Big smiles and a large sigh of relief to finally be on the road heading for the Simpson. I departed on a Sunday as I wanted to use the Saturday as my final packing day, no point rushing and thinking of all the things I’ve forgotten as I drive along.
First stop was to collect my two passengers for the trip and hit the M1 North of Sydney. We called into the twin Servo’s just after the Tuggerah exit on the M1 for a coffee and other road trip worthy supplies before continuing on.
Continued on the M1 taking the Hunter Expressway exit, the M1 and Hunter Expressway were problem free for the mid morning trip. The road continued for some time before becoming the Golden Highway, passing through many great little towns. Jerrys Plains, Sandy Hollow, Denman were just a few we passed before arriving in Dunedoo for lunch.
Dunedoo offered several shops, with public toilets and a park across the road. We grabbed a bite to eat from the cafe before hitting the road once more.
Continued North on the Castlereagh Highway via Gilgandra, Coonamble and through Walgett, where I topped up the fuel tanks.
We camped on a relatives property just out of Walgett and though we had been driving for hours through very dry and bare looking farmland it was difficult to see the extent of drought until you left the main highway. Areas that would normally contain grass were just dirt and dust with little to no sign of rain for a long time. The Bogan river was not flowing and only a few small pools of water remained which hardly looked deep enough to swim in let alone survive off,
We camped on the property and had dinner with our relatives which was fantastic. We heard some great stories around the open fire with a few drinks before hitting the swag for the first night.
My Swag
Having to setup a tent and put it away every day for three weeks can get rather tiresome. To make things a little easier for myself I purchased a Kings Swag and for the price of it I was extremely happy/
It has a nice thick mattress and plenty of room so you don’t feel claustrophobic. Its very simple to setup in a short amount of time with minimal effort, it also rolls up easily and actually fits back into its bag with no arguments or swear words from me.
I placed the swag on a mesh ground sheet to give it some extra protection and it did help keep some dust and dirt from collecting each time I used it.
