Gwydir River Campground – BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH!!!!

The weather gods were not kind to us at Sommerville Valley Tourist Park – wet and windy!  And they were no better the day we departed and headed for Bingara, NSW.  We came close to getting flooded in by Quart Pot Creek at Stanthorpe on our way to Texas (taking the scenic route), and it rained most of the way to Bingara.

Things were good though by the time we reached the Gwydir River Campground, on Copeton Dam Road near Bingara.  The rain had stopped and skies were clearing.  We arrived on 27 Feb, and the plan was to meet up with Kerry & Mal (fellow Kedron owners) and stay maybe a week?  Plenty of time yet before needing to arrive in Tamworth.  The Gwydir River Campground is a free camp, and there are plenty of spots to choose from.  A very pretty spot with both shady and sunny sites.  No facilities there, but as we are self-contained, it was not a problem.

 

And then the rain arrived AGAIN!!!  We now believe that it’s our fault.  Every place we’ve gone since we left Lake Eacham, the rain has been just behind us.  It caught up briefly in Six Mile Creek Campground (Toowoomba) and then Sommerville Valley, but we hoped we’d left it behind.  Afraid not!  The rain fell steadily all day and most of the night on 28 Feb.  The generator was running well, so power not a problem.  Cabin fever was starting to set in though.  And then it became apparent at about mid-afternoon on 1 Mar that the river was starting to rise – and rise – and rise some more.

 

One of our fellow campers, who said he was local, told us all that we were safe, the river would not come up high and that nobody would be in any danger.  Apparently the chap didn’t know his arse from his elbow.  The following pictures tell the tale.  Short story is that everyone got out safely.  It was a tight run for a couple of campers – one had to hook up with his vehicle and van already sitting in the water, and another, with a camper trailer had to abandon some property so they wouldn’t get trapped.  Said property then ended up somewhere further down the river!!  We had camped back from the river so as to get the sun.  It was also coincidentally one of the higher spots.  However, as Rick has pointed out on the photos – our rig would have been sitting in about 3 metres of water if we’d stayed where we were.

And then, to add insult to injury, a new sign was added at the entrance to the Campground!!  Check out the last photo in the slide show!!  NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL!!!!!