Sheep Station Creek, Border Ranges - June long weekend

This trip was back over the border into NSW for a 2 night stay at the Sheep Station Creek camp ground in the Border Ranges National Park - http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkCamping.aspx?id=N0050

Our route took us south on the Mt Lindesay Highway through Beaudesert and we turned left off the highway just before Rathdowney via Running Creek and Lions Roads where we crossed over into NSW. The scenery via this route is spectacular and I had to concentrate on driving as the views were very distracting.

This was our first trip to this part of the world and we left home at 5am to try and beat the long weekend crowds. I’m glad we did leave early as the allocated campsites are not really suited to camper trailers (despite the website claiming so). We arrived just after 0830 which was lucky as we were able to take a site (the only one) that suited our setup and had room for Bron and Steve’s tent. We were set up fairly quickly just in time for the rain to set in and it didn’t stop all day, we managed to collect 80l of rainwater off the awning for showers over the weekend. We spent the day huddled under our awning listening to Triple Js hottest 100 of the last 20 years while the kids playing inside the camper. Anna made the kids some popcorn the “old fashioned” way (no microwave) which was a bit of a crowd pleaser. By late afternoon we were over being confined to the awning so Steve and I strung up a tarp over the fire pit and got a fire going, it amazing how a fire really makes a camping trip.

By Sunday morning the rain had eased and by lunch time we even had patches of blue sky and some sunshine… The campground was very muddy and we didn’t get a chance to try some of the nearby walks as the tracks looked very boggy. Speaking of mud, the kids had their first ever experience with leeches on this trip no major drama but a bit annoying having to check the kids… Sunday lunch was pizza’s in the Neo Buddy BBQ which were fantastic. The afternoon was spent listening to the top 50 songs of the last 20 years on Triple J and once they were finished we fired up the gas hot water system and all enjoyed a nice hot shower. It was then dinner around the fire and off to bed…

On Monday morning it started raining again and we had a wet pack up and had left the campground around 10.30 for a very wet drive home. We had an enjoyable trip even though it was wet and muddy, I think the worst part is cleaning and airing out a wet camper once you get home. Hopefully our next visit will be drier and we can explore the surrounding area a little more.

Trip distance = 412km
Total distance travelled with camper = 5957km
Total number of nights =41