It had been a while since the bushwalking sub-club had an outing, and given the 2 weeks of solid rain in the lead up, it very nearly didn’t happen! Luckily, with sunshine forecast for the weekend, the nerves held, even if the adventure was scaled back from Barrington Tops to a more modest weekend at Turpentine Campsite, just inland from Swansea.
After a hearty lunch at The Yard Brewery & Smokehouse, Morisett, it was into the wilderness to find out just how muddy it was going to be underfoot. The first stop was the Pines Campsite, where a large group was setting up for a 50th birthday party. While they said we were all invited, we decided to head to the next campsite down Watagan Forest Road, which we had pretty much to ourselves. Being up on a sandy ridge, it was remarkably dry, so we pitched camp and after a short walk along a section of the Abbots Fall Walking trail, it was back to base to set up the campfire before it got dark.
The night was whiled away around an excellent campfire with Mexican-themed food, grand plans of future diving & camping trips and marshmallows all set to the sounds of the 50th birthday party occasionally wafting through the trees. The following morning, there was double rounds of breakfast, and then a walk that was not nearly long enough to work it off!
Camping trips may be as rare as blue micro-moons but it was well worth it.
