Camping at Balley Hooley

​Flash had an RDO on the Friday and there was a public holiday coming up on the Tuesday, so we ruminated for 3.7 seconds about going camping and ended up in Balley Hooley for 5 nights from the Thursday night. Hurrah!  The best decisions are made quickly!

Balley Hooley is situated where the Snowy and Buchan Rivers meet up in East Gippsland. We'd considered camping here back in March, but the last time we made a plan we had to abandon it due to bushfires. This time things looked good - a warm Thursday and Friday, a little cooler for the rest of our stay, and some 'possible' rain over the weekend.  Sweet!

Home sweet home

The final drive down to the valley was steep, windy and a bit pot-holey so we were surprised when we arrived at the bottom to find a couple of big caravan rigs set up, complete with grey nomads indulging in pre-dinner drinks under their little verandahs.  Or maybe they'd just arrived and the drinks were to steady their nerves.

We had our own nerve steadying drink while we meandered around the area, kicking the ground and discussing where the tent should go.  Decision made, we got onto our camp set up chores and before we knew it, we were making dinner and considering a second beverage. Ha ha - just kidding. Of course we weren't considering it - we were just having it!

Friday was hot, so after our visit to Buchan Caves (yes, yes...we'll get to that), we treated ourselves to a swim in the Snowy River and a cheeky beverage. Fortunately the river was only a few minutes walk via a variety of paths, because it was hot. And we're lazy. 

Late Monday afternoon we were having a wander and photographing various things when the thick clouds that had been rolling in started getting darker and a few rumbles of thunder got underway.  Adopting a typical Australian "nah, that'll blow over in a minute" attitude, we ignored the thunder and continued along our merry way until things got considerably darker, louder and a little more flashier.  As in - the lightning started. Both of us had tripods set up, so we figured the smart thing to do would be to shelve them because neither of us fancied being fried for a photograph. Shortly after making this clever decision, it started to rain. And not just a bit of rain - great big fat plops of rain that heralded the deluge that was about to see us retreat indoors for the rest of the evening.  And of course, we had ventured far enough away from camp to be quite wet by the time we got back.

Rain stops play

The rain continued throughout the night and I awoke from a dream where I was floating on my airbed inside the tent because it was flooded, and everything from the campsite was also floating because the water was really high....and then the whole tent turned into a makeshift boat and joined the rivers which were by now teaming with other tent-boats as all the campers floated downstream.

​And then I turned into a giant ice cream and woke up because I was cold.