Feature - Balranald - Go Camping Australia Feb 2014 by Andrea Ferris

Words and Images: Andrea Ferris

t was the week before Christmas and all through the night the only creatures stirring at the Balranald Caravan Park were those cranking up their airconditioners or the more humbly equipped travellers, like us, reaching for another damp facecloth to cool down our overheated bodies in an attempt to get some sleep. If I’d had an egg it would have been frying on the road, or the bonnet of the Nissan, or whatever other unusual surface the urban legend of damned hot Aussie summer way-out-west days relates. As it turns out, it was so hot the fridge in the camper gave up the struggle to keep cold and I was forced to move refrigerated items to the Engel in the ute (if there was room amongst the Carlton Mid Strength cans which, according to the other half (TOH) are the most important things to keep cold). Forty-six degrees officially that day and, even for a Queensland heat seeker such as myself, it was a tad unpleasant and energy sapping. Luckily for us we’d arrived at Balranald in the far south-west of New South Wales and made a beeline for the caravan park, which is a welcome green oasis in the middle of this vast dry saltbush country. Nestled on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, this park is one of the nicest I’ve found in my travelling experience and that’s high praise as I’ve been around (so to speak). It was actually 42 |

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our second date with Balranald, the first being two years previously – also forty degrees plus at the time – and probably won’t be the last as TOH has close family in the district (clearly without a spare room!). The reason I’m so generous with Ferris gold stars for this park is that, apart from having that elusive ‘vibe’ that’s hard to portray in words but equates to the welcome friendly factor, it ticks all the boxes: thick, soft green grass; large sites with drive through for those that need it; shady trees; clean amenities with ‘proper’ shower heads (hate those miserly water-saving ones); a swimming pool; camper’s kitchen with TV, fridge, oven and BBQ, Although it is close to the Sturt Highway, the truck noise is low key, which can’t be the same for the corellas who, in their thousands, roost in the river gums squawking their heads of at dawn and dusk. Annoying as these feathery fiends might be we did actually rescue one caught in fishing line stranded on a branch in the river! Did I mention dog friendly? It’s so dogfriendly, in fact, that for an extra small fee your dog is welcome to be with you at the cabins, which are dotted amongst the trees on the river bank. Around ninety percent of visitors to the park arrive with a dog, says Dee Jess who, along with husband Matt and their three children (13, 10 and 8) were celebrating the first anniversary

of their lease of the park from the Balranald Shire Council. The Jesses are a young local couple that, after travelling extensively and suffering three years of a disrupted family life as Matt pursued a crayfishing career in Western Australia, pounced on the opportunity to apply their experience and multiple useful skills to welcome visitors to their town. ‘At the start we were a bit surprised at how fullon the work was,’ says Dee. ‘But, we’ve settled into a routine now and ninety-five percent of the people that come are great – only a few are more demanding than others.’ The couple’s capacity for hard work and attention to detail is evident throughout the park by the neatly mowed grass, well-tended gardens, pretty rotunda with communal fire pit and stack of firewood, and the regime of cleaning and maintenance we observed, despite the intense heat, during our four-day stay. The park has forty caravan sites and unlimited tent sites, including some ‘bush’ sites with fire rings and wood supplied. There are also a number of fire pits and benches dotted along the banks of the river to provide a bit of camping ambience for caravanners and, when it’s not stinking hot, which it normally isn’t, Dee and Matt host a regular riverside communal campfire to encourage a chat over sundowners. ‘Most of our visitors are grey nomads travelling between Adelaide and Sydney that

Clockwise from left: Yanga Homestead is a step back in time and well worth a visit.  A welcoming smile from Balranald Caravan Park lessee Dee Jess  Frogs demonstrate the timber heritage of the town.  Caption  The swinging bridge to the Bidgee Nature Trail – be prepared to carry your dog!  A park with a special ‘vibe’ that’s hard to describe.

stay one night,’ says Dee. ‘They appreciate the drive-through grassy sites, clean amenities and the river in particular.’ One night? Oh no, Balranald is friendly, attractive and interesting enough to warrant much more than a one night stand – I’d say it deserves more of a holiday fling thing. Visitor Information Centre volunteer, Kathleen, thoroughly agrees and nominated Yanga National Park, the museum, the art gallery, and the new Bidgee Trail as the town’s top spots. Balranald is usually known as the gateway to the Mungo National Park, which is just shy of a 150-kilometre drive west. However, Mungo has featured in this magazine in its own right recently (Issue 87) and, anyway, it’s about time a gateway gets a gong. TOH and I actually visited the Yanga Homestead in the Yanga National Park on our last visit, so I can speak first-hand about its charm and, since it’s been there for nigh on 145 years, I doubt it’s changed too much in the last two! The homestead was built around 1870 along with station outbuildings including stables, a gardener’s shed and station store. It was a working station up until 2005 when it was acquired by the state government. There are also lovely rose gardens, restored and maintained by volunteers. A free guided tour by a park ranger is offered and is informative and entertaining. If

you miss the guided tour, a self-guided audio tour is available at the park office. This is a real step-back-in-time experience and I found my imagination transported to a much-different era as I walked around. We might romanticise this period, but I’ve got no doubt these folk were as tough as nails to conquer the adversities of early farming life. The recreational life at Yanga was exceptional as it’s built on the shores of a magnificent lake – don’t imagine a tiddly little pond; think inland ocean! On our visit in 2012 it was way too hot to do the walk, but the parks’ website says it’s beautiful, has impressive scenic views and superb bird watching opportunities. The Yanga Woolshed is another fabulous historical precinct to visit. It’s about a ten-minute drive from the homestead. The shed was built in the late 1800s and sits right on the bank of the Murrumbidgee River. Once the largest, most modern woolshed in the district, it housed 3000 sheep and provided work for up to forty shearers at a time. As the only visitors on the day, TOH and I frolicked around pretending to be colonialists, shearers (and sheep) – as much as we could in the tremendous heat – although inside the shed wasn’t so bad. There is an interpretive display with an informative history of the former sheep station and the paddle boats that traded up and down the river. I’d recommend taking a picnic

here, especially if you include a vanilla slice from the Balranald Bakery, which I rated a 10/10 in my great 2014 travelling vanilla slice taste test. In the next paddock is the Mamanga Campgrounds, again on the banks of the river. It’s bush camping suitable for caravans and tents. The short drive back to town passes farm gates opening on to long driveways flanked by vast paddocks of grain crops, or crop stubble depending on the time of the year. Balranald used to be a town with a thriving timber industry, but don’t sit on a bar stool and bring up that subject! There’s a fair bit of controversy still about ‘the [add any expletive here] national parks mob locking up the trees …’ Now that the ice is broken and the first day with Balranald was more than enjoyable there’s a second day of around-town sightseeing to look forward to. Here the town can show off her heritage, education and culture as you slip on some comfy shoes and stroll around to visit the old gaol, established in 1887, the museum, and the art gallery, which is housed in a charmingly restored building with magnificent timber flooring. It houses an impressive collection and there is art for sale and some local knick-knacks to buy. Anyone worth spending time with needs to be a bit ‘quirky’ so to speak – it adds colour and character. For Balranald it’s frogs – the southern bell (or growling grass) frog to be precise. The GO CA MPING AUSTR A LI A

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Clockwise from left: Looking back to the caravan park across the Murrumbidgee River.  The front of the Yanga Homestead from the rose garden.  The shearing machinery at the Yanga Woolshed.

Image Peter Robertson, www.biodiversitysnapshots.com.au

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