Header image: Driving into Sundown National Park.
Sundown National Park
June 6th to 8th 2015.
HEMA App Track Stats:
Ballandean meeting point to campsite via Red Rock Gorge - 34.5kms.
Sunday exploration (including Rat's Castle loop track) - 13.3kms.
After our prearranged meeting at Ballandean at 10am, we made the short hop across the main road and cut across to Sundown Road. On this trip, we had Rodney & Rachael, Tim & Leanne, John, Mandy & daughter Emma, Jordy, and Kate & myself. Five vehicles in total.
This is by far the most remote we have done so far. Despite being only 18kms from the main road, it takes approximately 2 hours to traverse due to the roughness of the track although easily done in a stock 4WD with care.
On the way in we saw Eagles hunting on the grassy slopes but failed to get any photos and unfortunately we didn't see them on the way back out. During the weekend we saw plenty of wildlife, as you will see in the photo galleries below.
Sundown National Park is as far south as we have been to date and also as far west. It was quite the adventure. We made a slight detour on the way in for a visit to Red Rock Gorge where we also had lunch and walked the 200 metres down to the lookout and then continued our journey deeper into the park to our chosen campsite at Burrows Waterhole. It was quite a bumpy drive and best done with lowered tyre pressures.
We had temperatures dipping below zero at night but day time temps were moderate. Burrows Waterhole is right on the banks of the Severn River. The water is drinkable only if treated but Kate and I used it for washing up to save our drinking water. After setting up camp we eventually ended up around the campfire as is usually the case and each doing their own thing for dinner. Thanks to Tim for bringing some firewood to get us going.
Sunday morning came and we decided on going for a drive to the other campsite, Reedy Waterhole. There were also some ruins marked on the map which turned out to be little more that old timber posts from the old sheep station that existed there long ago. This camping area was up on the hill a little and a short walk was required to get to the river. Some of us walked upstream a little to see a spot that John had found. The river here was more active due to the many rocks it had to navigate, unlike our own camp where you wouldn't know the water was moving unless something floated by.
HEMA App Track Stats:
Ballandean meeting point to campsite via Red Rock Gorge - 34.5kms.
Sunday exploration (including Rat's Castle loop track) - 13.3kms.
After our prearranged meeting at Ballandean at 10am, we made the short hop across the main road and cut across to Sundown Road. On this trip, we had Rodney & Rachael, Tim & Leanne, John, Mandy & daughter Emma, Jordy, and Kate & myself. Five vehicles in total.
This is by far the most remote we have done so far. Despite being only 18kms from the main road, it takes approximately 2 hours to traverse due to the roughness of the track although easily done in a stock 4WD with care.
On the way in we saw Eagles hunting on the grassy slopes but failed to get any photos and unfortunately we didn't see them on the way back out. During the weekend we saw plenty of wildlife, as you will see in the photo galleries below.
Sundown National Park is as far south as we have been to date and also as far west. It was quite the adventure. We made a slight detour on the way in for a visit to Red Rock Gorge where we also had lunch and walked the 200 metres down to the lookout and then continued our journey deeper into the park to our chosen campsite at Burrows Waterhole. It was quite a bumpy drive and best done with lowered tyre pressures.
We had temperatures dipping below zero at night but day time temps were moderate. Burrows Waterhole is right on the banks of the Severn River. The water is drinkable only if treated but Kate and I used it for washing up to save our drinking water. After setting up camp we eventually ended up around the campfire as is usually the case and each doing their own thing for dinner. Thanks to Tim for bringing some firewood to get us going.
Sunday morning came and we decided on going for a drive to the other campsite, Reedy Waterhole. There were also some ruins marked on the map which turned out to be little more that old timber posts from the old sheep station that existed there long ago. This camping area was up on the hill a little and a short walk was required to get to the river. Some of us walked upstream a little to see a spot that John had found. The river here was more active due to the many rocks it had to navigate, unlike our own camp where you wouldn't know the water was moving unless something floated by.
On our way back to camp we decided to check out a track that led to a place called "Rat's Castle". I deeply regret being too lazy to set up one of my GoPro cameras as this was some of the most extreme driving we had done in this group so far. I would call it high end moderate to difficult.
Eventually the track leads to an intersection at the start of a loop where it was decided to make a right and go uphill first. It was decided that the Vitara would go the other way and we would meet up somewhere along the loop.
This was due to a slightly nasty little hill climb that was steepish and stepped, no doubt due to big tyres in wet weather. The steps were staggered so it made for an interesting climb. After the for larger vehicles made it up I think the most polite way to put it would be to say that the nerves of some of the passengers were a little.. on edge.
We actually found people camping at a few places along this loop. I'm not sure if they were actually allowed to camp there but to be honest, I doubt the ranger gets down that way very often and they were great spots. Rat's Castle is a rock formation that you can see from a certain part of the track but we didn't take photos as we expected at some point to be under it. To be honest, we were probably paying more attention to the track than looking for this rock.
There were a couple of water crossings along this loop. The most challenging though was not the the widest and deepest. It was a rock bar which you will see in the photos below. Be sure to look at all 4 galleries. The only person to get across this bar without hitting the underside of the car was the Patrol. The Pajero, with no underbody armour at all, had yo be carefully guided across and touched rock once. Jordy drove across first and bashed all over the place, as did I but to a lesser extent.
Once all across we continued along the loop in search of John & family in the Vitara. They were waiting patiently just on the other side of the deepest and widest of the crossings. Once all were across safely and the group reunited we made our way back to camp where yours truly got the Cobb Cooker fired up and put a rolled pork roast on for dinner before setting up my kayak and going for a fish. The river was beautiful but alas, no fish.
After a hot shower (yes, you read that right) and a change of clothes we all sat around the camp fire again. After dinner, Kate made dessert for everyone. Partially hollowed out oranges partly filled with brownie mix and baked in the fire, served with a dollop of cream. Also bananas stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, also baked in the fire. A brilliant end to a brilliant day. I have heard no reports of damage to vehicles but I'm sure there are plenty of scrapes under mine. I for one would definitely do this trip again but I might think twice about Rats Castle next time, or at least, how I approach it.
Our thanks to those that came and made the weekend special.
As usual, photos without the watermark may be purchased in various sizes by visiting the shop page "here" and quoting the image number that appears on mouseover or in the caption. If the image belongs to a member, you will be put in touch with that member. Any money raised from photo sales goes back into the group in the form of free raffle prizes.
Note: Some may photos might just seem like more of the same but... it's always good to see things from someone else's perspective. Other people will often get the shots you missed yourself.
Eventually the track leads to an intersection at the start of a loop where it was decided to make a right and go uphill first. It was decided that the Vitara would go the other way and we would meet up somewhere along the loop.
This was due to a slightly nasty little hill climb that was steepish and stepped, no doubt due to big tyres in wet weather. The steps were staggered so it made for an interesting climb. After the for larger vehicles made it up I think the most polite way to put it would be to say that the nerves of some of the passengers were a little.. on edge.
We actually found people camping at a few places along this loop. I'm not sure if they were actually allowed to camp there but to be honest, I doubt the ranger gets down that way very often and they were great spots. Rat's Castle is a rock formation that you can see from a certain part of the track but we didn't take photos as we expected at some point to be under it. To be honest, we were probably paying more attention to the track than looking for this rock.
There were a couple of water crossings along this loop. The most challenging though was not the the widest and deepest. It was a rock bar which you will see in the photos below. Be sure to look at all 4 galleries. The only person to get across this bar without hitting the underside of the car was the Patrol. The Pajero, with no underbody armour at all, had yo be carefully guided across and touched rock once. Jordy drove across first and bashed all over the place, as did I but to a lesser extent.
Once all across we continued along the loop in search of John & family in the Vitara. They were waiting patiently just on the other side of the deepest and widest of the crossings. Once all were across safely and the group reunited we made our way back to camp where yours truly got the Cobb Cooker fired up and put a rolled pork roast on for dinner before setting up my kayak and going for a fish. The river was beautiful but alas, no fish.
After a hot shower (yes, you read that right) and a change of clothes we all sat around the camp fire again. After dinner, Kate made dessert for everyone. Partially hollowed out oranges partly filled with brownie mix and baked in the fire, served with a dollop of cream. Also bananas stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, also baked in the fire. A brilliant end to a brilliant day. I have heard no reports of damage to vehicles but I'm sure there are plenty of scrapes under mine. I for one would definitely do this trip again but I might think twice about Rats Castle next time, or at least, how I approach it.
Our thanks to those that came and made the weekend special.
As usual, photos without the watermark may be purchased in various sizes by visiting the shop page "here" and quoting the image number that appears on mouseover or in the caption. If the image belongs to a member, you will be put in touch with that member. Any money raised from photo sales goes back into the group in the form of free raffle prizes.
Note: Some may photos might just seem like more of the same but... it's always good to see things from someone else's perspective. Other people will often get the shots you missed yourself.
Photos in this gallery by SEQ Overnighters member Rodney Galloway (Click image to enlarge)
Photos in this gallery by SEQ Overnighters member John Weeks (Click image to enlarge)
Photos from my waterproof point & shoot. Taken by Kate & Stuart. (Click image to enlarge)
Some from the drive to the meeting point and some from Sundown N.P.
Some from the drive to the meeting point and some from Sundown N.P.
Photos from our DSLR. Taken by Kate. (Click image to enlarge.)
Kate took 981 photos and I have just tried to use enough to give a feel for the place so including the gallery above this one, there are 366 photos. You will only see the captions, if any, when the photo is enlarged.
Kate took 981 photos and I have just tried to use enough to give a feel for the place so including the gallery above this one, there are 366 photos. You will only see the captions, if any, when the photo is enlarged.
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contact | prize winners
All content on this site is © Copyright and may not be downloaded, saved or used in any way without permission.
If I do not own the image, I will put you in contact with the person that does. Please use the form on the contact page.