What a glorious morning we woke to at Tenterfield. The sun was shining so it was a good morning to get some chores done. Even though we are on holiday and travelling the chores still need to be done. Katie’s little wall mounted washing machine was doing its thing shaking her little van as it washed. I got two loads of washing done too and we hung it all out on clotheslines under our awnings to dry in the sun and the light breeze.

The kids got busy filling the water tanks so we were full to go out to Bald Rock NP later that day.

Next was groceries and we all walked up to the Coles supermarket which is situated only one block away from the Showground campground. Ben and Maddie took their scooters so they could ride the pump track we’d spied on our walk the evening before. That kept them very busy while us grownups did the shopping.

Coles, Reject Shop, another bargain shop, the butcher and a liquor store were all visited and we set off back to the campground carrying all our supplies, picking up the kids and scooters on the way back. They’d had a great time on the pump track and skate park except Ben had a fall when he stacked it in a puddle. He limped home.

We unpacked the supplies and quickly packed up so we could head out of Tenterfield to Bald Rock. It’s only 27km. Along the way we spied the signage for Captain Thunderbolt’s Hideout and thought we’d better stop and have a look at that. There’s room to pull off the road for a few vehicles. There’s a large signboard that tells the story of the bushranger known as Captain Thunderbolt. Fred Ward was born in 1835 and in his early years was an excellent horseman. He was caught in a horse stealing racket, convicted and jailed for 4 years. He was arrested again and escaped from Cockatoo Island by swimming to freedom.

He became known as Captain Thunderbolt and roamed the Tenterfield region holding up travellers, inns, stores, stations and even the mailman. He never shot a single person though and had a good relationship with locals. He was eventually caught in Uralla in 1870 and shot by a Constable Walker.

The kids enjoyed exploring the tracks and caves where Thunderbolt and his gang would have camped and hidden from police. Ben thought it was a good place to hide with lots of escape routes.

Back in the car and our next stop was for another history lesson. This time it was for the WW2 Tank Traps. Again there was room for a few vehicles to pull off the side of the road and signboards told the story of the tank traps and why they were built in that spot.

During WW2 there was a fear that the Japanese would invade from the north so lines of defences were constructed. During the war some 10,000 troops were stationed in the Tenterfield area and the tanks traps were built. They were built in a narrow gorge and huge wooden pilings were built into the ground to stop the tanks. Kids were learning their history!

Back in the car and we arrived at Bald Rock National Park around lunch time and quickly found our allocated and booked sites and set up camp. The boys were able to get their swags down and set up. KT set up a clothesline to dry out their sheets and mattresses and Rich got a fire going. It was a challenge because all the free wood was wet. Luckily we carry a supply of wood and combining our dry wood with the wet wood finally got the fire going well. It became dark very early and was bitterly cold.

No Starlink at Bald Rock, not because Starlink doesn’t work there but because there was no clear line of sight to the sky. The trees are so tall and tower over us so there was no chance of fast internet. Luckily Rich and I have one bar of mobile service with Telstra and that is enough to get messages in and out and for Katie to logon to get some school work done.

It was KT’s turn to cook and we enjoyed steaming bowls of pasta bolognese whilst sitting around the campfire.