After counting down the days to leaving on their Big Lap adventure, grey nomads Brian and Debbie Williams’ departure was delayed by several weeks due to heavy flooding in northern NSW.
As it turned out, it was a sign of things to come. The couple’s experiences are in no way unique, but they hope that talking about them will serve as a cautionary take for other travellers about the speed with which flooding can hit, and the peril it can put campers in.
Brian and Debbie originally set off in their caravan back in 2022, and it was heavy flooding around the Clarence River at Townsend that caused their less than smooth start. Once they did get going though, their plan was to travel for two years, initially heading south through the Kosciuszko National Park and then on into Victoria.
Debbie and Brian saw plenty of flooding at the beginning of their dream trip.
While they had hoped they had left the rain behind, the heavens opened again at what was their first free camp, Denison campground in the Snowy Mountains.
“It was very cold and very wet and, after three days, it was time to move on,” said Brian.
Their next stop was the old caravan park at Cann River on the Victorian / NSW border which had since become a free camp.
“After setting up, we had a walk around and a look at the river which was running reasonably fast but, after living near the Clarence River in NSW, this looked like a very small stream and nothing to worry about,” said Brian. “How wrong!”
The couple had just finished cooking dinner when there was a knock at the van door.
“We were greeted by the police and the SES who informed us that we had to evacuate for fears of the river flooding through the old caravan park,” said Brian. “We packed up the caravan as quick as we could, helping neighbours do the same, and the 20 or so vans relocated to the centre of town where there was heavy rain all night.”
Brian and Debbie decided to keep moving south as they wanted to look at the Snowy River where it entered the ocean.
“We stayed behind the hotel at Arbost, a great little free camp,” said Brian. “And the next morning the manager came out in the rain to warn us that we needed to move on as the Snowy River looked like it was going to break its banks and close the highway … so, once again, we were being chased away by flooding rivers.”
While this looked like being a recurring theme of their trip, Brian and Debbie are relieved to report that, ultimately, it wasn’t.
However, they say that, in those first few weeks, they learned some valuable lessons about camping near river areas.
“We ended up covering around 47,000 kilometres over 2.5 years with many more experiences along the way,” said Brian. “But those beginning few weeks made us keenly aware that danger on the road is only a storm away.”
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