Burrendong Dam
11th - 13th June 2005

Bryce Messner/ Clive Brindley Trip Leader	’94 Range Rover 3.9 V8
Ian & Andrew Cort	’85 Range Rover 3.5 V8
Chad Brindley/ Suzie	’89 Range Rover 3.5 V8
Jamie Melville	TDI Discovery
Hugh Scott	TD5 130 Defender
Mervyn Vessey Tail End Charlie	3.9D 110 County
David Williams	TD5 130 Defender
Ken & Maria Wright	2.8D 130 Defender
Rob & Vicki Dickens	TD5 90 Defender
Kevin & June Hill	TDI Discovery

Written by Bryce R Messner.

We all met at Clive’s shop on the Mitchell Highway at Lucknow by 9.30 a.m. and we moved out after the obligatory hellos & introductions to the newer members, on their first outing with the club. Rob & Vicki were to meet us later that afternoon around 3.00pm after they attended some pressing business at home.

The day was starting out well; it was starting to rain. As we were staying in accommodation I didn’t care two hoots it could rain all weekend. We travelled through congested Orange to our turn off the rain slowing traffic down even in Orange.

Onto Burrendong Way it was easy sailing to the Ranger’s Office where we were to pick up the key to unlock our own little piece of paradise for three days. Some confusion by the new girl as to how much we were to pay, saw us move out and worry about it Monday (by the way it was $5 a head for the weekend).

On the road to the front gate we came across a tortoise on his way to some where wetter I suppose, but where ever it was he came from he was wet and covered in green algae. We stopped and moved him safely off the road.

Moving through the property some 10 odd kilometres from the front gate we managed to scare up a great many number of kangaroos. Kangaroos were very abundant over the whole of the weekend probably seeing close to a hundred at different times.

Arriving at our destination, the old homestead and prior workshops of the Dam maintenance/ building crew now abandoned we started to set up camp. Five of the bachelors, Clive, Jamie & myself took the main room, Ian & Andrew the other. Kevin & June, Dave Williams took two rooms in the maintenance building, Hugh set up his Taj Mahal, Ken & Maria set up on prime real estate with lake views (Rob and Vicki used the third room in the maintenance building on their arrival).

As the rain was steady until the afternoon we wild away the rest of the day on the porch, drinking, talking, reading Land Rover Enthusiast and just watching the gentle rainfall until the late afternoon. Young Andrew went for a spin on his bike well away from us as not to ruin our peace.

We collected firewood for the campfire by the ton, which we were able to enjoy spasmodically, the rain coming and going driving us back to the safety of the verandah & when stopping we went back to the fire. A few decided to make an early night of it to catch up from their early morning start and so ended the first day.

Sunday arrived to a sparkling sunrise and Clive and I were able to catch the moment on camera. The day could not have been more perfect if we had ordered it, (which we secretly had done).

Breakfasts over we decided to go exploring the foreshores of the Dam now reduced due to the drought back to the original river, the Macquarie, in all its ancient splendour. We travelled for many kilometres along the shore coming across many flocks of wild ducks, pelicans and kangaroos that fled at our approach. As we approached the end of the line as far as we could proceed we came to rest for a photo shoot with an old hotel in the background but normally under water when the Dam is at its capacity.

We headed back to camp driving as close to the damp edge of the river as possible. On one occasion a rather heavy 130 dual cab, not quite with the right momentum, sunk down to the axles in soft gooey smelly mud. Jamie managed to snatch him out without any fuss and we were on our way again. (By the way if you were wondering it was Ken down to the axles but don’t tell anyone it was him, he may be a little embarrassed).

On our way back I was a little embarrassed overshooting our only exit path back to the graded road, my excuse was the dry conditions made our tracks hard to see normally clear in the grass which was now non existent.

After lunch we headed out again to explore more of this wonderland. We climbed a hill that we had not been up before and found a site for our next trip, a late afternoon stop, to see the sun go down on a perfect day, the view to die for a good description.

Our campfire was huge; as was the various camp oven-cooking going on. As usual Clive outdid himself cooking three lamb legs and the usual veggies and of course I cooked the greens on the stove in the house. Washed down with some red and topped of with Amarula for dessert, thanks to Hugh. A very pleasant night was had by all, thank heaven Flash didn’t come to stir up the night.

Monday, a little overcast but pleasant, saw us get over a few headaches from the night before, an uneventful pack up and a move out around 1.30pm. The drive back we decided to take the long way, climbing a few hills and tracks throughout the area we were able to explore just to our selves.

Travelling in convoy we still managed to lose two vehicles, the last two of course, but with some GPS plotting, retracing our path I managed to find our way wood pair. Along the track we scared up many kangaroos and emus until at last coming to another gate to get out signifying an end to this wonderful retreat until our next visit that will be a working bee to keep allowing our visits to happen.

We officially said our goodbyes back at Clive’s shop. For a few of us that went via Katoomba, we were held up for hours by a bad accident that saw me home at 8.00pm.