While we were out mountain biking in Tamworth, we met a local lady who told us the tracks in Gunnedah were equally as good if not better and we hadn’t really decided on our next destination so thought it would be as good as any. We had also been recommended by someone along the way that the Lake about half an hour from Gunnedah was a good place to camp so off we went!
The drive to the lake was less than an hour so it was not much of a trip but nevertheless the scenery was beautiful and made up of rolling grassy hills. Perfect cattle country. I must admit Tim and I were joking on the way in about what the campsite’s definition of “bush camping” would be considering it was a paid campsite but upon arrival we were happily eating our words. The normal powered campgrounds were on one side of the lake and although busy was still a very nice campground, however as we are self sufficient we were also given the option of finding a spot anywhere on the other side of the lake which would have stretched about 6kms in length. Even though we arrived on a Saturday so it was considered busy we still managed our own secluded spot with neighbours maybe 200m away. This all changed on Sunday when they all packed up and we literally had the whole side of the lake to ourselves for several days.
The lake is known predominately for water sports so it was great watching the speed boats zoom up and back on the water. This also disappeared Sunday afternoon when the crowds left and other than a few fishing boats the water was peaceful. Apparently the lake got down to less than 1 percent last year and it has only been the last 6 months that is has gotten up to 100% again.
We were both pretty excited to see these mountain bike tracks at Gunnedah so day 2 saw us up and driving the 30 mins into town. The entrance into the tracks was not well sign posted so after having to ask a local lady if the private property – do not enter sign was for bikers (it wasn’t) we were off! Well not very quickly as the first part was climbing up the mountain. But once we got up there and caught our breath we did a few of the top tracks and came down again. We quickly realised then that we took the downhill track up and the uphill track down which made the uphill climb we did so much harder. Needless to say we didn’t rate the Gunnedah tracks as highly as the Tamworth ones.
We road tripped out to the town of Manilla which is known for its paragliding off a nearby mountain. The town itself had a cute little Main Street with a few pubs, cafes and the like. But we mainly went to play the golf course. It was another course maintained by volunteers and another we were impressed with. It had sand greens again which definitely advantages me however not even that could stop Tim from
winning again. We talked to one of the volunteers and he said the course did not have a blade of grass on it 6 months ago. We seem to be lucking out seeing everything so green!
We extended our stay at the lake as it was just too beautiful not too enjoy for a few more days. It did also help that it had good phone reception. We were able to walk Griffy in either direction around the lake and apart from having to dodge a few cows, most of which Griff ignored and picking out a few burs from his paws the walks were awesome. There was also a rural airfield right beside the lake which had a very busy gliding community. So on good days we would constantly have a string of gliders being towed up and released above us. It was amazing to watch!
We decided to go try the mountain bike tracks again but on the way we worked out that the Tamworth tracks were only an additional 5 mins drive so we decided to go back there instead and had an awesome morning redoing those tracks. We can both see and feel the improvements we are making in our riding which is good. Though the cardio fitness still needs a bit of work!
Back at camp we extended for another night as we both were not ready to leave. Lake Keepit has been a definite highlight and we will definitely be back. S
