Oallen Ford - July 2011

This is my first blog from Blogger - hopefully a little easier to use on the road and import into the Australia4WD site. Please let me know how it works.

How cold do you want it?
I am sure there is an expression somewhere about Mad Dogs and Englishmen being out in the fierce midday sun. If so there must be an expression of similar but opposite sentiment about camping in the middle of winter…

But I had finished making a bike rack for the camper and was keen to test it out. Also we had missed the opportunity to get away a few weeks ago and my feet were getting itchy for a night or two under canvas, so with half an eye on the forecast, we set off.

We decided for want of convenience Oallen Ford, a beautiful spot on the Shoalhaven River in between Nerriga and Tarago. Normally the place is full of campers and their dogs and bogans with their hounds, however we were a little surprised and relieved to have the place all but to ourselves.


Our Campsite

We set up camp and enjoyed a curry I had prepared earlier in the day whilst the kids were at school. The Thermal Cooker dispensed the delicious curry which the family devoured wholeheartedly. It seemed that in the short hour or two since we had arrived the boy’s appetites had grown enormously and I was glad I had prepared double rations.



Dinner

As darkness fell so did the temperature. The stars came out, and The Little Fisherman reliably counted them all (six hundred million billion and ten) before we beat a retreat to the warmth of our beds. We were nestled into our beds and warm enough, but the chill was all too apparent when taking the lads for their late night ‘comfort breaks’.

Whilst we were warm enough in our bed, we were worried about the boys. We put two thick blankets on top of the camper’s floor, on which their self-inflating mattresses were placed. Then the boys were nestled into their sleeping bags (dressed in thermals, long pyjamas, socks and beanies), before putting another blanket and sleeping bag over the top of them. It must have been cold out, because it was the first time neither of them kicked off their bedding overnight. They were more than happy to give Mummy long cuddles in the morning - again something we put down to the cold morning.


Yes - that is ice on the inside

Sure enough we awoke to find everything covered in a thick frost… and that was before we stepped outside. Whilst our porridge was piping hot and ready (thanks again to the Thermal Cooker) – all our bottles of water and pipes were frozen. The realisation that I would not be able to make a cup of coffee for a long time finally dawned... This was not going to plan (I have it on good authority that it was at least minus eight degrees - too much for our solar hot water system had home that failed for the second time in two years whilst we were away!).

At least the sun came out, and quickly thawed us all, including the pipes so tea and coffee was made much to the relief of all (The boys know that coffee makes Daddy a nicer person, and apparently by a process of deduction they have worked out ice-cream makes them nicer people too... smart little buggers). The Little Fisherman started teasing the fish in the river, whilst the Little Helper tried to make a small city in the sandy river bank.


The Little Fisherman is keen!


The Little Helper ponders his city

Kites were a great success – until one made its escape to the other side of the river, and despite Mum’s best efforts was unable to be retrieved. The unfolding tragedy was averted with the promise of sausages for dinner.

Kite Fun

And then it was back to fishing...

The Little Fisherman displays a persistence that scares me

Perhaps I need to do some more research on fishing, or buy this book on fly fishing techniques, you never know ;)

Not just gold in the river

The Shoalhaven River at Oallen Ford is a popular spot with prospectors who use pans or sluices to try and find gold. The only thing we found when digging was old stubby tops and broken glass - but then joy of joy, a platypus made a splash in the river. For a couple of minutes it swam against the current, in the middle of the river, not far from our camp.

I have never before seen a platypus in the wild before - despite being promised on many occasions that some of our rivers have them. It was a beautiful moment shared with The Little Fisherman. Then I spoilt it by raceing to grab our camera for irrefutable proof....


I missed the Platypus - but did get a snap of an old shoe as it made its way downstream a few minutes later.

In all we had a wonderful weekend away. It was great to be able to get out for a couple of nights - and still be close enough to attend to domestic duties like the attending of birthday parties over the weekend.

More snaps can be found at our album here: Also this is my first blog using blogger that will be imported into our original blog at Australia4WD forum.