2 Geckos Travelling Australia: Fri, 6th November, 2015 Pete and Marion’s, Camden to Berrima River Reserve Camping Area (WW1 Internment Camp walk)

Lovely sunny morning 22 degrees. So nice to see the sun after a few days of drizzle.

Watched Sunrise for the Cash Cow jackpot of $30,000 which went to Tanya Rossi in Earlville – so close!! Eddie is doing the weather section from the Bondi to Bronte Sculpture Walk where we were last Monday.

Pete was heading off to work. So wonderful to spend time with them all and get to know Natalie and Caitlin better. Tim was away most of the time but we saw him a lot last year. He pointed out the sign in the garage that my grandfather (Sydney Windle) had during the 2^nd World War. He was a Warden and when the Japanese came into Sydney Heads all the Wardens were called. Syd headed off and Nana (May) got Mum and Wally to get under the kitchen table with her like they had been taught. After a while Wally stretched out his leg and May said ‘get your leg in – do you want it blown off!’ A few hours later they climbed out and waited for Syd to return. Of course the alarm was over very quickly so the Wardens had a drink or two – I can just imagine the reception Syd got when he got home!!

Marion then headed off so lots of hugs as she is an amazing woman. Looking forward to hearing when Wally moves into Grasmere Terrace.

These were large bullets that were engraved sometime after WW2. Mum remembers them being on the mantle.

Rang Terry for his birthday and got some details of where they stayed when they started their Murray River trip.

Leanne rang to see if we heard about the Cash Cow going to Cairns – shame it wasn’t us.

Hooked up the van again and off we go at 11am. The dark clouds are starting to roll in.

Onto the Hume Highway heading south to Wingello State Forest. Crisscrossing the Nepean River which is getting smaller and narrower with high escarpments on each side. Up another hill.

We passed the turnoff to Bowral. Will go back there to visit Charlie Windle when he gets home. Further along we heard a weird sound – Steve slowed straight away thinking we had blown a tyre but then the sound went. When he pressed the accelerator again it came back and we realised it sounded like the exhaust had blown. Found a spot on the edge of the Highway to pull over. With the trucks whizzing past we tried to work out the problem. I checked on ‘girlie’ and we had an exit coming up so we got in and headed off with the hazard lights on. Decided to go to Berrima as it was only 3km away. As we headed down the hill I saw a sign ‘diesel service’. Pulled in beside a lovely park in ‘Historical Berrima’ or so the sign said. Established in 1831. I walked back to the Museum to ask about mechanical workshops as Steve thought he might need a part or two. With the bonnet up and a nice chap, Ian, pulled in to see if we were ok. He offered to drive Steve up so they headed off while I made lunch.

Found some history in the park about the convict made bridge over the Wingecarribee River.

Drove up to Berrima Diesel Services and saw Andrew. Steve remembers reading about Andrew and his father Reinhard in all the 4WD magazines etc. They found the problem – the exhaust gas recirculation pipe that comes off the back of the exhaust manifold and runs around to the intake manifold. Steve had blocked off the intake part awhile back because it was hitting on the intercooler. Andrew said that the fuel mixture was too rich which caused the pipe to fatigue and crack. Not as drastic as we first thought which was a relief. He suggested a cheap camp down by the river so we headed off, still sounding like an old tractor. Rang the Council to check there was a vacancy as there are only 4 campsites by the river. All good – no one else booked in so I we paid for two nights ($15/n). Nice area.

Steve got to work on the truck as there were storms predicted for today.

A couple walked by that we saw up at the diesel place. He was getting his ‘chip’ looked at. They are from San Remo near Phillip Island and have just left for a 12 month trip around Australia. After a cuppa I left Steve working and headed off to read all the info plaques.

Some history on Berrima and its historical buildings.

It was also famous because it was the site of a German Internment Camp in the first World War.

We are camped where the bridge would have come across.

Kept walking along the river reading the signs.

This one is interesting – a nudist area!!

Lots of lovely flowers along the walk.

Not much remains of all the huts as they burnt them down after their graves were vandalised.

Looking across to the site of the amphitheatre.

There was no track up to the tree where they built the crow’s nest.

Found another nest though.

Wonderful photos.

The red note on the top left says where the site of each building etc would have been.

They certainly entertained themselves. Ian said the internees made lots of dug out canoes – one was found years later buried in the sand. He said that the Germans sunk all the canoes in the lake and that it is really deep - more than 60 feet. They tried to get the Navy to dive down to retrieve some but they wouldn’t do it.