Murramarang National Park - Depot Beach

Where:         Depot Beach NPWS Camp Ground in the Murramarang National Park
When:          End Feb 2011 (3 nights, 4 days)
How Much:  $10/night/adult + park use fees (car)
Link:            http://www.visitdepotbeach.com.au/

For us this was about a 2.5hr journey south - just about on the limit for between feeds for Troy (8wks). We got there early afternoon on Saturday, and the camp ground was packed! We were lucky to find one spot that we just fit the trailer into. Talking to other guests on another day (they obviously come here a lot) they only arrive on a Thursday or a Sunday afternoon! By 11am on Sunday the camp ground was empty, except for us cramped into a tiny corner!
Good facilities: toilets; 20 cent hot showers (40 - 60c gets you a good shower, although the nozzles are a little old and scaled up, so some you have to run around to get the water) & cold water beach shower; drinking water (quality can't be assured, but we had not problems); baby bath (didn't use these, you have to get the key when the office is open). There is lots of shade from big tall spotted gums for tent camping, powered sites, sites big enough for trailers and groups. The ground is covered with bark chips, leaves and twigs, so even though there was a bit of rain it didn't get too muddy.
Unfortunately we had a bit of rain, but we still got to go swimming, and go plenty of walks on the rock platforms exploring the rock pools. Fishing is supposed to be good here too. There are numerous walks too. We only did the short 400m rainforest walk with our 3yo. There are so many beautiful beaches along this coastline, you could take you pick and probably not be disappointed! But it did seem that the colour of the water at Depot Beach was amazingly blue. A trip to Batemans Bay is only about 20mins (16km), with great fish and chips, more beaches, shopping/groceries/movies/all the usual stuff.

Beach & Rainforest photos:

Campsite:

Us:

Myall Lakes

Where: Myall Lakes, Violet Hill camping ground (Boolambayte Lake area)
When: end January 2011
Who: mum, kids, other family & friends
How much: $10/night/adult camping + vehicle
For more info see here: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkCamping.aspx?id=N0026

This was Troy's introduction to camping. Some people said I was crazy, some said brave, to go camping with a 3 week old... But in the group of campers there were nurses and even a midwife, heaps of kids to help keep a 3yo entertained, and  family to catch up with... How could I go wrong?!
There was lots of swimming done, and a couple of rides in the boat (watching wakeboarding, and wake-surfing). The water was great temperature!
Not many facilities here - just a few drop toilets, no drinking water, no showers. But the ground is nice, and plenty of grass. Some spots have a bit of a slope. This camp ground is really for tents, not camper trailers, but we did manage to squeeze our trailer in next to the boundary fence of the grassed area, near the toilets (good for early toilet trained 3yo's!).

Camping set-up and Camp area photos:
(First photo: main camping area, leading down to a jetty to the left; Middle photo: part of our groups set-up, with boat ramp down to the left; Last photo: rest of our groups set-up)

Activities:
(Swimming is near the boat ramp, so it's between moored boats.)

Location:

(Boat ramp at the bottom left of photo.)