Back in 1970 (or was it in 1971), “He” had the pleasure of finding a star sapphire in the remote NSW Township of Grabben Gullen.
Grabben what you ask?
Grabben Gullen, or Grabby if you are a local, is located roughly WNW of Goulburn NSW (about 61k’s by road) with access via either Gunning or Crookwell. It has a population of about 432 people and a pub.
So why were we going there? Last year we joined a CMCA Chapter (based roughly around the NSW South West slopes area) and the venue for the January meeting was Grabben Gullen.
”He” organised to have a half day of annual leave and that allowed us to be heading south just after 1:00pm on an overcast Friday afternoon. Rain was forecast for the weekend but we had our fingers crossed. The departure time was perfect as we had an excellent run to Bankstown where we joined the M5 heading south.
We refuelled at Sutton Forest ($1.51 cpl) and took advantage of vouchers which reduced the cost by 10 cents per litre.
About 30k’s short of Goulburn we encountered a storm front with fairly heavy rain coupled together with thunder and lightning. The storm front followed up to just short of Crookwell where we stopped to buy a bucket (CMCA rules ask for a full bucket of water to be placed adjacent to the front wheel of your motor home to assist in the case of a fire).
Our venue for the weekend was the area adjacent to the local community hall and although we did not have power, we had access to a flushing toilet and a shower operated by gold coin.
About 15 motor homes attended the gathering.
We experiences rain All Friday night from multiple storm fronts in the area and after happy hour in the community hall, we all did our own thing and following our evening meal, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity for an early night and we were in bed listening to the rain just after 9:00pm.
Saturday was a perfect summer day in the bush with wall to wall blue skies. Some of our group decided to go fossicking but we chose to remain in the campsite. We played disk bowls and various card games during the morning and afternoon and before heading to the local pub where a mobile caterer had been arranged for the evening meal. [singlepic id=205 w=240 float=left]
The meals were not expensive and very generous in size. Immediately following our meal we headed back to the community centre to play cards. Much to our surprise, the temperature had dropped dramatically and we had to find some warm clothing, not the sort of thing you pack for a trip in the middle of summer.
We had a great sleep as a result of the low temperature.
Sunday was overcast and we heard warnings on the radio regards expected thunderstorm activity through most of NSW.
We had a community breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, sausage and tomato. Without doubt, breakfast rated as the best cooked breakfast we have experienced whilst travelling. The chapter held a meeting after breakfast and due to the forecast storms, we elected to head back to home immediately following breakfast.
Much to our surprise, the trip home was dry but very windy.
All told, a great weekend.