Araluen Valley
12th - 13th March 2005

# Note  Numbers in brackets are progressive Kilometres and a reference map for this trip is the Batemans Bay State Forest map.

We met at Ryrie Park, in Braidwood, after an uneventful drive from Sydney, through morning fog.

Braidwood lies in the upper valley of the Shoalhaven River some 660 metres above sea level,  halfway between Canberra and coastal Batemans Bay on the Kings Highway.

Leaving Braidwood, we headed out along Kings Highway, towards Batemans Bay, for a Lobster lunch as promised by the trip leader!

The fog lifted to a beautiful sunny day. Twenty minutes later, we turned right into Misty Mountain road, which leads to the start of the Historic Corn Trail. (0km).

So much for the Lobster Lunch!

The Corn Trail is a 12.5km walking and horseriding track through the Buckenboura State Forest, winding from the top of the Clyde Mountain down to the head of the Bolero Valley. It was first pioneered by the settlers of the valley to trade produce with their neighbours on the Southern Tablelands. The major crop from the fertile valley was corn, which was transported by packhorse to the towns of Araluen and Braidwood.

Travelling along Misty Mountain road, which had a good gravel surface, we turned right into No Name Mountain Fire trail (14km).  Travelling along this corrugated track , we went through 2 shallow creek crossings, to the start of  Corn walking track and our lunch stop, by a pleasant creek (19 km).

Lunch over, we travelled back up from the creek (low range for Tdi and trailer), to the No Name Mountain Fire trail. We took a left turn and the track became a little more challenging. We were testing our trailer out on a 4wd trip for the first time. (the trailer lived up to the manufacture’s claims).

It was along this track that the group encountered  its first obstacle,  a fallen tree across the track, which  the disco passed under without incident! However, not for those with luxurious new rooftop tents fitted!

Jim pulled out his petrol axe and the track was cleared to allow the roof top palaces to proceed.

We continued down this rocky track and turned right (30 km) then left at Quart pot road (31 km).  The group proceeded another 2km and turned right at Gollarribee road (33 km).

The road climbed quickly through the Buckenbowra state forest, with beautiful views of the surrounding district.

We came to the Wandera Trig intersection and hitched a ride with David Williams  to  the top of Mt Wandera Trig, as it would have been difficult to turn the trailer around at the top.  The view at the top was partially obscured by smoke haze, however the view was still worth a look.

From the Wandera Trig intersection, we descended some steep hills along Knowles Creek road, past some small farms and negotiated a very sharp turn into Araluen Road (51km).

We drove north past the site of the Duea River Races, last held about 3 yeas ago. This was a trip that Jim ran for several years, unfortunately the cost of insurance for the races made it impossible to carry on.

Turning left at Dry Creek Fire Trail (62km),  we went over some steep humps (probably there to reduce erosion) and across the Duea River, to a very picturesque camping spot. After setting up, we spent a very relaxing evening wining and dinning around the campfire.

On Sunday morning, after a relaxing breakfast and a visit from Fergus, to collect camping fees, and have a chat, we crossed back over the river and continued north again on the road to Araluen. We stopped briefly in Araluen to soak up some history As follows:

Araluen is situated in a picturesque valley some 27km south of Braidwood and 72 km west of Moruya on the South Coast. In the 1860s and 70s Araluen was booming with over 4000 people in the valley, with 20 pubs, 20 butcher shops, plus general stores, bakers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, other merchants and a small number of churches served the needs of the population. Ben Hall and his gang unsuccessfully tried to hold up the gold coach at Majors Creek Mountain in 1862.

Gold worth almost $1 million per month in today's values was being taken from the mines.

Today, Araluen is a major stone fruit growing area.

Continuing north we headed for Majors Creek and our morning tea stop (105km).

Majors Creek, like Araluen, mined alluvial gold on the nearby Majors Creek from 1856 to the early 1890’s. The ore itself had to be crushed in large stamping batteries, and then treated to release the gold. In 1871 there were 5 large crushers, mostly serving the Dargues Reef mine, which extracted 100-150 ounces per week - at 7506 ounces of gold in the year, one of the then largest gold mining enterprises in NSW.

Today Majors Creek is famous for its annual music festival held over several days in November.

There are groups, choirs, music workshops, dance and poetry, with children's activities, stalls, food etc.

After morning tea, we headed out to Captins Flat, passing a lone woman, walking by the side of the road, whom apparently, Flash picked up!

We drove into Tallaganda State Forest via Harold’s Cross road, Rossi road and Coxes Creek road, with the remains of a harvested pine forest on either side of the track.  We turned left at Lowden Forest road (143km), through majestic stands of old trees and bushland again, to Lowden Forest Park and the Water Wheel  (150km), where we had  lunch.

Historical relics more than 100 years old are scattered throughout this park, including a waterwheel. The Water Wheel was built in 1939 and set up to generate electricity for the logging camp that originally occupied this spot.  The wheel has been restored by state forest, and runs continually.

We said goodbye here to Kerry and Col, as they headed back to Jindabine. The rest of the group departed Lowden Forest Park and turned right into Bombay Fire Trail (158km), which should have taken us back to Braidwood! Along the way we came to a gate with a sighn that said “Private Property”! With guidance from Ron we turned the trailer around, while Jim consulted the map’ much to Flash’s horror, as he had never seen Jim consult a map before!

Jim found the correct track and we were soon all pulling up at Ryrie Park in Braidwood, where we all gathered the previous day and said our good byes.

Thanks Jim for a great relaxing campertrailer friendly weekend.

Anne & Michael Thorpe