As you can probably guess, didn’t do a real lot the next day. My calves were screaming like they hadn’t been fed and, with the cold snap arriving, a warm bed seemed a really good option for the better part of the day. With the sun scraping the top of the ridge for most of the day, warmth was at a premium in the late afternoon. I discovered that the toilet doors heated up nicely during the day and leaning against them with the sun in your eyes was a good a toasting as you could get. It probably wasn’t a good look at the time. There’s a fine line between toasting and loitering (lol). Note to self. MUST look at van heating urgently.
Camp Wambelong is one of several sites in the Warrumbungle National Park overseen by the Warrumbungle Visitor Centre. Unfortunately I had neither phone nor internet where I was staying, but the visitor Centre did….and they had heating!! So, I became first name friends with the staff VERY quickly and spent a slab of the next five days set up with my laptop and coffee.
Camp Wambelong is one of several sites in the Warrumbungle National Park overseen by the Warrumbungle Visitor Centre. Unfortunately I had neither phone nor internet where I was staying, but the visitor Centre did….and they had heating!! So, I became first name friends with the staff VERY quickly and spent a slab of the next five days set up with my laptop and coffee.
And a big shout-out to the girls and the centre. Extremely helpful, great layout and bulk info available. A self -serve coffee machine is all that’s needed ;). Luckily, I also met two couples travelling together at the campground and we shared a couple of roaring fires and some good scotch. They had done many trips within Oz and were a mine of stories and information.
The other highlight of the stay was a visit to The Sandstone Caves, a very ancient Aboriginal inhabitation located about 35km north of Coonabarabran off the Newell Highway. I think I left my gung-ho somewhere back on the mountain and this looked a lot easier. It’s estimated that the caves have been inhabited for around 10,000 years. The walking track was developed by local Aboriginal people, artists and Elders in conjunction with National Parks and Wildlife staff. A good example of Waan gigilanha ngiyaniyuu (all of us working together). The pictures show why this place was ideal. Cool in summer. high up for the breeze and vantage and low ceilings for warmth in winter. There were some wriggle entrances off the main caves that went even further into the mountain. Smoke from campfires is clear to see on the ceilings. You really felt like you had been invited into their home. It was quite a moving experience.
Despite the sunshine, the nights were freezing, I mean below zero freezing. It was time to find some real sunshine, so I decided to head south to Wellington via Dubbo. I had prepared the van and hooked up the night before anticipating an early start. Early breakfast, last minute check, all I had to do was bring the slide out in. At that precise moment, the lights went out. The solar had starved to death. There wasn’t a 240v anywhere in the park. Of course, I had completely forgot about the Engel Battery with the 240v outlet sitting next to the bed (well,it’s not like we used it much). So, I needed either sunlight or 240v power somewhere. I could get both possibly at the Visitor Centre. It was only 3km away but…..I know, it was the only option. So I’m driving up to the Centre with half the bedroom in the oncoming lane praying that everyone else had slept in that morning. Arrived safely, but the clouds rolled in and the Centre was still an hour away from opening. So, rang the NRMA. No, they didn’t have a generator, but weren’t there powered sites down at Camp Blackman? Doh!!! As luck would have it, two rangers arrived at the moment and confirmed I could just plug to anywhere to get myself out of trouble. So, with two hour delay behind me and the slide-out safely tucked back in, I finally said goodbye to the Warrumbungles.