Our Overnight Shakedown Trip

Off we go....

Now that Rural NSW is out of lockdown and travel is permitted, we planned our overnight shakedown trip and made it happen. 

Not sure of what to expect with numbers, we elected 3 possible sites to free camp along The Golden Highway, around the Jerry's Plains area.  

The purpose of the shakedown was to test out systems and sleeping in the motorhome. Our 4 little dogs were also joining us.

The map 

We left home at 2pm and our first stop was the Brankston Rest Area for a doggy break. Set up there was a COVID-19 popup test centre doing very little business.

Back on the road and there was little traffic heading west, with a steady flow of work commuters heading east to home. The motorhome is easy to drive and easily keeps up with the traffic. The ride is good, but some find it a but firm. Our other vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler so we are used to a firmer ride.

We were enjoying ourselves so much we somehow missed the Golden Highway turn off with its huge sign over the roadway. 😆 

Not a problem as Whittingham has a right turnoff, Range Road, over a railway bridge and 3km (1.85 Miles) later we were back on track.

View from the Railway Bridge - Range Road

Range Road goes the Australian Army Infantry Museum, then before we knew it, back on to the Golden Highway.

The Golden Highway runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle. The origin of the name is unclear. I found a quote on Wikipedia "The Golden Highway provides a fairly low altitude crossing of the Great Dividing Range. It runs through the Hunter Region and gives access to the golden west of New South Wales." 

The first potential overnight site is at the Warkworth Rest Area. A short distance from the highway. We visited there in the Jeep in between lockdowns and found that the toilets were clean and civilised, has undercover picnic tables and plenty of space to set up for an overnight stay.

The Oval was boggy and a concrete Cricket Pitch was hidden in the tall grass.

Unfortunate Sign Placement

This visit found that the toilets were "out of order:, no real problem for us, but frustrating for those who stopped for a comfort break, of which there was quite a few!

Time for a Cuppa

We Walked the dogs and were promptly swooped by Magpies. Moving to a different spot within the rest area didn't help.

The park has a sports oval in the middle along with a concrete cricket pitch. The grass was around 30cm (1 foot) tall! Perhaps the intention is to make hay? 😁

The park was originally called Johnstone Park, named after the founder of the nearby colliery. On static display is the Lee Norse Continuous Coal Mining Machine from 1959. Times change and now Coal which once bought prosperity, is a dirty word, hence the original park name is no longer in use.

History of the area

Spot Number Two

We decided to move on to our next possible overnight camp at Jerry's Plains and leave the aggressive Magpies and frustrated comfort break seekers behind.

The area is known for horse breeding, wine making and coal mining. The origins of the name Jerry's Plains and other info can be found here.

Eleven minutes later we pulled into Jerry's Plains camp and found it almost empty. The weather had been windy for the whole day and there was scattered rain about. The site provided some protection from the winds.

Only one other person here!

Oh! ...I forgot to mention our curious and friendly neighbours.

We set up camp and were ready for dinner when the rains turned up.

Not looking good!

Now starting to Rain.

Windy and Wet - wasn't for long.

Back to the BBQ. We had a range of salads with us, too.

Happy excited travelers. L-R Bambi and Buffy

We settled down to a relaxing evening. The toilet and shower, along with the supporting systems, were trialed out successfully and feeling tired, we went to bed.

Unfortunately Cody was very unsettled and although he had traveled well, was a bit spooked with the idea of being away from home. He kept us up for a few hours before settling down.

Next Morning

We slept in to almost 9am! Thanks Cody! 😀

Saturday Morning at Jerry's Plains

We went for a walk

Cute little Pony - Our pack thought he was another dog. 😂

We only had two others camping overnight and some visitors taking a break in the morning.

Jerry's Plains Camp is a great place to spend a night. It is Free Camp with nice Toilet facilities an undercover free BBQ and tables, drinking water and a kids playpark.

A Dump Point - Exciting when you need one. 😁

Friendly neighbours!

The trip Home

We then packed up and decided on a brunch at Rose Point at Singleton. Another walk for all.

Except for children's Play Park, Rose Point was very quiet 

Looks a nice spot to have some Brunch.
Sallad and cold meats on fresh bread rolls.

We had brunch inside as it was very windy - The view was nice!

Resting Driver

Overall the trip went well! 

There were some lessons learnt, too. 

• The location of some needed items were inaccessible when the bed is down.
• Water usage was poor but we did not use any of the water available at our stops either.
• Power was excellent with the batteries only going down to 88% overnight and back up to 100% at 9:30am. 
• We need a dustpan and broom!

Now to plan the next trip!