Camper Trailer Diaries - Rain, Hail or Shine
Coolendel
If you don't know where it is. I ain't telling ; )Fri 22nd May 2009
So here we were again, with a longish weekend off and wondering where to go. As the trailer was still up from the previous weekend backyard trial and it had been raining all week. We had to pack up the trailer in the morning. Some of the sleeping bags were a little wet, with also a bit of water on the floor that needed soaking up. We eventually got everything packed onto the bed and the trailer was ready to be folded up before Zuz went to uni. Also just before the heavens opened up for a good dowsing shower as we got the covers on. The forecast was for showers most of the weekend..... Not scared, we have a kick arse camper trailer to protect us from the elements at our disposal.
After spending all morning getting the trailer ready, I walked inside to what looked like North Korea had been detonating play doh bombs and 2 turkeys unwilling to clean it up. Well that was it. Mt Neil blew his top. Hence showing the balance in the patience bank was pretty low.
Zuz went to uni and I packed the bags into the trailer along with the esky and food. Took all of 7 minutes and I think I jagged a good system. Even remembered to fill the water tank on the trailer before departure this time. So just had to wait until Zuz came home with a car full of petrol and some ice. Meanwhile I had been watching the radar all morning and the back of Nowra was looking good. Nice and dry. Then it was a quick hook up of the trailer back down the driveway and we were off.
Oops, forgot to feed boys for lunch, so a quick stop at the golden arches to keep em happy. The car seemed to tow a lot better this time. Or maybe the driver was less nervous. Our destination was a new one for us. Coolendel, far up the Shoalhaven River. Heard many a nice report, so why not. We hit the dirt with approx 12 k’s to go and as we did down came the rain. Now they say this road is 2wd, but I would not have like to go up it in a front wheel drive car today. But that said, the Suby is not and did it real well. Having the weight of the trailer seems to make it handle better. Even during the emergency-braking maneuver when a wallaby jumped out in front of us.
We arrived at the office with heavy rain falling. Hmm, this will test us. Found the caretaker up at the bunkhouse and after a chat, did a lap of the campground to find a spot. It is a beautiful place, even in shitty weather. Wallabies and wombats were hanging around without a care in the world.
After finding a nice flat spot and sorting our orientation we parked the trailer and waited a bit for the rain to ease. To no avail. We were going to have to put the foot down and put her up in the rain. We put the mats down and found we were squelching in puddles in what would be the kitchen. Opened the trailer quickly enough and got the annex out in pretty good time. Moped up the water that had got in through the open door. Boys were not very happy and decided to take some more of Dads’ patience out of the bank. They also managed to soak their gumboots within 12 minutes. Oh well, boys will be boys.
Light was starting to fade and we had some pooling issues on the roof. So tried some different permutations of pole heights etc to try and get it right. Coping a few good doses of water in the process. After much grizzling, it was decide that it was good enough to get through the night and stay dry in bed. The main issue was the water dripping down from the annex (on the inside), maybe as it was wet most of the week ?
After we went and paid our fees and the boys sorted out the bunk order, they decided to hit the sack and we had a few minutes to ponder our thoughts, which were not all that positive as we were getting dripped on under the annex with a beer and some wine.
Sat 23rd of May 2009
Woke up in the morning, all were dry and nothing had fallen down so that was a good start. It was overcast, but dry and the annex was looking a whole lot dryer.
We went for a little walk around the campground. As we went up the trail we saw a bird of prey carrying of a large rodent sized animal. This place is definitely wild. No phone reception up here either. Zuz took the boys on further as I headed for the rest rooms. As I was walking at my own pace the magnitude of the bird life was starting to become apparent. As always when walking around with no camera, the prettiest birds perch some 10 foot away from you just for a chat. And a pleasant day to you as well Mr golden whistler. I made it to the cover of the facilities just in time. The rain was back and I had no wet weather gear on.
Now both back at the trailer and some more adjustments to try and get the setup right. One of the spreader bars was not located where it should have been. So we lengthened this pole, shortened this one....This continued on for some time until one of the spreader bar clamps handle came off in Zuzi’s fingers. Well I guess we wont be adjusting that one any more. So that put to an ends the adjustments. The tent could have looked better, but was well and truly doing the job.
Showers continued through the day, heavy at times. I took the boys on some bird watching /photography expeditions. Both were keen, but the concept of silence seems to have totally escaped Ryan. If we had a cent for every time we told him to quieten down throughout the weekend, we could have paid the camping fees twice over. At lunch, I took a walk down to the rapids. A fairly step slippery climb down to the river but well worth it. The boys had a bit of a sing a long with Zuz playing the guitar in the trailer. Then, we all took a walk around the campground. It is huge and we were pretty much the only people there. Finding more wombats, peacocks, good camping sites and birds.
Later in the day, we were rewarded with a few rainbows (along with more showers) and a nice large flock of black cockies breezing through the place.
As Ryan was keen as mustard to cook marshmallows on a fire we thought we would give it a go. Zuz went to get some wood from the firewood pile as well as some cream as the mozzies feasted on Ryan (and only Ryan) the night before.
Note to self – GET A BIGGER AXE. Trying to split these logs with the little axe, not easy. But got enough kindling to give it a go. THe wood was piled up in the fire circle, a liberal amount of Metho poured onto the wood and after a few mis-strikes of a match, we had ignition. No sooner than the fire was alight, down came the rain. More patience dollars stolen from the bank...... Probably a good thing as even with a little axe, big angry man can chop up big bits of wood. It was quite therapeutic as well.
So take 2……. More Metho and this time, ignition and we have cleared the tower. A few little drizzly showers, but nothing to stop Ryan cooking his marshmallows on the fire. Zuz also finally discovered that it was a culinary delight. Zuz also got out the Kranskys and cooked em up in the fire. All we needed was the spuds in the fire. But that is another tale. Through the evening, the fire fought off several showers and we were like the ball boys at Wimbledon. Diving for cover during each of the showers. But the fire finally swallowed up all of the wood and kept us warm with a good dose of heat all the way to bedtime.
Sun 24th of May 2009
As Ryan jumped into bed very early, I took the opportunity to go and take some photos of the rapids in the early morning light. So down I go and through the dew laden she oaks to get to the river. An early cold shower for me. Then i discovered that the rocks I wanted to photograph were now under water as the rain has raised the river level a bit. Doh !! Oh well, snapped away anyway at some other rocks.
Came back and the boys were tucking into chocolate pancakes. We had a visit from the flock of peacocks that Ryan was a little bit weary of. More exploring for birds, Ben collecting rocks. At least the weather was kinder today. The solar panel was finally putting out its full power. The decision was made to pack up and go in the arvo as if we stayed the tent would not have dried in time to leave on the next day so Zuz could get to uni. But first we all had to go back down to the river so the boys could partake in their favorite activity. Throwing rocks in the river. They took on the climb down with caution and made it in one piece. Then onto the river and it was like Christmas. All these big rocks, everywhere. They started to move the riverbank into the river. One pebble at a time. The water had come up even more from the morning so it did not look anywhere as nice as the previous arvo.
After coming up from the river the weather looked like it was starting to close, so the steady process of packing began. It really did not take us that long at all. The boys jumped into their seats very early on in the piece and waited fairly patiently for us to pack up. We were packed and ready to hit the road over an hour ahead of what we planned. It was a fairly event less trip home. Put the trailer up the back, ready to be opened for some running repairs and then.........the next trip to ?????