By After a super intensive half year, we were finally able to go out and about (within COVID restrictions of course)
If there is one thing that defines us as a family it is travelling and experiencing the world together. But 2020 proved difficult in so many ways, and we were stuck at home for a long time. It is really hard to truly understand what is happening in the world, and how we’ve all suddenly become bound to where we live. For anyone who knows me, you will know that freedom defines me, and being tied up strangles me. So not being able to travel and not knowing when the world will open up again is hard. And it scares me when I think about my kids’ future and their ability to be citizens of the world. Will they never be able to think about the world as I do, to get up and go out when they want to. To explore different cultures and see different worlds. These are thoughts I never in my wildest imagination thought I would have. What happens when what used to be a story in a b-movie suddenly becomes real? I’ll spend some more time reflecting on all these thoughts in another post, but for now this will be about getting out and about on our spring holiday. (And to all my northern hemisphere friends – this was back in September/October 2020).
Deciding what to do
Up until very last minute we were debating what type of trip we wanted our spring holiday to be. We knew we were confined to staying in New South Wales because of COVID restrictions, but despite being just one state there are so many possibilities (NSW is almost 20 times larger than Denmark!). We could go inland, to the beach, explore national parks. We could go North, South or West. We could go in a camper van, tent or stay in Airbnb’s.
Finally we decided to buy a tent and go all in on road trip and camping.
To be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’m definitely an adventurer and outdoor person, but definitely not a camper (whatever that is). But once we got the idea it kind of grew on us, and maybe we could be a little more adventurous with a tent, at least we could use the gear again for our Christmas holiday. Everyone we told in Denmark first and foremost were concerned about insects, spiders and snakes on our behalf, and everyone in Australia thought we were crazy for going inland and not staying on the coast. But we went our own way as we do best and ended up with a two-week road trip covering both outback(-ish), national parks and beach.
Heading West
Our first stop was Dubbo and Taronga Western Plains Zoo. After looking at the weather forecast with night temperatures at 0oC we decided the first two nights would be in a motel (so much for camping LOL).
On the way to Dubbo we made a quick stop in Mudgee which is one of NSW’s 12 wine regions. We had not done any research on what winery to visit, and only had time for one. So on the way there, I googled wineries and my main task was finding a winery that didn’t involve a big detour and one where we could have a nice lunch and the kids could run around a bit. We ended up at Burundulla winery, had a nice lunch, bought a few bottles of wine and drove off to Dubbo. That night we tasted the wine (which we didn’t do at lunch because we had a long drive ahead of us), and when we tasted the wine, I was so amazed. It felt like the best wine I’d had, but to be honest I couldn’t figure out if it was just the joyous feeling of starting a holiday that made the wine so good or if it was proper good. But since then, we’ve bought it again, and it’s truly become one of my favourites! Lucky punch!
The next day we went to the zoo in Dubbo, which was really nice – we drove around in our own car, and it was easy to get up rather close and get a good view of all the animals.
Note to self, next time we will rent bicycles, as that would make it even more enjoyable. It’s not necessarily a big area, and we had to get in and out of the car a million times. Nevertheless, we had a really good day. The favourite animal of the day was the very beautiful Bongo.
The real adventure started when we left Dubbo and headed towards Cobar.
One of the things we wanted with this trip was to get out of the city and towards the outback. Cobar was the beginning of that, – and it was also our first night sleeping in our new tent. We felt a little nervous about setting up the camp. However, it was SO easy! For some lucky reason we had bought an ‘easy up’ tent, where all poles are pre-attached. It takes about ten minutes to set up, and can be done by one person (downside is that it is less resistant to extreme weather, which Australia does get a fair bit of. On this trip we didn’t get any of that thankfully, but had a small taste later during our Christmas trip – more on that in a later post). After about 15 minutes we had the tent set up and Carla was covered in Bindi weeds – she suddenly screamed from the one end of the campsite, and when I got there she had these little sticky stingy seeds everywhere and was in pain. One minute later I had them everywhere too…! First encounter with yet another thing that can hurt/bite/sting/attack you – it never gets boring here in AU!
Cobar didn’t have much to offer besides a bakery and an old copper mine. The mine is no longer in use, and was a very spectacular sight.
From Cobar we went to Bourke. A drive just in our spirit. We finally got a sense of being in the outback. And the drive from Cobar to Bourke was the exact reason we chose this route. There is a saying in Australia “Back O’ Bourke” which basically means the outback, and that was enough to get our attention. However, to experience the true outback we would have had to embark on a trip further West – we have saved that for another time (mainly because of the many many hours of driving it would have been).
Somewhere between the two towns are Gondabooka National Park. We went for a bush walk there and at the end of it we were half dead (the walk was easy and mostly flat, but it was sooo hot). Back in the car and after a few minutes of air con the kids asked if we could do the walk again one day. Despite the heat (and the flies) they loved it!.
One thing I’ve learned about camping in Australia – so far we have stayed in 10 different campgrounds – is that there are very distinct types of campsites and types of people who stay in each of them. It’s like this unspoken cultural thing that you just know, but cannot read about anywhere. You’ve got the bush campsites on the one end and the family holiday parks on the other end of the spectrum. In between there are very basic campgrounds and better ones with nice amenities, pools and playgrounds. On our trips so far we haven’t stayed in the bush campsites, but everything else. The bush camps are probably coming up next as we are now familiar with camping in Australia, and they seem less and less next level. The downsides are that they can be quite remote and far from any other people should anything happen, but closer to unwelcome wildlife (I’m thinking snakes here). The upsides are that they are much closer to nature and the real experiences of the outdoors. And during our travels we have realised that there are also a variety of these campsites, with some more visited and less remote than others.
I can relate least to the family holiday parks (this is where I to date have experienced the biggest culture shock with Australian culture – more on this later in this post), but the kids love them as there are typically other kids to play with and nice swimming pools, playgrounds etc.
In Bourke we found a little slice of camping paradise, which we’ve found in many different forms over the last couple of months. It was quite a basic campsite, but it had a pool, and we met another Danish family and spent the night telling stories over a glass of wine. Most of the other travelers were long time travelers – many grey nomads, or retired couples, living their life out of a Landcruiser and a camping trailer experiencing their country. How great a way to spend time after a long life of working! Count me in!!
Leaving the red dirt and heading towards green lush farm land
From Bourke we left the closest we came to the outback, and moved through farm land on our way to Narrabri. It was quite a dramatic change in scenery and livelihoods during a 5 hour drive. I had not heard of Narrabri (and our next stop Coonabarabran) before, but we were amazed of how beautiful it was there.
In Narrabri, we had a really nice camp spot close to a river and our own little area where the kids could run around (and possums visiting at night time).
We went to the summit of Mount Kaputar – you can drive all the way up, and from the top it is claimed that you can see 10% of NSW. The view was beautiful, but it also reminded us of the extensive bushfires earlier in the year. Most of the summit had been affected, but new life was already popping up between the burnt trees.
Another unique part of Mount Kaputar National Park was the Sawn Rocks. They are the result of a volcanic eruption where the molten rock cooled down really slowly. Besides on Iceland I have never seen anything like these – a very spectacular sight.
In Coonabarabran we spent our time in a National Park called Warrumbungle. It is known as a place to watch stars at night due to the clean air and (for Australia) high altitude of 505m. We didn’t stay for the night stargazing within in the park, but had a really nice day picnicking and taking some smaller walks.
Moving on to the beaten track
When we left Coonabarabran we had one night in an Airbnb to look forward to. And it’s funny, but on that day I could imagine nothing worse than having to sleep in a tent. It was SOOOO good with our own kitchen and shower, and the kids loved the bathtub and a TV. The day after I was fine to sleep in a tent again. Goes to show how adaptable we humans are!
Our Airbnb was in Hunter Valley, another NSW wine region, and one of the most commercial of them all. Some of the wineries seemed like big money making machines, while we prefer smaller ones with more soul and passion. Nevertheless, it’s not the last time we are there – mainly because of it’s proximity to Sydney and the fact that some wines that are produced elsewhere are sold in Hunter Valley, and I’m sure there are more nice boutique wineries to be found there as well.
We love to stumble upon unique subcultures and get really excited when we do so. Family Holiday parks are one of those such surprises!
Our last stop was a family holiday park in Port Stephens on Fingal Bay Beach. It is to date my most surprising cultural experience with an Australian subculture – those who take family camping very very seriously. I have never before seen this type of camping, which is basically building a camp with tents and tarps to resemble home as much as possible. Several tents, canopies and tarps are used to create sleeping areas, living rooms and outdoor kitchens. Fully equipped with washing machines, sinks, refrigerators, espresso machines, stoves, BBQs, cabinets, toilets and showers – we’ve seen all of the above and much more in these camps! They are set up for a week, and then transported back home in massive 4×4’s and trailers. Our big little tent looked like a matchbox next to all the others, and we clearly stood out. But everyone was super friendly and the kids loved the movie nights in the neighbor camp. Every night the dad would play a different movie from a projector to a white linen in a canopy set up just for this purpose, and all the kids in the close by camp spots would gather with lollies and popcorn. Our kids were absolutely thrilled!
Fingal Bay Beach was an amazing area with a beautiful beach, and we even had a koala living in one of the trees close by our tent.
We really loved this style of holiday, and as I’m writing this we’ve just come home from our Christmas camping holiday. I’m awfully behind on the blog – my New Years resolution has got to be to write more frequent updates. My promise to you!
GoCargus 