Camping in the long grass of Yadboro Flats

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 Just before the Easter-long weekend, Lauren and I decided to head off on a getaway to switch off from the pressures of uni and work. This trip began later than we usually head off on an adventure, because we picked up our new Budget Off-Road Touring sign for the tailgate of our camper. We picked up the new addition first thing on Friday morning, then headed home to install it. While I quickly put a few tech screws in to add the sign to the trailer, Lauren was busy packing the fridge ready for our adventure. 

We always love to head out somewhere new so that we can explore as much of our beautiful country we can, one weekend at a time. Exploring around WikiCamps, we came across Yadboro Flats campground in the Yadboro State Forest, roughly an hour out of Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast. From the photos and reviews, the campground described everything we wanted; right on the river, easy access for the camper trailer, drop toilets and the best part free. In the photos, the campground appeared to be sitting right in a gully, with a clear view of mountain ranges, however, it wasn't until we arrived at camp we learned that the campsite was actually situated a fair distance from the mountains due to private property being in between. 

It's funny when you head out to new places, you can see how popular a campground is. Yadboro at first seemed to be one on the quieter side of the spectrum due to the length of the grass throughout the campground. However, over the weekend, there still seemed to be a fair number of campers coming and going. During the warmer months, we would be hesitant to explore the campground in shorts due to fear of snakes, but as we approached mid-Autumn, this was something that didn't need to be as concerned with (however still on our minds). The advantage of having the camper trailer is that we are off the ground, so finding short grass wasn't as crucial as it would be if we had the swag on this adventure. As long as there is enough space for us to set up a table and chairs on short grass, then we are happy. We found a spot where the grass was more manageable to call home for the next two nights with a fire pit dugout nearby and only a short walk to the river. The downside of our spot (or any spot in the campground for that matter), is that the toilets were more of a driving distance rather than walking as they aren't necessarily in the main parts of the campground.

As we've mentioned, we were after a more relaxing weekend to switch off from the world for a few days, so we decided to stay close to camp and take it easy. This decision was also heavily influenced by the D-Max and its lovely brakes. The brakes were something I knew was due on our maintenance schedule however it seems I pushed them too far. There was a service coming up where they would have been replaced, however, we ended up replacing them as soon as we got home from this trip. So to ensure that we could get home safely, we elected to limit the amount of driving and exploring through the forest. Though it was a shame that we missed what potentially Yadboro State Forest and the nearby Bundawang National Park had to offer, we were more than happy to have a relaxing trip (even though the drive home wasn't as pleasant, but that's a different story). From what we researched, there are various hikes and bushwalks on offer, as well as various lookouts such as Pigeon House Mountain.

To keep ourselves occupied, we played a fair bit of cards, bocce and even tried a bit of fishing (though neither of us are any good haha). Bushwalking is something we usually undergo to explore around, however, everything seemed to be more of a driving distance from camp, but we were able to find a frisbee on our exploration, so were happy to throw this around to enjoy the sunlight.

 

In hindsight, this would have been the perfect trip to practice our camp cooking skills in the fire, but that's ok, we live and learn. We were able to experiment a little bit with our menus though, which is something we try to do as often as we can on our trips. When it is just the two of us, we tend to avoid the traditional sausage and steak meals to see what we can come up with (or what ideas we can find), but saying that, we still enjoyed a steak on this weekend away, as well as a seafood dish.  

The question we often get asked by our families when we get back from a trip to a new destination, is "Will you go back?". Well yes and no. We never say never, and maybe with some more research (and a car with working brakes), we will be able to explore more of Yadboro. For what we planned, this adventure was everything we needed. A break from life and reality. As the saying goes, any camping trip is better than a weekend at home. However, for what we usually like to find and explore on our camping adventures, Yadboro probably doesn't live up to that criteria.

To see our full adventure, be sure to check out our video - Camping at Yadboro Flats

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