Recently back from Bathurst. I stayed at the Macquarie Wood Rest Area which is half way between Bathurst and Orange, in NSW. There was not much there but it was peaceful and had .... wait for it .... lovely flushing toilets. Lordy I hate those dry toilets. It seemed to be a popular stop over because when I left early in the morning there would have been roughly 50 campers there. Tents, vans and campervans. You will have to travel over a dirt road about 2 kms to get to it but well worth it as there is a lot of area to choose from for your site. At this time of the year it was quite dry but a fair few gum trees for shade and a sort of man made lake with gold fish in it, yes huge big gold fish, someone must have dumped them at one stage I think.
know the Bathurst/Orange area well Nannymon although haven't actually been into the Macquarie Woods reserve. Seem to remember that the Fisheries Department let some sort of Carp go in there a lot of years ago, back when they were "forming" the area.
I am assuming that the dirt road is suitable for the "normal" type of caravan?
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Guru & Ma Ulladulla NSW Happy day, safe travelling Ford Ranger towing 21ft Jurgen shower and toilet which was large enough to fit in a few extras (fridge, bed, stove...)
Yes it is suitable for all kinds of vehicles, I have a toyota hi ace and had no trouble, the road was dusty of course and a bit corrugated in places and there are a few cattle grids, the worst part was the dust, I wasnt too happy about that as Bob had just scrubbed the van clean for me from my last trip.
Thanks for that NannyMon. Guess that's one of the things we have to put up with if we want to "sleep over" somewhere isn't it. Still small price to pay for the peace and tranquility that is our ever loved bushland.
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Guru & Ma Ulladulla NSW Happy day, safe travelling Ford Ranger towing 21ft Jurgen shower and toilet which was large enough to fit in a few extras (fridge, bed, stove...)
Just goes to prove that familiarity breeds contempt. I was born and bred in Orange (for which I offer no excuse) and have travelled many many times between Bath and Orange and have never noticed this reserve (camping spot). I guess it must be signposted ?
I live at Mt Victoria and many times have travelled with the Van behind coming back from being away, and going home via Orange and Bathurst and have looked for a spot if I have been getting tired. Did not know that this place existed, but will certainly look for it and stay there when passing next time.
Valuable bit of info. Many Thanks.
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Someone said, "Cheer up, things could be worse." So I cheered up and things got worse.
Hello all, yes as stated it is suitable for all types of rigs, is on the north side of the highway about midway between Bathurst and Orange, we spent a few days there recently, there are a few interesting drives through the adjacent pine forests, and is close enough to tour around Blayney /Carcoar areas ,you can also have a fire, ranger supplies the timber, cheers Bill
Hello All Has anybody ever been in Collie, in W.A., about 60 clicks East of Bunbury, the Coalfilds Highway and the hills is a lovely tourist drive. There are a couple of free camping areas just East of Collie at Stockton Lake. Very Shady and not far from the town. I have met many people who seem to come back again and again. The lake, and old opencut coalmine is verygood for boating although slightly alkaline. It has a beautiful blue sheen in summer.
Regards Bert & Maxine 15' Franklin Caravan and Falcon Sedan.
Just went to a COG (Camp Oven Gathering) at Forbes River and on the way back we checked out Macquarie Woods as a possible site for a future COG. I did a short Youtube of the site but we didnt explore all the tracks. Someone mentioned flushing toilets and I didnt notice them but then I didnt try only one toilet and there were quite a few in twos around the ground.
Welcome to the Forum Carolyn. What a teriffic way of letting us know what we can expect if we free camp at Macquarie Woods. Well Done.
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Guru & Ma Ulladulla NSW Happy day, safe travelling Ford Ranger towing 21ft Jurgen shower and toilet which was large enough to fit in a few extras (fridge, bed, stove...)
Glad you enjoyed it. Nothing like seeing a few pictures to get an idea of a place. There was one person there exercising their dog when we arrived but we didnt see another soul. Was a Thursday night so might have been expected. The notice said the water was HARD and fit for human use after boiling. I didnt test this out.
The funny thing is you often read that its hard to find something really original. I was pondering the background sounds and then realised my new mobile could record sound so I took a few minutes. Arriving home I received an email from a photo group suggesting that people take sounds from the environment when they took videos etc. My new phone also does videos but I had filled it with MP3 music and there was no room, a micro sim card is on its way.
Carolyn I just loved the photo shoot on your Youtube- must learn how to do that, as the years have gone by have not had the free time to learn how to do some of those things, before we hit the road I must look up somewhere I can have some GN lessons. I spent 3 months last year on doing my first Powerpoint presentation for my husbands 60th birthday. Did a pretty good job if I must say myself. Was that a Powerpoint presentation you put on YouTube, Carolyn? Great work. I would love someone to set up computer learning stations for GNs to learn along the way as we travel. Now theres a Franchise for someone! Anyone interested. Cheers Carolyn and keep those presentations coming. Dawn
Dawn, glad you enjoyed it. I have a lot of fun with my camera and the net. Mostly self taught. They take a while to upload to Youtube and I havent done that while on the road. My first experience with this kind of software was also Powerpoint and I think if you understand that you can easily adapt to most programs.
There is a Windows Movie Maker program which I think comes with most computers and will do slides and upload to Youtube.
I mostly use http://www.photodex.com/products/producer and have used ProShow Gold but wanted some of the features of Producer so upgraded. You can get a free trial download.