Barrington Tops NSW - 29/8/17 - 2/9/17

After Google searching every "dog friendly" campsite within 3 hrs drive from the Central Coast, we found "Ferndale Park" in the Barrington Tops National Park. No need to book unless it's a long weekend, Christmas or Easter. Just turn up. 

The photos on the website looked great.  Plenty of trees, a river, powered and unpowered sites, hot showers, bushwalking tracks and dogs welcome, provided they are on a leash.

We packed enough stuff to cater for a powered or unpowered spot.  We wanted to be as close to the river as possible.

So off we went.  2 1/2 hours later after driving through lush cattle and horse country we turned off the main road and down a very steep and in some parts very narrow, gravel and asphalt mountain road.  As the trees cleared we were rewarded with this view.

As the website said "just turn up" which is what we did.  A lovely old fellow met us at the homestead at the top of the hill.  We filled in a few details and he told us to drive around and pick a spot.  We found a beautiful powered site right on the river bank with a mini rainforest nestled in front. All sites had an open fire pit, but by the time we were set up, the office had closed and we were unable to get wood, so we plugged in the fan heater and sat under "the awning". Heaven 👍

Colourful Creatures andFuzzy Wuzzy Friendlies

Ferndale Park is set on 150 acres.  Attached to this land is a dairy farm and the cows from this farm come down from the higher land to graze and drink from the fresh water river which runs into the Chichester Dam.  There is an abundance of birdlife with Bellbirds, King Parrots and Rosellas to name a few.  There is also a large population of Bandicoots which make their burrows alongside the rivers edge. This was an excellent source of entertainment for Claire who when not fetching a stick from the river, was content to sit for hours on end on Bandicoot watch.  She didn't realise they only came out at night. 

Bush walk anyone ?

There are walking tracks along the river in both directions with rock pools just waiting for the summer crowd to swim in. There are also a number of camp sites further along the river for those who want to "play up" without bothering the family element at the park.

Vintage Caravan Retirement Home

When we arrived at Ferndale, the first thing I noticed was the absence of a) other folks camping and b)  the average year of manufacture of the onsite and rental vans was probably around 1975. We were one of the youngest vans about.

This all changed very quickly and dramatically when on Friday around lunchtime, 30 Luxury Campers, Motor Homes and a few later model caravans arrived in procession and took up residence on the top end of the park.

When we arrived on Tuesday, the owner mentioned there were a few coming in for the weekend. These few were the Aussie Road Crew travelling around on tour with Country and Western Performer Becky Cole.  We were treated to an impromptu performance on Friday night. I'm not much of a Country music lover, but Shane on the other hand was over the moon.

Life's a Beach - Here we come

So we survived our Maiden Voyage living in VERY close quarters, with a 3 year old Australian Shepherd X Cattle Dog on a long leash during the day and sleeping with us at night.

It was awesome. The best time had by all.

Watch this space for our next trip . . . . .