We were there just after you... Took I camper trailer. The road in to Dunn's Swamp has been up graded over the years. There use to be cattle grid at the wooden hut on the way in.
Great video! All your vids have been brilliant so far. Would you mind posting a video about what you typically pack for your overnight trips and how you pack it? You've got me keen to get into bikepacking! Thanks😊
Hey mate, I am keen to make a few videos like that but I've been super busy at work so they keep getting put on the back burner. I will get to it eventually. If it doesn't happen this year, in 2025 i'm taking a year of work to travel Aus. I'll have heaps more time to make videos. I've had questions about my GPS too. I've got a few little short videos i'd like to make happen. Just finding the time is the hard part. Thanks for watching!
Always like your persistent cheeriness and optimism, even when the trail disappears beneath fallen trees or when the trail turns to gooey mud. I have tried exploring a little further north in the Capertee Valley. Now, inspired by you, I will check out Dunn’s Swamp in the future. Love your adventures. 😊
Thanks mate. I was definitely having some doubts pushing through the thick scrub, wondering if we had made the right decision to push on. But from making these videos, I know the pain of pushing through will only last a few hours, and the joy at the other end is always amplified if you've done it tough. I also love reliving the harder moments watching them back. It's worth it. I was looking at potential routes from the Capertee Valley up to where I was, but I wanted to film some stuff about the tarp and my Alton visit, I didn't want to make it huge days and then run out of time to film what I had in mind. decided the route we did should be easy enough. The rain ruined all my plans but oh well. I saw another route from Capertee following the Turon river over towards Safala. So many ideas and not enough time. Thanks for watching mate!
@@advanturest if you head towards Sofala from there, near Capertee, the climbing gets rugged and steep. You would be doing a lot of hike-a-biking. Back in the ‘80s I tramped around there a lot doing the 3rd year mapping project for my geology degree.
@@bruce.KAY-bike-drifter yeah I looked at a few tracks and some did look steep. There was some I saw which were longer but seemed to go around on more country roads and then back along the turon river up past Turon Gates. Finding a good loop is such a pain haha
I see the banana made another brief appearance, hopefully it got eaten and not squished on the road. always enjoy your videos and seeing the crazy things you do
haha, Yeah it was stashed safely in my frame bag and when I thought about eating it I got it out. that strap actually held it really well and with the front basket I think it may have survived up there. Cheers Mate!
I loved just hanging out, drinking my beers under the tarp, listening to the rain. It was cool. Didn't mind the raid at all. Falling asleep to the rain is even better. Pretty excited to do another rainy ride now. Cheers!
LOVE you vids and adventures. Ps two things. Flit stone fireplace for the rain. Rocks and a flattish rock on top to protect fire and have under tarp. Also you can buy silicone tarps or something to put over fire pit to keep rain off the fire and you swag. Keep the adventures coming ❤
Cheers mate, There was already the little fire ring setup and I would have loved to setup the tarp much closer but nothing went to plan. First thing was how I set the tarp up. I didn't realise how big my tent was and I had no space left to even chill out. Ended up spending the night under Josh's tarp. I also spent to much time setting up the tarp. I should probably have learnt some knots first haha. I like the idea of building a shelter for the fire with rocks. I'm so keen to head out in the rain again. It was so cool sitting under the tarp listening to the rain sipping on my port. Good Times
@@advanturest yep I love camping too. In the rain I use a rocket stove for ambiance, heat, cooking and of course less timber needed. Google how to make rocket stove from rocks or bricks. A fun twist. Yeah I always stuff knots. Girls weren’t allowed to do scouts when I was a tomboy kid. You will tweak your kit. Glad you got to keep your beers 🍻 haha I also love that you keep it real... comical even 😉🙃 looking forward to your next vid guys
Epic epic epic, the weather was out to get you both on Day 1 + Day 2 choice of bashing through that route with those fallen trees with Josh ? He's unhinged and a treasure !
Haha, Josh saw this comment before I even showed him. I think it's gone to his head haha. But seriously, it's so good having a mate that is super keen. It's not just moments like this where we have to make a decision to keep going or not. It's often before we even leave home. Locking in a weekend can be hard, if the weather forecast turns bad it can be easy to pull the pin. Josh will always stick it out rain hail or shine. Some of our best memories on these trips has been when we've decided to ride when everyone else has pulled out. Riding on the edge of bad weather is often when the magic happens. We've had snow, epic sunsets, rainbows, the list goes on. I'm grateful to always have that one bloke that I know won't pull out last minute. Actually, he did once, and I had a mad time solo. He was gutted haha.
I actually booked a site just in case and when I did there was only 3 spots available. I think the weather forecast scared most people off. I can imagine how busy it would normally be. Cheers mate!
Nothing wrong with a bit of a slog. Everyone get such a route sooner or later. :) And it looks like the last part of the trip would have been perfect for some wider more bouncy tires...
I've been a bit obsessed with doing all these trips on the older 90s bikes, but I was telling Josh at the back end of this ride that I'm thinking about getting a modern bike. I think I do enough of these trips to warrant it. My main reason is so I can fit bigger wider tyres on. One day I'll make it happen.
@@advanturest i went straight away with a fatbike due to similar reasons, where the main ones were that it works on snow and that i can easily fit different tire sizes (up to 29x3) It is a slog on paved roads & certain kinds of gravel, but off the beaten path it just roll over everything that i throw at it, like a monster truck
Hi Guys. Thanks for another great vid, really enjoyed it. We camped and walked Wollemi recently and loved it. I couldn’t see a date for when you actually did this ride on the YT commentary, perhaps I missed it. When was it please? Love your work with the POV vids, and the stills. Keep up the great work. Cheers Pete 😊
Thanks mate. We were there on the 4th and 5th May. The video wasn’t uploaded for a few weeks. It was a fun trip. I really want to go explore around Dunns Swamp but just didn’t have time on this one. I’ll definitely be back one day. Cheers for watching 👍
Hey man, I think it's cool that you're making plans and having (creative) ideas on how your video could work and the tarp thing and such. And of course the popcorn. And sometimes things just go another way. Or it's just raining cats and dogs the whole day and you can't do anything. But sometimes things do work out! And I like how you prepare stuff for your videos. I'm rooting for your next trips that things go your way again or even better! Take care and thanks for the great effort of making these videos. They bring me joy!
Thanks mate, great comment and very much appreciated. One of the reasons I started making videos was to practice telling stories. If I can, I like to have something to talk about or at least some idea to film. If I can have some kind of story to edit to it just makes it more enjoyable. For the most part though, they never go to plan. I either run out of time or I just don't film what I had in mind. My main problem is all my ideas are just in my head, and as soon as I'm out riding I seem to forget about any plans I had. I can't tell you how many times I've planned to talk about the gear or bike I chose for the trip, or even just introduce myself. Always forget those ones haha. Anyway, it's all good fun and I'm always looking for ideas. I've got a few good ones but haven't found the time to make them work yet. work gets in the way of everything haha.
haha, I had my reasons. Every time I ride in the rain wearing my rain coat. I end up just as wet underneath. Not sure if it's sweet or just moisture, but I decided to get wet and then wear it over the top of my dry jacket at camp. I got a bit cold setting up but once I got changed I was a happy man! Cheers!
That was the first and only time I've used it. I can't wait to play with it again. Sitting under the tarp was so cool. I'm excited to learn how to tie knots and try some different setups 🤣 Yes my knot knowledge really let me down haha.
It was the same meeting him, felt like I'd known him for years after following his channel and Instagram account. I nearly had him on a bikepacking trip soon after but the bike I was trying to line up fell through. Maybe another time if we ever cross paths again.
Oh thats cool. Do you think they would have naturally grown there or been planted at some point? we saw a few different areas with them and I was wondering what the history of the land was.
From Perth. Love all your videos. You inspired me to make one and i did. I don’t like talking in front of camera so i made my son to do it ha ha. Hope u don’t mind, I mentioned your channel at the end of my video.
Cheers mate, I just watched it. Thanks for the shout out. I'm doing a lap of Aus in 2025 and will be around Perth at some point in the first half of the year. Im guessing around April. If your'e keen to take me on a trip I'd happily tag along and be shown some rides. I'll have my bike and gear with me and plan to do a heap of trips throughout the year.
Haha, Scotty did a video years ago in the Budawangs where he rode an old pushy at the start to punch through some km's a little quicker. I've often wondered what ever happened to that bike. I also found a bike for sale called the Swagman. It came with a front rack and a nalgene bottle cage. I tried buying it for Mattsy and I was going to surprise him with it. The seller never responded to my messages though, and eventually it said sold on it. I was gutted. Anyway, I do have, what I think is a good video idea for Scotty and myself to do, but I'll keep that idea to myself for now. Don't want anyone to steal it 🤣
Planned to do something like this in the near future. Thanks for the effort and the video. I'll watch it and see if how you went. If you enjoyed the route, I'll steal your gpx and follow it. Thanks 👍🏼 Subscribed and liked BTW
Yeah I enjoyed it, I think I'd enjoy riding anywhere though. When I was looking at Satellite images I could see heaps of rocks behind Dunns Swamp, I thought there might have been more spectacular Pagodas to look at but there really wasn't many. I thought that section was going to be really scenic. It looks like it had been hit by the 2020 fires pretty bad too. I was also hoping to have views of the swamp from over the back but we didn't see it. I think if you're not stopping to film stuff like me, you could get out to Dunns Swamp quicker and spend some time looking at the Pagodas there. We rushed that section a bit, we also had no idea what it would be like around the back and didn't want to waste too much time. This video should give future riders a better idea of what to expect and may give them more time to explore Dunns Swamp, or even camp there. The country roads were quiet so no complaints with the riding. The mountains in the distance were also really pretty to look at while riding, I didn't expect such views so that was nice. There was about a 10km section of pretty overgrown trail and or sandy trail in the Nullo Mountain state forest. All part of the fun though. Cheers
Yeah I rode the bit from the fence in the south to the road up the north end a few years back while family camping at Ganguddy. Plenty of potential out there but you've just gotta pick the best route. A local guide would be handy but finding someone who knows the trails out that way is another challenge. Your channel could attract some good ideas from people who know the area. Love your videos mate. Inspirational stuff. Happy trails brother. If you're riding the Central Coast region again, look me up. I can probably give you some ideas. Mick Shaw on strava.
Thanks mate. 3 cameras were used but the main camera camera was the DJI Action 4, this was used most. I also had my bigger Mirrorless camera which is the canon r6. This was mainly used around camp, a little at Dunns Swamp, and a few shots when we were eating burgers in town. The last camera I used was my older GoPro 8. It was on my chest at the start but when the battery died I put it away. Hope that helps 👍
There is a very good chance of that. Everything I like doing is illegal. Heck, camping where we camped was illegal. Supposed to be 200m off a track. Probably broke some laws flying that drone too!
@@advanturest move to the northern Territory, here you can still drive your 4wd on the beach, you can buy a crossbow over the counter no questions or license or permit needed, we only have Fish size limits on barra, the rest of the fishes you can take as many as you like any size you like, it is the second easiest place in Australia to get a fire arm license, speed limits are 130kph, no boat rego or boat licence required, you can have a beer while you wave at the coppers you are operating said boat and they can do anything, you can ride a bicycle on the footpath legally without a helmet, the only time you have to wear a helmet is if you are riding on the road, but if you don't and the cops pull you up, it is only a $20 fine for not wearing a helmet, see I am a born and bred new south Welshmen, but I left, because of all of the stupid laws in n.s.w
