Trip Report - Long weekend trip to the Pilliga Artesian Bore baths.
Great trip over the weekend to the hot bore baths near Pilliga. Couple of mates planned a 3 day trailbike ride from Boggabri to the bore & back, around 400 km. I went as the recovery/fuel drop vehicle & backup for the other two fourby's driven by the ladies, one with a bit of experience, the other one driving a 4WD for the first time.
The Pilliga Scrub is around one million acres in size with only a couple of small villages in the middle. Pretty flat terrain with sandy winding roads, deep sand creek crossings in places. Road conditions were good considering the 80 mm of rain the weekend before.
Left home 2 hours before the planned departure, around 4:30 am ( woke up early, couldn't get back to sleep) & headed the 90 km to meet the rest of the gang at Boggabri. Stopped at the Namoi River near Boggabri for brekky. Had an hour or so to kill, so threw a lure around & was lucky enough to land a 3 lb Yellowbelly, which went down well for dinner around the campfire that night.
Met up around 8:00 am for the 20 km drive to the start of the scrub, the boys got the bikes ready (KTM 500, KTM 530, XR650R) & headed they headed off for the 100 km to the first fuel drop. The drive for the fourby's was around 60 km, we got there 5 mins after the bikes. Refuelled, the bikes had 60 km`s to the next drop at Swaggers Bore for lunch, we had 30 km`s to travel and arrived at the same time.
Lunch over it was the last leg to the hot bore baths, around 60 km for the vehicles, 80 km for the bikes. Arrived at 3:00 pm to find the campsite at the baths under 6 inches of water. The carpark was the only dry spot around & it was packed with caravans. We ended up finding a campsite behind the Pilliga Pub, about 5 km from the bore.
We had planned to have a relaxing evening soaking in the 37 degree water at the bore, but after a feed a a few beers, we settled in around the fire until around midnight before crashing for the night.
Up around 6:00 am Sunday morning, brekky cooked, bikes fueled & headed back into the scrub for lunch at the observation tower in the middle of the forest around 90 km away. the roads are pretty good out there, flat sandy & winding. most of the time we were travelling at around 40 - 50 kph in the 4wd`s, the bikes were doing around 80 - 100 kph. Lunch over it was only 60 km to the campsite for the night at an old abandoned 1940`s Sawmill site right in the middle of nowhere.
I thought seeing as one of the ladies was new to 4wding, I decided to take her down a few more interesting tracks. She was having a ball, right up to the last creek crossing. I was in the lead in the Patrol towing the bike trailer & plowed through the deep sand in 2nd gear 2wd with a fair bit of wheel spin & up the other side. She hit the bottom of the creek & sank it down to the axles, with the boys sitting there cheering her on.
Couldn't wipe the smile of her face!. I think she will trade in her XR8 for a fourby, she was totally hooked! It was a good opportunity to show the girls how to safely recover a vehicle using a snatch strap so they had a bit of experience if they had to do it themselves sometime.
Got to the camp around 3:00 pm, set up & got the fire started & settled in for a great feed & a few stories around the fire until everyone hit the swags around 1:30 in the morning.
Monday would only be a short drive out of about 60 km back to Boggabri, then another 100 km on the back roads to home.
Great weekend with great company, no breakdowns, no serious busters on the bikes, excellent weather. Only setbacks were the damp conditions at the bore baths & the Mazda Bravo with a flat battery Sunday morning (had the music pumping all night). Travelled just under 600 km, only around 100 km of tar, used 3/4 tank of fuel in the Patrol. The bikes did 208 km Saturday, 120 km Sunday & 60 on Monday. No sign of the "Pilliga Princess" or any "Yowies" although there was a few moans & groans coming from one of the tents Sunday night!
This was a trial run for a much bigger trail ride (20-30 riders) & 4wd tour to come, to work out fuel drops & the time it would take to do the trip. If anyone would like to join in, either on a dirtbike or in a 4wd I will post something on the forum when we get it organised, maybe around early October as a two day trip.
If you would like some info about the area or a GPS file of the trip just send me a PM.
