Hunter valley camping

Since we hadn’t been able to go camping for some time, we decided to seize a few days in December to have a flying trip away. The Hunter Valley is a beautiful rural area to the north of Sydney, a region we regularly drive through, but rarely stop, so this was the perfect opportunity to travel slowly and get to see the small towns and countryside of the area. As it was just a short trip, we took the tent rather than the camper trailer, and were ready to stay in accommodation if the weather was against us or we couldn’t find a suitable camping place.

First stop was Broke, a tiny town with a substantial space for camping near the river, free to use, with a long drop toilet but no other facilities. Next stop was Muswellbrook, where we stayed in a motel – we had intended to camp in the showground, but although caravans were allowed in there, no tents were, inexplicably. We visited the Regional Gallery and found some very good art there. The next stop was a delightful small National Park, just north of Scone, called Towarri. Our campsite was on a small river, which had an unusual conglomerate rock bed. A little way from the campsite was the Washpools, an area on the creek where in days gone by farmers would drive their sheep in to wash them before shearing.

In this small park I found several plants I hadn’t come across before, the most interesting being a native passionfruit, which was in flower. Some of the flowers were cream, others pink, and clusters of unripe passionfruit hanging from the vines.

From Towarri we went to Jerry’s Plains, East Gresford then our last camp was on the Allyn River, a lovely grassy, well kept campground on a farm.

Although only a short trip, we really enjoyed it, only short distances to travel and being surprised by what we saw. The main businesses of the Hunter Valley area are horses – dozens of racehorse studs – wine, and coal. I was quite shocked at the scale of some of the open cut mines, many very close to roads and towns, cutting through rolling green farmland. A persistent haze we saw on the horizon was not, as we first thought, advancing rain, but in fact dust from the coal mines. Hard to believe this would be good for the health of anyone in the vicinity.

Author: anna warren portfolio

I draw, I paint, I am a printmaker. Always searching for the interesting detail in the world around me.

16 thoughts

  2. Love these drawings and photos. Nice to hear you write about it too! A short trip often gives impact and emphasis to little things that may otherwise blend into a big trip.
    🙂

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  3. You know how your plant observations can morph into menacing Anna Warren creations? Well, in my mind it is but a short step from the original passionfruit flower in the photos to frightening triffid-sort of plant creatures via your hand. They are already such peculiar plants; beautiful and delicate but a little spider-like as well. A bit of visual science fiction and we’ll see what you come up with.

    It is always special to look into your sketch pages. It is like looking at the source – or spring – which inspire your major works.

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