"Camp Nowhere"

Under normal circumstances planning a family camping trip over the Easter weekend would be out of the question. Marty tends to cringe at the mere thought. I would say it is a combination of bad traffic, hordes of people, booked out campsites and the general chaos that is associated with getting away over this iconic weekend. However, this time it seemed that we really had no choice. With only eleven sleeps to go before we headed off to the Flinders we desperately needed to have one last practice trip. It was a chance to see if Nemo lived up to his name, dust off our gear and prove to ourselves that we were indeed still up for the challenge.

So off we went into the wilds (or not so wilds) of the Buderoo Plataeu. It was stunningly beautiful with sweeping lush wetlands and the odd view of the escarpment to the west. A fire passed through the area not so long ago and the contrast of new green fuzzy regrowth against black burnt out trees seemed an appropriately hopeful landscape for the season.

Thirsty work

Surprisingly enough despite passing through several traffic jams en route (one in Burrawang - a town of a whopping 177 people), upon arriving at our destination we were the only car in the car park. Granted, Buderoo National Park probably wouldn't make the Sydney Morning Herald Top Ten list for places to take your family over Easter, but you would surely expect there to be someone else! We gave each other what was probably in hindsight a bit of a smug smile and got on with the task of unpacking the car and and loading up the bikes. Oh the serenity!

There were several eventful moments worth sharing, the first being that in the space of about an hour and a half I managed to not only ride over a snake but also step on one. The second was about an hour along the trail when we realized we had entirely forgotten to pack any breakfast for the following morning. The third and perhaps most significant was the moment when we came to understand why all other budding campers had chosen to forsake The Buderoo Plateau for perhaps more suitable options. For a quite weekend camping on your own just head somewhere with nowhere to camp!

Tahlia's face says it all....."Nooooooooooo"!

There's got to be a campsite around here somewhere!

By the time it got to 5pm we were still riding, still searching and seriously contemplating camping right in the middle of the gravel track. Luckily, we soon stumbled across what seemed to be the only cleared flat piece of ground for miles and despite being a little rocky it made a nice little home for the night!

Nemo.....standing proud.