TK Adventures – February 2022.
Part 3 of 4 Dubbo to Nelson Bay with What’s Up Downunder
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As we packed up our cozy caravans this morning, black rain clouds loomed overhead. Images of slipping and sliding through the mud poured into my brain along with thoughts of how I was going to survive the next two days of filming with What’s Up Downunder. You see we would be camping in swags at the Bylong Creek Four Wheel Drive Park, and torrential rain was predicted to hit this very region! “Get over it Tan”, I said to myself, “it’s not the first time you’ve camped out in the rain and it won’t be the last”!
With my glass half full approach to the day, we headed out of Mudgee. I couldn’t help but think how this little mid western NSW town had really come of age. The trendy local bakery, cosmopolitan pubs, cool cafes, immaculately manicured parks and gardens, along with a strong focus on tourism, Mudgee was thriving and its future was looking prosperous. I hope you get to visit Mudgee someday and enjoy it as much as I have.
A couple of hours drive east of Mudgee, we found ourselves entering the Bylong 4WD Park, this is when the heavens opened and rain thundered down like I’d never experienced ever before!
Park owners, Bruce and Suzy, completely unperturbed about the threatening weather, met us with broad happy grins, thrilled to be showing us some of the 800 acre Park. Home to where 4WD drive enthusiasts, dirt bike riders and campers alike, could all enjoy what their Park had to offer.
Those images that I had earlier in the day of my slipping and sliding in the mud soon became a reality! However, who’d have thought it could turn into so much fun!
There I was, towing the Lotus and Galaxy Nemesis through the undulating countryside, winding my way around the next slippery slopes and greasy tracks. Rain, hail or shine, as they say, the show must go on and we took full advantage of what mother nature had dished up for us. The
Go-Pros the film crew had attached to the undercarriage of the caravans got a hammering but made for some great footage.
Whilst the conditions were trying and somewhat difficult, both caravans handled it extremely well. With the Great Dividing Range as our backdrop, it was great to be here enjoying a part of Australia that I had never seen before with a terrific bunch of people.
As night was fast approaching and the rain kept falling, the crew and I went about unpacking our vehicles and setting up our camp for the night. As the thunder roared and lightning cracked overhead, I heard Macca say, “mmm we have a problem Houston, seems like we are a few swags short”! Oh great, I thought to myself….there’s no way I am going head to foot with any of these blokes as much as I ‘love’ them, that’s just not gonna happen…lol… Thanks to Google, I went online and found that just 20 kms down the road was an AirBnB Farmhouse. Lucky for us it was available, ah such relief!
The Farmhouse had 4 bedrooms, a large lounge and big open fireplace and by the time me and 3 of the crew guys arrived, our Hosts had the fire roaring and the kettle on. We were all able to have hot showers and dry out wet clothes after an adventurous day! Bed never felt so good as I climbed into it that night.
Next morning, warm and well rested, the crew boys and I drove back to the 4WD Park to meet up with the rest of the team to finish off filming at Bylong. Luckily, the rain had stopped and we were able to continue our filming, this time, showcasing exactly what the caravans were capable of in rough terrain and of course, the multitude of activities you can do whilst visiting Bylong 4WD Park. Despite the wet weather and slightly rugged conditions, everyone was chipper and ready for our next adventure.
After lunch, we said hooroo to our hosts Buce and Suzy and made our way to our next destination, the town of Kandos. An easy 50kms drive is where you will find one of Australia’s largest privately owned Harley Davison collections. Proud owners, Ken and Vicky have been collecting these motorcycles for literally years.
They have motorcycles dating back to 1912 and Ken, being a passionate collector, knows ‘everything’ about each and every one of his prized possessions in the greatest of detail. Harley Davidson enthusiasts come from all around the nation and overseas to visit this collection and once you walk through the doors, you can see why. Do drop in next time you are in the region, it’s well worth a visit.
Continuing our journey with clear blue skies overhead and forecast for the next few days, we made our way to Kurri Kurri. Whilst the caravan park there is basic, it’s a good stop over on your way to Newcastle.
We couldn’t visit Kurri Kurri without visiting Mount Putt-Arama. This place is where you get your fix for everything from mini-golf to adrenaline junkies seeking thrills behind the wheel of pretty fast Go-Karts, perfect for Macca and I. You see, not many people know this about me, but my motto is ‘take no prisoners’ when it comes to Go-Karting, I love it. Infact, I remember many many years ago now, challenging Keith Urban and his band to a Go-Kart race in my old home town of Albury when he was on tour there. We spent the afternoon at the in-door course having an absolute hoot. To this day, I am not exactly sure who did win but it was a lot of fun.
This time around however, Macca had no idea of my Go-Karting background when he blazonly said, “whoever wins does not have to cook dinner tonight”. “Righto”, I replied, “a night off from cooking sounds good to me”, needless to say, we all ended up going to the local pub!
Next month, here in my TK Adventures, I complete our Dubbo to Nelson Bay journey. We take a Tram Tour of Newcastle, I get wrangled into paragliding and we get up close and personal with a variety of Stingrays and Sharks!
Until then, happy travels.
Love
TK
I hope you have enjoyed this little blog on my Adventure, see you next month.
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