A week totally remote at Bendethera

 Just after Easter as the weather began to get colder, we headed south (as you do in the colder months) to the Deua National Park approximately 70kms from Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast. In the middle of a busy semester at uni, we took advantage of the mid-session break and went completely off the grid for 5 days to disconnect from the world around us, and what a great spot to do so.

Based on a few recommendations from friends we headed down to the Bendethera Valley Campground, situated right on the Deura River at the bottom of Middle Mountain. Absolutely amazing campground with all the facilities that you could expect from a free camp (well $6 booking fee with national parks); flat open campsites, drop toilets, fire pits, and even swing arm bbq plates for the fire. There are countless campsites that are spread out through various campgrounds, including a few that are set up on the site of the Bendethera Homestead Precinct, but more on that later. It is important to note though that this campground is only accessible by a 4x4 with no access to water (other than the river) so on this trip, we carried about 150L worth of water.

To get to the campsite, you can either come from Braidwood/Cooma or via Moruya. We originally came from the Braidwood side, however, didn't realise until the end that this was a big mistake. It took us nearly 2.5 hours to travel 25km as the tracks down Middle Mountain Rd were very steep, sometimes felt nearly vertical, especially with a trailer. We didn't know until we got to the bottom of the track that trailers aren't meant to come down this road due to the steepness. We made sure we didn't make the same mistake twice and went out via Moruya on the way home. The Braidwood/Cooma entry is very steep, however not an issue at all if you don't have a trailer. At the bottom of the road, just before you arrive at camp, we were greeted by a river crossing, this was the first time the trailer had ever seen water like this before.  A very slow and nerve-racking start to our trip, which meant that we didn't have much time once we arrived in camp before it got dark. 

As we got to camp later than we usually would like to and not knowing what the tracks were up ahead, we took the first campsite we could find, however, we later found that there are countless options further up. All of the campsites are trailer accessible as well so plenty of spots.

During the days we explored throughout the campgrounds and enjoyed the various river and creek crossings along the way. We had heard many things about the Bendethera caves and to say that we were excited to see them for ourselves is an understatement. However, due to the bushfires early last year the walking track up to the caves had been destroyed and yet to be repaired. It's amazing how 12 months on we continue to feel and see the effects that these bushfires had. Even driving high up into the mountains, we continued to find chared trees and burnt logs that weren't part of any camp. 

As we mentioned earlier, there are various campsites spread out the area, and a few of them are located on the ruins of the Bendethera Homestead Precinct. The old homestead is no longer there however ruins of the bread oven, horse yards well as the resting place of James Richard George, one of the 15 children who lived at the homestead still remain. From the 1860s through to the second world war, the homestead was run by the George family who grew crops and raised cattle. Finding parts of Australia's history like this is absolutely amazing, and what we love to see on our adventures. It's funny to think that you can't access the homestead now without a four-wheel drive, and often without a snorkel, yet the George family called the region home with only a horse and cart. 

The terrain throughout the Deua National Park is some of the steepest climbs we've seen on our adventures. However, apart from exploring around camp or relaxing by the river, there wasn't too much that we could explore. We spent a couple days on our adventures driving along the dirt tracks (all of which we did in low range just to make life easier climbing some of the sections. This not only made it easier to climb but put less strain on the D-Max and less damage to the tracks. 

We spent a lot of time on this adventure just relaxing and enjoying some time outdoors. We always try to avoid having lunch at camp so that we can mix it up and enjoy somewhere new. While out and about, if we find a nice spot close to 12 o'clock we will set up for lunch to enjoy the scenery. The joy of the Bendethera is the number of spots along the Deua river to enjoy a quick meal. Even on the day we decided just to relax and do nothing we headed over to a rocky section of the river bank and set up for the day. We made some chips on the butane and played card games listening to the river crash over the rocks. We took our chances and went for a quick swim, and by quick we mean quick. The water was freezing, but who would have thought that in late April the water would be a bit fresh haha. 

Even though we made a rookie mistake of leaving our pillows at home, we were still able to have a great time exploring the Deua National park. It is pretty safe to say that this was one of our favourite destinations thus far on our travels and will be sure to return sometime soon. The beauty of Bendethera is that it is perfect all year round, in the winter there are many firepits to sit back and enjoy the warmth, whereas, in the warmer months, it would be great to cool off in the river and dive off the many rope swings into the water. 

To see how entire adventure, be sure to watch it on YouTube below. 

  

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