We were leaving Blackheath and the Blue Mountains to head to a free camp around Wisemans Ferry (That is the name of the town). It was only just over a 100kms to our next booked destination Umina Beach, but we had a day to get there so we decided on finding a nice spot in the area. Wisemans Ferry has the oldest cable ferry crossing in Australia and it crosses the Hawkesbury River and we thought it would be pretty cool to take the van across. We had googled the Ferry and it looked big enough for us to get on, we even googled the map to see the directions to get to Umina Beach. It was another 15kms longer but we really wanted to go on this Ferry.
We stopped just before Wisemans for lunch and a bit of a run around and Clint suggested we just stop here for a night. I was not to keen as the sign said no camping and there was an old bloke living across the road and he kept checking on us, so I said lets just head to Wisemans Ferry and find something over that way.
It was a little bit rainy but the scenery was very nice in this region. We arrived at the Ferry but we were a little unsure if we were going to get on there but the operator waved us on and on we got. We had a lot of people checking us out and the young people parked next to us wanted to swap cars with us. The caravan looked really huge on this Ferry!! So, we had a lovely ride across the river taking pictures of the river and we slowly embarked of the ferry trying not to scrap anything along the way only a bracket came off on the plastic tubes but we stopped off and cable tied it back up. We continued on still looking for a free camp along the way the camps book said that there were a few along the river but we werent seeing any and the roads were getting a little narrower and really windy. I noticed a sign that said St Albans but didnt think too much of it until...we arrived at a one way bridge that we had to turn sharp right on with the van on the back!! A bit of a manouevre and we got across, but I was still a little puzzled as to how we arrived at St Albans when that on the map looked to be a long way left of where we should of been...
NOTE TO SELF!! When one purchases a GPS one should use it instead of watching kids movies!!
I had been using the map book instead!! I know that GPS sometimes take you the long way around but had WE flicked the woman on she might of taken us to the OTHER FERRY that was before the one we took. We did not read enough about Wisemans Ferry where it stated there was 2 Ferry's across the river!! Because they were so close to each other it was hard to see that there were two of them.
So we were across this one way bridge with no where really to turn the big beast around and at this stage we were still unaware of the two ferrys and we didnt fancy driving all the back and crossing the ferry again. So we continued on and switched the GPS on to see what our alternatives were going forward. There were no other roads available except for the one we were on which was dirt. As we crossed the bridge there was an old limestone brick pub and being Sunday there were quite a few people outside enjoying a sunday session. We could feel the attention we were getting as the people (most probably local) looked at us with the van and wondered where we were heading, we smiled and continued on.
Sure the road was a dirt one fairly narrow but flat and it was only 35kms to the road we needed to get too to head back down to the Umina Beach. It was around 4.30pm and we were running out of daylight for finding a camp site. Well let me tell you that was the least of our worries!! As we headed along this dirt road and it was thinning out and getting a bit bumpy our ride started to get steeper and windier. We were travelling at no more than 20kms sometimes even slower. When you are towing 3 tonne behind you it is wiser to drive at a speed where you arent shaking the bejesus out of the van.
There were many steep hairpin corners and the road was made up of holes, cows and bumps. We couldnt believe how much traffic there was on this dirt road and each time a car passed we had to pull over to the side. So at driving at this speed it was a slow old ride with plenty of time to look at the scenery. As beautiful as it was, that thought was far from my mind as I asked for the angels to get us out of here safely. At times when I looked out of the side mirrors behind me I could see the lean too of the caravan when we turned on a hairpin...quite frightful.
At one point a ranger had passed us and the look on his face was disbelief!! What the and where the hell were we going? He didnt stop and we focused on getting the hell out of here. The kids were unaware of our concerns as they were happily watching DVD's. As I looked out over the sides I gushed at the sight of a car that had left the road and crashed and was resting on branches, this had not just happended but was still not helping the situation I was feeling. On another bend I saw what I thought was caravan debris down a hill all smashed into pieces that didnt help. Clint and I werent saying too much, we usually chatter quite a bit but the silence was my nervousness and it was better for me to say very little, I was just eager to be able to sigh we had sight of bitumen.
It was nearing 6.30 and it has been over 2 hours we have been on this dirt road the bitumen couldnt be far off now, Clint and I were eager to get out of here when it started to rain a bit heavier and then the kids wanted to go to the toilet. We couldnt say too much they had been so good the whole way so we pulled over in the rain and got them out for the toilet. We got going and we could see the road and what a relief that was when we finally got out of it. It was really raining now and dark but we were out of the danger and happier.
All we needed now was to find a spot to camp for the night. We checked the camp five book and trusted in the GPS lady to get us there. We put the GPS co-ordinates in for the rest area and we saw the sign before the GPS told us we had reached the destination so we pulled in and the rest area was already full of overnighters. So we decided to let the GPS just take us to the co-ordinates we had entered in the book. We ended up on a private property on the other side of the river to the rest area we had just stopped at and at a dead end. So out in the dark and wet I got out and helped the 300 hundred point turn we had to make to get out of there (a slight exaggeration but I was not happy). We were tired and hungry and noticed a bus turning area and decided that this was going to do for the night. I was a bit nervous of the spot and made Clint close the door and windows as I thought someone might get us and yes he did take the piss out of me for that.
One thing Clint kept saying while we were on the scary road was " Its all part of the Adventure".
My comment was just 'OK then'
I only took a few videos as I was too distracted to take pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment