there, we realise we’ve missed out turn off … which is good really as we get to see how everyone else is camping.  Must come back later and ensure I get pictures for my blog as it just wouldn’t do not to. 

We turn around, head back out of the campground (close the gate please) and back the way we came.  We spot our turn and head across a branch of the creek.  Once over, we can easily see the mown track he’s mentioned and then it’s a matter of taking a right at the other side and heading down to the elbow he’s mentioned.  It’s the perfect spot for us.  Thanks so much David!

The last drizzle we had was in Kilcoy, and it’s not raining just as we set up which is wonderful.  We don’t get completely set up before Telashi is in the water and swimming merrily around.  She’s a funny dog.  It’s an easy decision to leave any further set up till later and explore the creek and surrounding area.

Around 1200 or so David pops around on his tractor.  He’s spraying some Rat Tail Grass which a sign down the road said was a problem weed and needed management, so it’s great to see he’s doing his bit to assist.  Once in camp, it starts to rain, so we all stand under the awning chatting.  David is keen to pat Telashi but she appears to be rather wary of him, giving off little growly yips every so often.  He takes particular interest in our OzPig and Glenn shows him how it goes together.  Seems he bakes his own bread and like to use the campground fire shelter to do his camp oven cooking sometimes. He’s with us for almost an hour and by then, Telahsi is leaning up against his leg letting him tweak her ears and scratch her nose.  I stuck the dogs water bucket under a drip on the awning and by the time we’ve finished chatting, the bucket has been filled.

Then it’s time for a bite to eat and to complete what set up we feel is necessary.  Glenn has bought along a dimmer switch that he wants to install onto our LED light strip.  He’s forgotten some tools, so it’s lucky we have the set of tools in the camper.  Things don’t go to plan though and we’ll have to leave the dimmer switch for another day.  The LED lights have 2 settings:  very bright and extremely bright, so a dimmer switch is a brilliant idea. 

We sit around camp in the drizzle and think about how good this camp would be in the summer.  Lovely creek to swim in, shady trees, comfy chairs … camping … couldn’t get much better.  We don’t venture in to see just how deep the creek is.  I’m guessing waist deep or so.  Telashi is happy to get all four paws wet and bite-bark at the water as she swims around in circles.  Having angled the front awnings to drip water away from the main walkways and set up our comfy chairs, there is pretty much nothing to do except relax.

Having a lamb roast with veg for dinner and it’s out defrosting.  I’ve prepared the herb rub for it.  Chilli, garlic, rosemary … yum.  Just a matter of getting the vegies ready as we require them and making sure there is heaps of spuds for Glenn.
Wandering down stream, we take particular notice of the timber that’s littering the creek and take the opportunity to collect a small amount.  It should burn hot and fast for coals for the camp oven lid.  It’s hard to imagine such large tree limbs being thrashed about to get so wedged so high.  Reckon if you set up a kids swing off one, they’d have a ball and the tree limb wouldn’t shift an inch from where it’s gotten stuck.

Time to think about dinner I guess and do some more relaxing.  This camping thing is quite tough on your relaxation muscles!! 

Once cooked, dinner is served under a light rain and we settle in to hear the sounds of the night from our comfy chairs.  We’ve been seeing and hearing lots of birds through the day and can still hear a few into the early evening.  The odd cow also lets us know they are about.  Once darkness falls the frogs chorus fills the air.  That and the sounds of the gurgling creek and light rain make getting to sleep so very easy.

15.04.12

Next day dawns overcast and cool with the occasional shower.

Breakfast is a reheated affair with toast.  It’s wonderful to have a hot meal to start the day.  Pups are fed and we are sipping coffee when the first car leaves.  From about 0800, we can see and hear our campsite neighbours leaving in dribs and drabs and by 1100 they are all gone.  Packing up in the wet is something we don’t like to do, but it seems our neighbours didn’t like to continue camping in it.  Pity really, as come 1100, the day starts to fine up enough to dry most of our canvas.

We consider packing things slowly once breakfast is done … we’ve got all day to do that.  So I suggest that we take a walk up the creek and see if it looks any different that way.  Pups are only too happy to be sniffing about I think.  I’m snapping photo’s of lovely views so I’m definitely happy.  There are tiny little frogs along the creek, but they move too quickly and I can’t get a good photo of one.  We continue up till we can see a tree with brightly coloured leaves, which I remember seeing from the campground yesterday, and decide to turn around.  There are still a few campers on the ground and we haven’t bought the dogs leads with us.  I snap off a photo of our camp from an acre or so away.  It looks tiny from so far away.

Back at camp we start packing things up.  It stops raining all together once the last camper leaves and we are alone till David comes back down on his motorbike to see how we are going.  He reckons that by lunchtime the day will be rather fine and his prediction seems to be working for us.  He spies Telashi and she gives him another growly bark.  No pats from him today I think.  We are almost packed away, just waiting for some sun to come out to dry the canvas a bit more, but I don’t know whether we’ll be lucky or not.  It’s mainly the Velcro that takes the longest to dry.

David heads off with a Thank You from us and it starts to spit again, so the canvas gets put away quickly.   A last few things and we are packed up once more.  Before we leave, we are going to head back to the main campground to grab a few photos and check out the creek and facilities.  We pull up before the gate, turn around and walk back since we aren’t planning to camp there.  As it’s been raining, we’ll only mess us his beautifully manicured lawn with the 4WD if we drive in.

The lawn is just that, beautifully manicured lawn.  The grounds are studded with trees and tall grassy divisions.  There is a swimming hole right beside a covered communal fireplace area and Telashi doesn’t hesitate to jump in for a dip.  Glenn finds some flat stones perfect for skimming which he does.  David says there is a larger swimming hole further upstream, so we’ll see that next time.  Glenn says there will be a next time.  The toilet block has a camp table and dual kitchen sink.  Perhaps for washing dishes or clothes.  There are two showers, two sit down flushing toilets and a urinal.  Ask David if you need hot water and he’ll fire up the Donkey for you.  I snap a few more photos and then we must hit the road again.  We are out the gate and on the way by 1300. 

The trip home is mostly uneventful.  We do pass through a very heavy rain shower that we have to slow down for.  Surprisingly, the crowded road home we thought we’d have to suffer through is rather empty for a end of school holidays Sunday.

On arrival home 1 and three quarter hours later, we start to unpack things so that we can ensure things are as dry as they can be and won’t go mouldy.  Another weekend gone in a flash.

Trip Kilometres:  291

Trip Duration: 48 hours