Bowmans House

By Macca (Ian) 

October Long Weekend 2018 

Participants: Ian & Shari plus Ryan; Tony & Bec; John & Ann; John & Wendy; Alan & Robyn; John & Chrissie; Nick; and Lee & Nicole 

The meeting time for our trip to Bowman;s house was 8:30 am and although we arrived at 8:20 we were still the last ones there hence the writing of this report. The trip to Goodman’s Ford was uneventful, not even the bushrangers at the tunnel collecting their usual toll. 

We picked up John & Wendy at the Ford and headed through the gate of the National Park on the track to Bowmans. JZ was last through the gate and had issues with the club padlock. I jumped into Ryan’s car, as a Suzuki is easier to turn round on the track to help JZ, whilst Shari headed to camp with the KK. 

After setting up accommodation around the house we began the work for the weekend. The girls donned paper overalls and commenced painting the final section of the house fence. The boys, led by Lee with the blowtorch, began to repair the hot water plumbing that had begun to leak the last time we were at the house. As imperial and metric copper pipes are different sizes, we had to use some bush skills to blend the old with the new. We soon had a new T piece installed and were ready to add water. 

We plugged in the pump and no go. (Tip: if there is no power in the house check the meter box on the power pole near the shed). Once we had power, we soon had the pump running only to find more leaks in the pipes due to them having frozen, as well as being old. These proved impractical to fix, so we cut out the damaged section and bent the pipe over to be replaced on another trip. Water was again added to the system and this time we had leaks near the kitchen, which were soldered up. Success, kind of, as we still have slow leaks and the pump runs most of the time due to worn connections. A job for another weekend. 

Lee and Nicole headed for home and we had happy hour, dinner and then a few hours around the fire in the shed. 

Sunday morning saw a frost on most of the cars with the temperature at 3.5 degrees inside the Kimberley Karavan at 7 am. After a leisurely breakfast, 3 cars (Ryan, JB & Alan, plus passengers) checked out the fire trail while some others went for a walk/explore around the property. We drove to the end of the fire trail to find the gate locked with a wire rope. Something for National Parks to investigate. Tony & Bec found a new swimming hole and access across the river, at least while the flow is low. 

After lunch, we said goodbye to John & Ann as they were heading home to prepare for Matthew’s wedding the following weekend. 

Shari & Ryan, Tony & Bec & I headed across the river and discovered parts of an old access road, which we agreed needed to be explored the next day, as it was happy hour time. The night was spent in a similar fashion to last night and was only interrupted by Ryan getting accosted by a wombat as he left the shower. 

Monday morning saw most people heading for home in the morning while the 5 explorers from yesterday tackled the old road. After walking about a kilometre up a steep and overgrown road, we came upon a well-used and graded road, near where the power lines for Bowmans house are. We proceeded up the road finally stopping about 500 meters from the Wombeyan Caves Road, near the quarry. Going back down the road was tricky as the gravel was loose and slippery and the road very steep. 

Back on the Bowman's side of the river, we had lunch, packed up the Campers, tidied and locked the house and headed for home. 

We all agreed it was a great weekend, and we need to find the time to head up there again, maybe when the water levels and temperature is a bit higher. 

Macca