May 2018
I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible … Well the DFCE2018 was a huge success and what a fantastic weekend for all involved !
We left home around 5am on Friday 18th May and arrived at #CampCobarkNSW around 11.30am after a couple of toilet stops and a refuel at the twin servo’s on the F3. We had a good traffic free run all the way up and the little Suzuki cruised along the freeway no drama’s with the trailer in tow.
Arriving on site and pulling into the gates at Camp Cobark did filled me with some excitement, similar to a kid unboxing the pushbike on Christmas Day. We cruised slowly down the grassy dusty driveway and in through the centre camp area designated “Drifta HQ”. Straight up I spotted the beautiful DOT’s on display and couldn’t wait to unpack our gear and go for a wander over.
We found a nice level grassy spot near a creek that runs through the property and set up camp, me using my trusty #Barwon Double swag with my daughter by my side in her single tourer style swag – both under the #BCF #XTM side awning.
#MandyD and #ChloeDavo ripped into setting up the tent while I unpacked the rest of the gear and we were done and dusted in no time. We kept the cooking simple this trip, mainly because we had to take a fire pit with us ( it’s a working property so they didn’t want heaps of coal piles and mess left everywhere which is understandable ) and my oven tripod stand wouldn’t quite fit over the top of the fire pit so we used gas cookers. The fire pit was left just for heating mainly. Any cooking style is great when it’s on a camp trip with a warm fire nearby. Overnight got down to below -3 or -4 temperatures with water in our billy totally freezing over and even the zip up nylon door on our ensuite tent being snap frozen ! My good thick sleeping bag did keep me warm however I still could’ve done with an extra blanket – or maybe just zip the swag sides up….I can’t help it though, I love leaving the sides up for the sounds and smell of camping in the bush. Saturday brought beautiful weather with mid 20’s and the sun out all day. The recently purchased solar panel powered along all day outputting around 15 volts average which was great and it kept our fridge working no problem this trip. It does help too that I’ve bypassed the inbuilt regulator and feed it now straight into the CTEK to utilise its inbuilt better quality regulator. I think camping here in summer would be great too because the campground front runs along the banks of the Cobark River which was stunning. It would present some great swimming when the temperature is adequate with it being a bit too cold while we were there. https://www.google.com.au/maps/search/+2677+Scone+Rd,+Cobark+NSW+2422/@-31.9482621,151.7199866,1050a,35y,62.74h/data=!3m1!1e3 Chloe and I went for a wander around on the Saturday to check out other camper’s setups and the display stock of Drifta products including their tents, Snow Peak cooking products and various other camp gear. That’s what I loved probably the most about the whole weekend in fact was that the entire place felt like a true family camping event. Everyone there seemed happy for other campers to wander up and inquire about their setup, swap stories and exchange tips. It was such a friendly ebnvironment, no angst no prejudice. In the afternoon I set up the Drifta DOT6 Tofty handmade scratch built 1/10 scale replica trailer on a table next to Luke’s original DOT001 – the first DOT ever built – and had many admirers come up for photos and to ask all about it which was great. This is a present I made for Luke, the owner of Drifta, as a thank you for the fantastic Aussie made camper trailers he makes. He loved it so I am wrapt ! We got to meet some icons from the four wheel drive scene too – #MrBuckaroonie and his dog Raffa, from 4 Wheeling In WA – #RonnyDahl and his crew including #Torben, #waynedv12 and #firetofork Harry. We met Brett Hooker and Tofty ( the 2 gentlemen who really lead this whole DFCE from the start – hats off to them both ! ) and obviously the owner of Drifta, Luke Sutton and his son Kaito. They were all happy to get some photos with us too which was great. It was a very relaxing weekend which was great. There was a lot of sitting around the fire pit with a beverage ( be it a beer or a cuppa ) and doing not much at all……reading 4×4 mags and enjoying the peace and quiet. There was some excitement through the day when a large group of horses decided to gallop through the middle of the camp grounds which the kids were very excited about.
We had some chicken kebabs and salad for dinner and then wandered up to Drifta HQ. Around 7 – 7.30 they rolled back the covers on the big Drifta truck and local band the “Bowden Brothers” cranked out some great music from country and western through to some newer songs. They ran till near midnight and it was awesome sitting around one of the many Drifta firepits setup with a cold beer and some great music pumping out. They packed up around midnight ( well that’s when I fell asleep anyway ) and the camp grounds were very quiet again overnight. Surprising actually how well behaved and quiet the place was considering over 170 camp sites and over 500 people attending. There was no yobos, no gronks, no punch ups or the like, just good like-minded campers all there for the same shared passion.
There were a couple of day trips organised for anyone who wanted to attend and from what I heard they ended up cruising through some of the muddier tracks in the Barrington Tops area.
We got up Sunday morning to a light breaky and then sadly had to start packing up the gear in preparation for the long trip home, around 4 hours and 45 minutes. Once all the dew had dried off the gazebo and pop up ensuites we could pack them all back away in the trailer too. It’s funny how easily everything fits in if you have a dedicated rigid packing system. If you can had some sort of regular system in place it makes it much easier and less stressful therefore not a hassle to do. Less hassle certainly leads to less staying home and more camping in the future. Chloe and I went for a walk up to the top of a hill that was on the property and the plan of a good panorama image from the top was thwarted due to the fog being so thick we couldn’t see 6 foot in front of us….........damn it !
To much sadness, we headed off around lunch time saying goodbye to all the great people we’d met and heading back out to the black top. Coming back along Scone Road through some of these smaller towns of Barrington really has inspired me to get back up there for a small trip. The beautiful colour in the trees and old the glorious old timber rustic sheds make for spectacular photography. Something I will definitely dedicate some further time and effort to. So will we back for the next DFCE ? Most definitely !! So would we change anything about it ? Yes, make it longer ! Like any good camping trip, it just wasn’t long enough. I’m just glad I didn’t go only on the Saturday and Sunday like originally planned.