The Maiden Voyage

Hello Pack,

Welcome!

Welcome to our Gap Year trip, travelling Australia in an off-road camper with our two kelpies!

Welcome to our blog, where we will share everything with you; the good, the bad, tips, tricks, recommendations, ratings and more!

We have always dreamed of doing something like this, but we never thought it would actually happen. The closest we thought we would get would be 6-8 week trips, staggered out over a lifetime.

2020 changed everything for us; we will get to that in another blog, as well as what we did to prepare our life for this trip and an introduction to the Woofpack!

We have not planned a single day of this trip; we are completely winging it.

So, let’s go!

The Beginning:

Wednesday 30th October, 2020, we decided to do our Maiden Voyage.

Originally, we had planned on leaving at the end of October, or early November, however we chose to do a quick trip away for a few reasons:

1. Our beautiful camper trailer was sitting in our driveway just begging to go

2. We needed to test out a few electrical faults, as well as check out our set up and our packing to see what we still needed or what we didn’t need

3. I needed to see what it would be like working remotely from the trailer.

We did not plan this trip. We had started discussing the week prior about going on a short trip, 3-5 days, to iron out some kinks and within a few days had decided to just go for it!

Even better, I had asked work to reduce my days and hours to 3 days per week rather than 5, which they did that week, so we had always planned to go on the Wednesday and I had planned to work Wed-Fri, hoping to enjoy some of the weekend; lucky me ended up only working on the Wednesday!

Leaving:

There was a big last minute effort to get ready for this trip. We still had a lot of work to do (which we will cover in another blog,) yet motivation is high when you are on a time crunch. We buckled down and got it done.

Wednesday morning, 4am.

Final packing of the BT50 and the camper, getting the doggos ready for a “drive!” and saying goodbye to Grandma, excitement was high as our newly decal’ed “Adventure Vehicle” left the driveway for the first time.

The Trip:

We wanted to leave by 5:30am, which we did. We left pretty much on the dot, then headed to the Service Station to change the tyre pressure.

Having planned absolutely nothing other than wanting to go see the canola fields, we typed “Cowra” into the Hema and off we went. Hema took us through Kangaroo Valley and Mossvale. This also meant The Hume Highway, and for car enthusiast Loki (who also really appreciates a good view,) The Hume Highway was the most boring road we could possibly take him on and the worst way to start this adventure. If you have ever travelled with a vocal, sooky kelpie, you’ll understand our instant regret for not planning this leg of the trip.

We did need to get to Cowra as quickly as possible though because we needed to be set up and ready for me to work by 2pm. We left by 5:30am as it would take around 4 hours to get there, with extra time for pit stops.

Pit Stop 1: Boorowa

I loved this gorgeous little township. We stopped in Queen Street, where there was ample street parking for our long rig and a rest area. The rest area was great, with lots of families enjoying the sun, the picnic tables and the clean bathrooms.

After a quick loo break, I took myself for a quick explore up the street. In this one little strip of road, there was the old school house (now a home,) St Patrick’s Catholic Church with gorgeous fields and beautifully maintained, St Joseph’s Primary School on Scott Street and my absolute favourite feature, right at the end of Queen Street and on Scott Street next to the school was a stunning, gothic inspired homestead that appears abandoned and probably haunted; that place was giving some serious vibes!

Usually we would let the boys go for a quick explore as well, but being school holidays and immaculate weather, there were too many people around to let them roam off leash and these two are not huge fans of what we call “the oppression.” They got a quick loo break and we were all happy to be on the road again!

The views from here on in were spectacular; we had seen some canola fields on the way through the Hume Highway, however the fields along Lachlan Valley Way were stunning.

Cowra:

We made it to Cowra around 12pm – only 2 hours later than expected due to a leisurely pace. Cowra is gorgeous with everything you would expect from a bigger town in a small, semi-rural township – all the major food retailers such as Coles and Woolworths (we shopped at both,) good takeaway options like Subway, plenty of places to fill up and a decent block of shops if you wanted to do some retail therapy.

We weren’t here for very long. We parked the rig on Lachlan Street, which had a huge field and public toilets. The boys had a big play while I took a walk up to Coles to grab some supplies for the trip, such as bread and veggies.

After grabbing some Subway, we hit the road again to head to our first overnight stay destination: Darbys Falls. This was the only part that Jared had researched because we needed to make sure I had internet for work; Jared chose this spot the night before and it was a complete surprise to me.

Darbys Falls:

The drive there was immaculate: rolling hillsides, fields of lush green, vibrant yellow and pockets of purple from the lavender. There were also amazing rocks across the hillsides, showcasing a landscape that was quite surreal and seemed very different to what you would “expect” from a typical Australian landscape.

We made it to Darbys Falls with about 45 minutes to spare, so we quickly set up the camper for an overnight stay (no awning) and had me online, ready to go just in time!

*BREAKDOWN*

Facilities: Darbys Falls River Reserve

Cost: Free

Internet: Yes and decent reception. I could run the internet with phone no problems

Electricity: No

Drop Point: No

Toilets/ Showers: Drop toilets, reasonably well maintained. No showers

View: Nice view of the river, looks as though people do swim there but I wouldn’t. Ability to

walk down to the river

Noise: Unexpectedly, the road was busier than we thought. Lots of workers with utes and

trailers going through, which echoed across the river and was loud across the bridge. Not

unbearable, just also not expected

Dog Friendly: Dogs allowed, but once they had been for an explore there wasn’t much for them to do.

It’s a small reserve, so although there were three of there comfortably, they were tempted to go say hello to everyone in such a small space. We also had to call them back often as they liked the road and the bridge.

Long Stay : You could stay here comfortably for a long stay, but definitely an overnighter for us

Close To ...: Not far out from Cowra, there is a nice playground in the town of Darbys Falls and a

lovely drive up McDonalds Mountain, where there is also an observatory and a dog

kennel

Notes : There is no waterfall here. Although the origin is unknown, it is believed the name Darbys

Falls comes from early settlers referring to a section of land they would traverse along

the cliff ridge opposite the crossing.

For more information, visit http://www.frankmurray.com.au/some-early-darbys-falls-days2#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20the%20name,called%20cliff%20opposite%20the%20crossing.

Gunning:

After leaving Darbys Falls and doing some fun things such as taking photos of the fields and going for a drive up McDonald Mountain, we headed back to Cowra for more supplies (Woolworths this time) and had a riverside lunch down on Lachlan Street reserve, near the caravan park. We then headed off to Gunning!

We stayed at Gunning Showground. Initially I was disappointed to be staying in a Showground because I was ready for adventures into the bush – our camper trailer, however, was not ready for that yet and having access to nice amenities proved to be a life saver.

I was really pleasantly surprise by the Showground. The doggos LOVED waking up every morning and going for a walk. We stayed next to the old viewing stage, which was a great spot to workout in the sun when the grass was wet. It was also near an entry gate to the track, so the doggos loved taking themselves for a play over there or in the fields surrounding us.

Considering it was school holidays and beautiful weather, it wasn’t busy at the Showground. We felt safe enough to leave the camper often and found plenty around to amuse ourselves.

*BREAKDOWN*

Facilities: Gunning Showgrounds

Cost: Gold coin donation – although there was nowhere to leave the donation, council didn’t

come to collect when doing their maintenance and when we called council to find out

how to pay, they didn’t know. If you find out, let us know!

Internet: Yes, excellent reception

Electricity: Yes, you need to get a key from Council

Drop Point: Not at the Showground, but just outside of town, the road that takes you to the Hume

Highway has a drop point

Toilets/ Showers: Yes; clean and modern toilets, plus hot shower facilities and a changeroom

View: There are nice views surrounding the Showground, including the mountains

Noise: Yes, road noise. It is right next to the Hume Highway so you have trucks at all hours of

the night. I actually found the noise relaxing as it was constant

Dog Friendly: Absolutely dog friendly and plenty of room for them to play

Long Stay : We were here for 3 nights (maximum is two, however there were only a few of us there

and the other campers stayed for at least 3 nights) – we were really comfortable here

Close To ...: Town. Pleasant 5-10 minute walk from the far end of the grounds to the shops, each

way. Barbour Park, a great little spot just outside of town with seating and undercover

areas, overlooking the manmade creek

Photos below are from Barbour Park. Bois enjoying some delicious ice cream from the service station while we waited for the pub to start serving dinner at 5pm. Website says the kitchen is open from 12pm til late, however they are definitely not open at 4pm!

Notes : The Showground has a skate park, council gym, picnic gazebo, tennis court, playground.

No campfires here. Facilities are really well maintained, however the grassy area for the

campers is not as well maintained.

Yass:

The only other notable trip was to Yass. This was on the second day in Gunning because we completely underestimated how cold it would be so we were not well equipped with warm clothes or heaters. Not being able to have a fire was also unpleasant the first night. The warm shower really helped.

Yass looks like a great spot to stay as well; incredible kid friendly and dog friendly with lots of parks and play areas, as well as RV friendly with lots of places to camp.

We spent a bit of time in O’Connors Park, down by the river playing with the doggos. We then went to Target to see what supplies we could get and managed to get some cheap thermals and pants to get us through until we came home. Of course, we got more supplies from Woolies.

Goulburn:

On the way home, we stopped in at Goulburn and had an amazing feed from Subway at the Big Merino. We also filled up and checked the rig over. We sat by the side of the road in the sun and enjoyed our little stop over before heading home through Nerriga.

Nerriga:

Just a quick note that Nerriga has really big, clean toilets in the public toilet block. It also has seats and tables, as well as a decent size reserve for kids and doggos to play.

WHAT WE LEARNT

• Pack for all weather, even when you think it won’t be hot or won’t be cold. It was literally as cold as 4 degrees some nights, yet the day got to a lovely 24 degrees. By the time the sun rose, the sun packe some heat and the instant discomfort from the cold was gone.

• My heated jacket was a lifesaver.

• Target thermals aren’t great, but are good as liners and also mid-season items.

• We bought more pillows because the bed was too hard, even with a memory foam topper.

• Take a few extra minutes to set up your camper properly – pulling things tight meant the canvas closed properly or we just had less problems with set up.

• Plan your meals – we didn’t plan at all because we weren’t sure if we were gone for 3-5 days, but going forward we can’t go to Woolies or Coles every day so planning will be integral.

• Allow for technical issues with your rig, especially if you've had custom modifications like us.

• Don’t forget your dog leads, or you’ll end up walking your doggos through town on ratchet straps!

First adventure done and dusted!

Don’t forget to keep Following the Pack!

Find us on Facebook @theadventurewoofpack

or Instagram @the_adventure_woofpack

Send us any questions you have or things you’re interested in knowing and we’ll do our best to answer or incorporate it into our adventures.

If you see us on the road, feel free to tag us with where you spotted us and we’ll send you something little.

Happy Camping!

Jared, Amanda, Kai & Loki