Don’t you love going somewhere new? We do! We’d heard of this place but we’d never been there ourselves and we were looking forward to checking out a new camping spot.

So where were we going? Dunns Swamp in the Wollomi National Park, known as Ganguddy by the Dabee people of the Wiradjuri nation.

Dunns Swamp was formed when the Cudgegong River was dammed by the Kandos Weir in the 1920’s. The water was to supply the Kandos Cement Works. The town of Kandos grew to support the Cement Works which was constructed in 1914. For 97 years the Kandos Cement Works supplied cement for many major constructions such as the Sydney Opera House, the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, parts of the underground railway system and many office buildings in the CBD. The Kandos Cement Works finally closed in 2011.

Dunns Swamp is now a 5km long waterway and is a popular spot for kayaking, bush walking and camping.

To get there takes a few days from home so it was on a cloudless, warm, sunny day we set off at lunchtime and headed up the Newell Highway towards Forbes, via West Wyalong.

I was just so pleased to be going somewhere in our beloved motorhome. It makes me cheerful just traveling along. I love how good the views are of the countryside when you sit up so high. We passed by vast fields of golden, almost ripe wheat, freshly baled hay and of course, lots of trucks. The Newell Highway is one of the major inland truck routes and is always busy with heavy transport.

On arrival in Forbes we went directly to the Tourist Centre only to find a lady in Tourist Centre uniform locking up the place and heading home. She did point out where we could get a welcome to Forbes bundle that they prepare for people who arrive out of hours so we grabbed one of those to read.

We drove to a camp spot we have stayed at many times over the years, Wheogo Park. This lovely park is on the banks of the man made Lake Forbes and is provided by the council as a ‘free camp’ for RV travellers. It has a 48 hour limit and a dump point and potable water are available. It is a short walk into the town and the Bowling Club is just across the lake. A walking track encircles the lake and it is often busy with joggers, cyclists, walkers and people walking their dogs.

After setting up followed by a cuppa, we went for a wander along the path. Rich counted 17 RV’s camped for the night. The lake is a haven for water birds and we saw fish jumping. A couple of the sculptures from Sculptures Down the Lachlan are in the park and there are more scattered around town. We plan to ride our ebikes around in the morning to check those out and perhaps visit the Motor Museum.

We had previously followed the Lachlan River from Condobolin to Forbes to see all 13 of the sculptures along Lachlan Valley Way and there are another 12 in Forbes itself.

We crossed the lake and discovered that Griffith is not the only town with a ‘plane on a stick’. Forbes has one too!

On past the Public School and across the road we came to the ‘Bowlo’. A cold beer sounded like a good idea so we found our way to the bar and ordered a couple of schooners. There was no one in the bar and the funny barman said “I’m not sure where you’re going to sit” as though the place was packed!

Back at the motorhome I cooked up a delicious Chicken and Mushroom Rissotto and we ate sitting outside in the cool of the evening.