Fathers Weekend at The Pines

On the 21st of October we headed up to The Pines camping area again for what was to be a Fathers and kids camping trip.
The weather forecast was not great, understandably the other Fathers going were not keen on the idea of setting their tents up in the rain or if it was going to rain. The Father's trip turn into the Father Trip.
The girls and I got to the campsite while it was still light so we got fire started and kicked back straight into relaxation mode.
That night it did rain so the other guys made the right call. It was actually quiet pleasant listening to the rain on Vinnies roof. Looking out the window in the morning I saw streams of water running down the hill. I looked at the tents that were pitched in the camp ground and thought they must of had water running through the floor of the tent.
We had our breakfast and by the time we had finished the rain had reduced to drizzle. We went and explored the same places we visited last time we were here the river had much more water than last time because of the rain. There also seemed to be a lot more leeches.



 By lunchtime the rain had pretty much stopped. I brought out the heap of fire wood I had stowed away in vinnies underseat storage. We started the fire to get ready to slow cook a stew all afternoon for dinner.
As we sat around the fire a guy from a near by camp wandered over, he was unable to start his fire due to his fire wood been soaked by the nights rain. I happily made him a cup of tea and he pulled up a chair for the afternoon by our fire.
The guys name was Casey, he told us that he was homeless and currently living at the campsite until he could find a place to move into. He seemed like I nice enough guy but I don't think he let the truth get in the way of the amazing and unfortunate things that had happened in his life. Casey was only a young guy in his early 20s he kept saying his dad was going to come and give him some supplies but did not show up while we were there. I couldn't help feel sorry for him, I gladly share our stew with him and some chicken kebabs that we had for dinner. He was very grateful, we sat around the fire till it got dark, Casey even taught the girls a slight of hand magic that kept them amused for ages.

On the sunday we woke to a beautiful day although we were headed home to a party my wife had been preparing for to say goodbye to our neighbours who were moving. I realized I had enough fire wood in vinnie to last me a week because we were heading home I decided to leave it all with Casey. When driving out we pulled up at Casey's tent I asked if he wanted me to top up his drinking water he accepted the offer he pulled out a 10L container with about a litre of murky river water left in it. We also left him all the food we had left he was very thankful.

Glenbawn Dam

October long weekend we turned up on the Friday night at about 10pm it was closer to 11pm by the time we got in, I never read the confirmation email for our booking so I was unaware of the access code I needed for entry.
Once in the Glenbawn Dam  campground it seemed to cover an large area and we had no idea where we were going .We got vague directions of where our friends who arrive earlier in the day were camping and managed to jag it by crossing paths with them as they decided to go for a stroll to the toilet at 11pm.
Waking up in the morning and gazing out vinnies window from our spot high on a hillside looking down on the dam we had another moment of appreciating the beautiful outlook surrounding us. Then we gorged on pancakes.

I was quick to realize this was a popular location for ski boats and fishing boats. We did have our little inflatable raft.
 There was grassy hillsides to camp on but finding a level patch would be a challenge. The rule of thumb was camp anywhere you want as long as you weren't blocking other peoples access. Other friends of our were camped on the other side of the valley to us, good thing we had that separation though they appeared to be plagued with sickness.
It cost a couple a hundred dollars to stay there for 3 nights. But how good are warm showers right?
We went for a walk around to the other side of the dam from where we were staying, it was a big enough walk for the young ones, I carried Eliza back on my shoulders, she managed to fall sound asleep slumped over my head snoring in my ear all the way back to the camp ground.
There was enough open area to kick a ball around and throw a frisbee, the girls had there bikes but lost interest quickly due to the sloppiness of the area.
No designated fire areas, people would just place rocks in a circle and start their open fire anywhere.

For Dinner was another stew as we cook up each weekend we go away, this time we shared our dinners with our friends who had made a lighter oriental type dish that complemented the stew well. We watched the sunset behind the mountains from our hillside location and managed to get a good night sleep regardless of the thundering bass from campers who were probably 100m away playing all the bogan classics such as ACDC and Cold Chisel through their sound system to all hours of the morning. 

The next day we tried our luck at fishing in the dam but was unsuccessful the more serious fishermen were catching fish in the area, there was a building not to far from where we were camping that accommodated a fishing club.

Mostly we were just happy to swan around in our inflatable raft. Miette my 7YO even mustered up the courage to jump out of the dingy and have a swim in the deep cool water of the dam.

It was a great place to visit but I don't think we'd be heading back in a hurry, there are may other areas we are interested in checking out.