Capertee Valley & Glen Davis

This is actually a trip I did this time last year when the storms hit the East coast.....the day we arrived in the Capertee Valley was the day the Pasha Bulker tried to go 4WDing and the Hunter River decided to become a land dwelling animal.

DAY 1 (Thu): Pissing down with rain, left work at midday to try and be at destination by dark. It rained all the way via Bells Line (6 degs at Mt Bell), through Lithgow and into the valley. The Capertee Valley is actually in a rain shadow and is not meant to get much rain but the creek we stayed on had burst it's banks and the Capertee River was a few metres higher than it's banks too.

DAY 2 (Fri): Went in to Rylstone to get some supplies.


The inside of the cabin of the property we stayed at.


There were no sealed roads for days and it was a mix of mud & clay. Very hard to clean!


At sunset we started to suspect that the following day might be clear..


DAY 3 (Sat): Sure enough - we could see blue sky! Fantastic morning mist!


"Ridge" the Forester with our cabin in the background.


Fantastic light on the escarpments in Glen Davis



Nice tree


The local power station which supplied our cabin with electricity. There were a couple of giant Telstra batteries in that fridge!


Beautiful walk on the property's private airstrip at dusk.

DAY 4 (Sun): Our final day so we thought we'd explore the old Oil Shale refinery ruins...










Retorts.


Here is the last glimpse of the Capertee river before it disappears into the gorges and wilderness of the Great Dividing Range and becomes the Colo.


Inside the confines of the refinery....we shouldn't have been here and soon got busted by the owners!


Can't remember taking this one - but here it is anyway!


Great area - highly recommended to anyone looking for an adventure...

See you out there!

Tweaksta

That looks like an awesome trip, you went to some really beautiful spots

Those are great pics of the scenery and refinery ruins. The GT looks particularly sweet in the sunlight in the last one too! Thanks for sharing.

I have been to Capertee a couple of times & yes it is beautiful place to visit & explore.

Some great pics in that lot & a great trip report too.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Mr Turbo

Nice one Tweaksta. Ripper report.

Thanks for letting us know about it all.

What is the Golf Oskar (GO) with the cabin? Is that a place that can be booked etc?

spinners said:

What is the Golf Oskar (GO) with the cabin? Is that a place that can be booked etc?

Click to expand...

Yes mate please tell, & if so I just might have to go there & try it out.

Regards
Mr Turbo

Nice report. The old refinery is an interesting place, many years ago (in a previous life ) I led a 4x4 Australia Readers Weekend through the refinery and all through the valleys around there.

It was interesting because I'd remembered reading a magazine story about it many years beforehand and completely forgot about the place. Good Fun. One of a few places I'd like to return to one day.

Cheers
Garry

Orrightey then - you've twisted my arm - I'll let you all in on my little secret.....

Please try and keep it within our "little" community though as it really is something quite special.

The cabin we stayed in is called "The Last Resort" and it's owned and operated by a friendly couple from Sydney. They also have a homestead on the same property available called "The Kurrajongs". Further down the road in the actual Glen Davis township they also have the "General Managers Cottage" and "The Inspectors Cottage" which are authentic relics of the old town. The three houses have been modernised and made comfy for modern times but the cabin is rustic and old-fashioned as you can see by the photos.

To explore the ruins you will need to book a guided tour as there are many hazards around the refinery. I'm actually expecting that cracking wall in my 1st photo of the ruins to have collapsed any day now.

The easiest way to view the accommodation down there is on this page ->
https://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/nsw/explorer-country/glen-davis-capertee-valley

The owners also run this website -> https://www.birdwatching.net.au so you can contact them via here as well.

Anyone else wanna share some secrets?

Legend...

Thanks for that Tweaksta

My thanks also for that info Tweaksta, you're a champion. Looks like I'll have do a trip there in the not to distant future & check it out.

Regards
Mr Turbo

Whilst you're out that way make sure you visit Dunn's Swamp. Good camping area and located on a dam so you can canoe and swim.

Brian