On Monday, 3rd February with The Truck packed and ready to travel, we set out on a short 'trial' camping adventure to discover the beauty of Boonoo Boonoo National Park - pronounced Bunna Bunnoo for some reason.
This little known NP is located just a little SW of Tenterfield and S of Stanthorpe. The nearest well-known NPs in this area are Bald Rock and Girrawheen - both very popular parks for walking and camping. So we were a little surprised to find the little gem of BB as peaceful and untouched as it is.
There are 14 campsites set aside in the specified campground, each with their own picnic table and open wood fireplaces - with wood supplied. There is also a communal undercover BBQ area with two free gas BBQs and two more picnic tables.
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| Easy walking tracks |
From the campground there are a number of walks ranging from 400m to 13kms round trip. After setting up our trusty abode in a lovely flat camp area, we indulged in a glass of wine (as you do when camping) and then headed out for a short 400m walk to the Platypus Waterhole. Supposedly there are platypus in this lovely calm waterhole and just to entice the visitor there is a well constructed wooden platform with bench to relax beside the water whilst soaking up the beauty of the sun setting. Disappointed we didn't catch even a glimpse of the shy little amphibian!
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| Early morning walk to Falls Lookout |
Tuesday morning we made an early start and drove the 6.5kms to the Falls Lookout car park. Checked our cameras, donned our hats, packed our energy bars and water, sprayed the Aerogard, and headed off the walk to the falls lookout and river rockpools - a very easy walk of about 2.5kms return.
Although there has not been much rain in this region for awhile the falls were still flowing and the view out over the Range was superb. The rockpool area was even more beautiful - and there was nobody else within a 'cooee'. The water was quite refreshing and we even contemplated a paddle!
After 2 hours soaking up the sun and beauty of the river we headed back to the car park just as another young couple drove in. One has to wonder what motivates people to visit these beautiful places when they spend but 5 minutes and leave!
Back at Base Camp we enjoyed a lovely leisurely brunch and a chat with another couple our age who were camped there with a camper van.
The river was just a short stroll from the camp-site and a late afternoon walk gave us plenty of photographic opportunities (see the Photo page for more).
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| Riverside track walk |
Of course, no short camping adventure for us would be complete unless it rained - and true to life we experienced a downpour during the night and had to pack up camp in the morning drizzle. It was not all bad news though as we did need to check that the tent, that will be our home for 10 weeks later in 2014, was indeed waterproof and would stand up to the occasional downpour that we shall no doubt experience on the longer adventure.
There are still some beautiful walks for us to explore in that region so we shall no doubt return at another time in the year. But for now, it was lovely to be 'back on the road' again and enjoying the beautiful Australian bush.
Photos cannot always capture the beauty of an area but check out the Boonoo Boonoo Photo page at the top of my blog.
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