Lake Awoonga Adventures - Part I

9 May 2009

Since we started planning the trip Chris has wanted to come to Lake Awoonga to catch some Barra - it is apparently the best place to catch barra as it is stocked regularly - well that is what we were told anyway.

We had planned on staying at Boyndale Bush Camp, a free camping spot beside the Lake. It would be our first test of the solar and battery power on the van. We had the directions for the camp, but did get a bit confused when we seemed to pass turnoffs for the Lake and was heading around the Lake. The GPS couldn't find the suburb or the co-ordinates so we were back to following a map, the old fashioned way. We kept looking at each other saying, "I hope this is the right way".

Heading down this long, quiet stretch of country road, a 4wd overtook us, so Chris jumped on the 2-way radio and asked them if they heard about the camp site and if we were heading the right way. Luckily they were locals and said "yeah mate - keeping heading on this road for 28kms and the turn left". We were both relieved to know we were heading the right way - it can be a bit tricky to turn the van around sometimes - especially on a narrow road.

So, we were casually driving along keeping a close eye on the km's saying "we should be getting close soon" - when we spotted the sign. As you could imagine pulling up a 4.5 tonne van is not the easiest thing to do - so by the time Chris got the truck stopped we were well past the sign - which then meant backing up the van and truck - which again is not the easiest thing to do.

Once we pulled over we found it was a dirt road that led down to the camp grounds - another problem. How far is the dirt road? How bad is the dirt road? The truck doesn't handle rough roads very well - let alone the van. So after a little discussion about our options, we decided to have a go. So we headed off down the dirt road with our fingers crossed that it wasn't too far and too rough.

Luckily the road was really good - only about 2kms till we found the camp ground. There were a few other campers here already. So we started unhooking the van and getting setup. I think it is an unwritten rule when you are camping or caravanning that if someone new arrives and sets up - everyone else must sit around and watch them. I tell you - we get alot of people staring and watching when we set up - it is a bit sstressful because you feel like you are under pressure but we are gettting a lot better at it.

Because we had been telling the boys about Lake Awoonga, and how it has barramundi in it - the boys were super keen to get out in the boat. So as soon as the van was unhitched the boat was taken off the roof and set up on the trailer so they could go out and catch their first barra. We spoke to some of the other campers there and found out were the boat ramp was and heading off back down the dirt road to the boat ramp.

Now to get to the boat ramp you needed to open the cattle gate and drive through someone's property down to the boat ramp - not that it was really a ramp - it was more like the dirt edge of the dam that ran down into the water. So we sent the boys off in the boat and Lexi and I drove the truck back to camp for the afternoon.

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