Trip: 30 Sep – 2 Oct 2023
Beautiful weather for this long weekend and we had a gentlemen’s hours start of 9am at the Eagle Hawk point meeting point. All were excited for the opportunity to get away after a cold Canberra winter, so David B, David & Tim D, and Simon arrived early and headed up to North Goulburn Maccas to meet up with the Pembers and Ralph. After waiting for some to stock up on for coffee we headed up to Taralga for more coffee. Grand Ettie’s café at Taralga has table service and a fine selection, and after exhausting their vanilla slice stocks we headed 57 km up the Taralga – Oberon road to the Felled Timber Road turn off into Abercrombie National Park. The drive up was quite beautiful being surprisingly green amongst the rolling steep hills and farms. Bob with the diesel Rangie wanted to savour the view, therefore selected low-range for the steep ascent up the range.
After slackening tyres, we headed into the national park towards the southern end for our weekend campsite at Silent Creek campground. [Contrary to the erroneous directions Google Maps may provide – the access road is from the northern and not the southern end of the park.] At this juncture we discovered David Darke’s wisdom in bringing his son Tim along: he slackens tyres, checks navigation, clears tracks and vehicles of sticks, sets up camp, packs up camp – there’s nothing the lad cannot do. It was great to have Tim along on the trip.
The trip to Silent Creek is down Middle Fire Trail, which essentially runs north – south through the middle of the park and is the trailer-friendly option. Most of this could be accomplished in high range, but the last section along Abercrombie Fire Trail included steep descents with some ruts, and low range was definitely needed. A scenic shallow creek crossing into camp added to the enjoyment.
The drive through the park was less than 30kms and we arrived at our Silent Creek campsite at 2pm. A lovely expanse of green grass by the bank of the Silent Creek. We set up camp explored the creek and surrounds, and settled in for a leisurely afternoon of refreshments around the campfire. The campfire discussion was robust and enjoyed by all. Late that night we sprung the clocks forward an hour for daylight savings.
On Sunday morning, save for Bob and Zydre who opted for a relaxing day around camp, the rest of us headed off just after 10am to undertake a easy paced drive, essentially taking us in a 60km anti-clockwise loop around the national park. Most of the day was spent in low range and the first section along Silent Creek Fire Trail had us crossing the shallow creek a number of times, along with some steep and moderately rutted and rocky, ups and downs.
We had an early lunch atop Bald Hill before proceeding on our anti-clockwise journey via Little Bald Hill on the way to Ledingham’s Hut where Ralph somehow staked one of his Michellin tyres. Simon stopped to assist Ralph, aka ‘the Naked Mechanic’, to change the wheel (made easy with Ralph’s 12 volt rattle gun) before heading off to join the others who were waiting at Ledingham’s hut. The hut by the banks of the Retreat River is no longer inhabited as a house, but is quite a unique design being bush wood filled with mud on a cement slab, and covered with a corrugated iron roof.
We drove to ‘The Beach’ campsite on the Abercrombie River via Retreat Fire Trail and The Sink campground (complete with stainless steel sink). We then turned off the main track for a 1 km decent into The Beach where some stripped not quite bare to enjoy the refreshing waters of the river to cool off and wash off any dust.
While the majority were off on the grand tour, the wind in the campsite became quite gusty and David B’s tent slowly collapsed. The Pembers resurrected it once but it collapsed completely when they went for a walk and so decided to leave it as it could not collapse further. Also while we were away, the Ranger came to advise campers of the total fire ban and to douse down lingering embers in the camp fires.
We arrived back at Silent Creek campground just around 5pm in time for, you guessed it, liquid and snack refreshments—albeit with no campfire. Given the very windy conditions on the Sunday we were expecting a total fire ban, and an internet check during the day when coverage permitted, plus the erection that day of a park fire ban sign at every campground confirmed our suspicions.
Monday morning, after a group pic, we departed camp just after 10am. As a precaution we re-ordered the convoy, so that we had a tow vehicle in front of those towing a trailer back up the steep incline. A tow or snatch was not needed, the ascent was achieved without any fuss, and we exited the park around midday after airing up before we hit the back top. Ralph tracked direct to Sydney to avoid end of weekend traffic as the rest of us enjoyed Taralga again before heading back home. Bob and Zydre tracked to Bungendore via Goulburn, while the remainder opted for a slight longer drive via Crookwell and Gunning.
Author: Simon Nickson
Attendees:
- David & Tim Darke – Toyota Prado + Camper Trailer
- Bob & Zydre Pember – 1994 Range Rover 300 Tdi diesel + Jayco Camper
- David Brown – Suzuki Jimny
- Ralph Radovan – 1996 Range Rover V8 petrol
- Simon Nickson – Toyota Landcruiser S76
Acknowledgements: Thank you David Darke for planning and leading such a marvellous trip.