Locked gates!

After leaving Broke we went through Greta where Joe was born. In 1951 Greta was a refugee camp. We couldn't find the hospital, but there were plenty of quaint little heritage buildings, including the railway station. This little building must be just as it was when Pepa and Babi arrived there more than 60 years ago.

Then we were back into National Parks -this time Chichester state forest which s adjacent to Barrington Tops National Park. We have very fond memories of Barrington Tops from when we visited the area more than 30 years ago. Now most of it has been declared wilderness with no vehicular access! 

However there are 4 magnificent camping areas in Chichester state forest. These are large camping areas with many sites, along a flowing river. They were all nearly full when we got there, despite it being an election weekend! 

You would think with the federal election taking place that there would be political talkl and some radios going in the evening to get the results.... But no.   We heard not one radio, and all of the talk was about camping and 4wd adventures.

The day after the elections we spent exploring the National Park -or at least trying to do so. We kept being frustrated by locked gates! These are very frustrating indeed! After battling sometimes for hours along a marked and rough track, to come up to a locked gate -well the exact emotion is "fury" I think. Why couldn't they have put a sign at the beginning of the track indicating that there was a locked gate? We met some young fellas who expressed the same feelings, along with urging us to vote for some recreational shooters and drivers party -or similar name. This party wants tracks opened up again for 4wders and trail bikes. They pointed out that this would also keep fire trails open. There is some merit to this, and we certainly agreed on some points. 

At the end of the day we shaken up and just about greened out! We felt like some bitumen roads and a little less dust! 

Once we were on the bitumen we noticed something. The grey nomads are back! Every camping ground and rest area is full of them! They must be all coming home from Queensland. A month ago they were noticeably absent, and we concluded that they must all be up north. And they must all have the same apps and maps that we have. Even out of the way free camps seem to draw them like magnets. The following picture is Bretti camp ground. Needless to say we passed this one by and wild camped in the bush.