Bush Camping in Greater Bendigo National Park

A few days ago, Jacqui invited us to go camping in Greater Bendigo National Park with her and some friends. We were a bit hesitant because we would just be returning from our Great Ocean Road trip. However, part of our sabbatical is about making ourselves available to whatever experiences happen to arise. This was one of those experiences that we never thought we'd do (we didn't bring camping equipment with us or expect an offer to go camping), but we needed to take advantage of. So, in the end we decided to go. 

Greater Bendigo National Park is a little over two hours north of Altona and is considered part of "the bush" of Australia. I didn't know what to expect of the bush. And, I'm still not exactly sure what the bush is. It looked to me like dry, gravel-like soil with some bushes and scraggly trees with no civilization in sight. But, it wasn't exactly as desolate as I had envisioned. 

We stayed in the Notley camping area of the national park. There was a pavilion, some barbecues (grills), and two pit toilets. There were a few trails branching off from the campsite that we were able to hike as well. This region was big for gold prospecting, so it was recommended we stay on the trails to avoid falling into any rogue mines. 

Our campsite with tents much bigger than we're used to. We could stand up inside!

Crimson sunset our first night in the bush

Me, Lisa, and Jacqui

Walking trail through the bush

An old gold mining shaft

The bush is also a great place to see kangaroos, so that's where my focus was for the trip. The kangaroos blend in with the bush very well, but you can see them at dusk when they find grassy fields to graze in. The first night two kangaroos hopped through our campsite, but it was too dark to make out anything but their tails and glowing eyes. Brandon also saw a few hop quickly past the tent around 6 am as he peered out the window. The second evening Brandon and I took a walk trying to find some kangaroos, but were eluded. Jacqui took pity on us and drove us around looking for kangaroos. We got pretty close to a field of about a dozen kangaroos and saw another field further away with at least fifty more kangaroos! 

Kangaroos grazing in the grassy fields

Kangaroos staring at us as we pass. The giant crouched one on the left is the male waiting to defend his mob if needed. (a group of kangaroos is called a mob)

Kangaroos bounding away using their tails for balance

Overall the camping trip was relaxing. As we were cut off from electronics, I even made it through an entire book. Other than some flies, the weather was perfect for being outdoors all day. The second night was particularly beautiful as the sky was clear and being away from the city lights the stars were extra bright. The southern hemisphere also offered up new constellations for us to view. But, I have to admit that the most exciting part (for me anyway) was finally seeing some kangaroos in the wild!