Aussie Trekka
4x4 & Camping Australia
A family of 5 from New South Wales, Australia out there enjoying this awesome country we live in.
Camping, 4wheel driving, offroad adventures and generally good times.
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We love exploring, to most that know me this is nothing new. I try and organise somewhere we have not been before at least once a month. It would be weekly if life would stop getting in the way. Anyways this time we headed out to Nowendoc, visiting the Nowendoc National Park and more specifically Jacky Barkers Campground. It can be a little tricky to find the turn off and you may end up in someones front yard or asking directions from a local that has lived in the area for 35 years but had never heard of the place.
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Although we had a great time, reflecting back on this place and after re-reading the national parks website on the place i’m not sure how or who i would recommend this place to. It has a really cool hut but it turns out you are not allowed to use it, it is open and there are no signs saying you can’t take full advantage of this brilliant hut whilst you are there. There really is nothing else to do there except look at a dry creek bed. This looks like it hasn’t seen much water for a long time. There is also a 1.8 kilometer walking track that is far from interesting. You walk beside the empty creek then over a few step rolling hills. There is no lookouts or real history there (maybe the hut). You can’t take advantage of the many tracks around as everything is gated off and locked. There are numerous signs stating that place is under 24 hour surveillance and i even found one of these signs along the walking track.
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It’s not all bad!
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There are a number of marked camping spot here and these are flat on different levels, working themselves out up the hill. You could probably in most cases have two or three vehicles in each area but this would limit the size of your camp. Each spot has a great fire and cooking area. There is a pit toilet beside the hut that was surprisingly well taken care of. As is the whole area come to think of it. The grass had been recently mowed and there was even some fire wood available. The road in is also very user friendly and although there are a few step sections just about any vehicle would be able to get to the campgrounds. This place is quiet and you can tell that not many people use this area at all.
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I feel i should throw a safety warning in right here.
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It was really really windy until about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and being this place is remote certain precautions should be noted.
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You are surrounded by mountains and with the wind if a bush fire was to come in there would be little chance of getting out. There would be places down the creek where refuge could be taken in case of that issue. I would head down there sooner than later as it’s a bit of a hike to get to the rocky ledges.
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The other thing to note was there was a fallen tree across the road on the way out and a chainsaw would be highly recommended.
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Wrights Hut,
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I can find little information about why this place was built or any reason for it to still be there truth be told.
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If anyone is going to head out there take a generator with you. The place has lighting wired in and just under the back left hand corner of the building is a 240 volt plug to run it all. But if you read the National Parks web site they say you are not allowed to use this building at all.
Breakfast of champions.
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It has sort of become our thing to have a Bacon and Egg Croissant when out camping these days and this time was no different.
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We are always keeping an eye out for somewhere to throw a swag down for the night so i the way home we went another way hoping to find that next great place.
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The road from Nowendoc back to Mount George is a fun alternative than staying on the black top.
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This concludes another trip and once again i must say thanks to my family also Dave and his two daughters for coming along on another adventure. Who knows what we will come across next time.
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Shoot me an email if you know a semi/remote location on the east coast of NSW or would like to join us on a trip sometime. We are always on the lookout for somewhere new to check out especially the lessor know locations.