We have just enjoyed our first motor home trip after many years of caravanning and staying only in caravan parks. We would like to share our opinions of the camps we used along the way.
Firstly our aim was to visit Canowindra for the hot air balloon festival, we allowed three weeks for the trip.
Our first night was spent at Crooked Creek (Camp 238) - about 40ks east of Tenterfield on the Casino Road. The site was off the road down a short dirt track. There was a large open clearing surrounded by trees with a small creek along one side, beautiful spot for camping. The only facility was a pit toilet. Would definitely camp at this place again.
We stayed with friends at Tamworth then headed down the road via Coonabarabran and Dubbo and ended up at Mendooran. The Mendooran camp ground is huge, there are toilets and cold showers (one mens and one womens) and water - it is a really pleasant site close to the little village - the pub has great meals and the butcher shop has the best thin beef sausages we have ever tasted. We planned to stay for two nights but spent a week and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
Our next free camp was at Carcoar Dam - a very picturesque site. There are toilets and showers, unfortunately the shower recesses do not have doors or curtains - this might be OK for weekend visitors or young people but as a grey nomad this was not to my taste, luckily we have our own shower so we did not use the public showers. We only stayed one night because the sound of the wind was annoying - not sure if it is windy all year round, nothing wrong with the site and we would recommend if the wind noise does not bother you.
Next stop was Gooloogong, a simple camp site right in the village, showers and toilets in the adjoining park, water and electricity (donation box) available, would stay at this one again.
We stayed at the caravan park at Canowindra the managers were very welcoming and helpful, the amenities are good, it's in a pleasant spot and has FREE use of the laundry. We enjoyed the hot air balloon festival immensely.
We then headed for home and made the mistake of using Pilliga Rest Area (site 917), the pit toilet was very smelly, the road noise from the constant stream of semis was so loud that after tossing and turning trying to sleep for hours we got up at 1am and drove the 65 kilometres into Narrabri and parked outside the golf club for the rest of the night.
We were surprised at how easy it was to live with solar panels, 12V and tanked water, we enjoyed the freedom and the company of the people we met along the way.
We loved our first motor homing experience . . . we can't wait to get back on the road again!
Stayed at Mendooran many times. The town murals are fantastic, and as JT stated the butcher has really great sausages. The closeness of the police station is really handy. It is a shortcut from Dubbo to Coonabarrabran, saves 20kl,and you miss out on the hills around Gilgandra.
Have stayed at Pilliga RA with no issues other than the fact that it had been used as a rubbish tip.
This one was too bad for me to even consider cleaning up, would have needed a dump truck.
Have also stayed at the bore baths and the sandflies/midges were the worst I have ever come across. The time of year probably contributed to the problem.
Just now set up behind Pilliga No. 2 RA. There's tracks leading off to a number of bush campsites and it's very secluded and pretty enough. I don't suppose I'll be lucky enough to see a ghost as that would mean I would have to rethink my belief of a total lack of any afterlife! I can hear some road noise but not too bad, and no-one is around to be bothered by my genny. Gotta be better than the North Star RA.
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Cheers, Marianna.
The more I learn about people, the more I like my dogs (Mark Twain)
