Camps #417 Greens Point Lat 33 05 44 S Long 149 43 55 E
After spending a few nights in Ophir we headed to Sofala to check out a FREE STAY we saw in the CAMPS book. Thinking that Sofala is a quiet little town the FREE STAY should be great. We snuck through the back streets of Sofala and worked out way out to the Campsite. After hardly seeing another camper for over an hour we rolled into a small campground packed full. Vans were lined up like in a caravan park, right along the river. We were about to leave until we spotted a track which wound its way past the campers back down river. This was great, we found a nice quiet spot alongside a deaf family. I wish I had paid more attention to Bevan's signing lessons from Levuka!!
We finally spotted some LIVE wildlife from the car. A Shingle back or Stump-tailed lizard was keeping warm in the sun, right in the middle of the road.
At our campsite we spotted a nice large lump of wood. ActionDad was keen to fire up the chainsaw but it just seemed wrong as the place was so quiet. Instead, the block splitter took care of it.
Not long after we settled around the fire we had our first Action. This young guy thought he'd be a hero and drive his XR6 along a section of a dry river bed. I was quick to dig out the snatch strap but after noticing an XR6 without even a towbar isn't really snatch-ready. Instead once I convinced the driver to keep his wheels straight and a quick lesson in rocking back-and-forth I had him drive back out under his own steam.
That night we had rain all night but it stayed warm enough to sleep with the van door open.
No trip to the Central Tablelands is complete without a lap around Mount Panorama. This week the track was being prepared for the big race next week.
A few of these shots were taken from the GoPro mounted under the bumper. I'll work these into a NISSAN quick lap video when I get home.
The campgrounds were in lock-down so we were unable to get into McPhillamy for a lunch break.
While in Bathurst we discovered that the Bathurst Tourist Information centre would let us fill up our water tanks in caravan.
While we were on our travels to Ophir we did a slow (!!) lap of Mount Panorama in our Patrol with the Jayco Expanda tied to the back. This was a week before the BIG RACE so there was plenty of work being done on the track. I setup the GoPro to take a shot every 2 seconds. Nothing flash - just a bit of an experiment.
Camps #1028 The Junction Campground. Lat 33 10 10 S Long 149 14 19
We moved on to a Campground ActionDad hadn't seen for over 25 years. Ophir was the site where Hargraves discovered enough gold to cause the start of the Goldrush era in Australia in 1851.
There are still many signs of the Goldrush era spread over the hills. The last nugget worth $100,000 was found on Father's Day in 1979.
Camping at Ophir will cost a family $5 per night with all proceeds going to the Ophir trust to help maintain the area. You can pay at the Orange Tourist Information centre or drop your fees into an honesty box outside the old toilets at the campground.
There are flush toilets .... and that's it so bring your camp shower.
Orange Tourist information will tell you that you cannot get camper trailers or caravans into Ophir. We're not sure why they tell people this as the dirt road is fine if treated with caution. The road into the Western side of Ophir seems the best although slightly longer.
One of the long tunnels is still accessible and are good for a quick explore if you have a torch or 2.
There are still 3 working mines in the area and some will give a tour of their site.
Here is a short video I took of the Ophir Campground using our AR Drone 2.0
