We live on the south coast of NSW and, like most coastal areas there are not very many free camps to be found. This one has become a favourite getaway for us when we want a peaceful week away. I say week, because this one does get busy on weekends especially in the warmer months because it is only a couple of hours south of Sydney.

Bendeela is on the banks of the Kangaroo River a few kms from Kangaroo Valley, a pleasant village that has a good range of shops and a servo with swappa gas bottles so supplies are close at hand. There are two sections of the campground, the larger one is only open during school holidays, Easter etc but the other is open all year round. There is plenty of room for all sizes of vans and motorhomes. Drinking water and flush toilets are there and good access for swimming and kayaks.

In the evenings, the abundant local wildlife comes out including wallabies, kangaroos and wombats – lots of wombats. These in particular just ignore you and love nothing more than a good back scratch under vans and motorhomes – a bit disconcerting until you figure out why the van is rocking! We had to laugh the last time we stayed as a group of Asian tourists were asking things like ‘are the koala’s friendly’ or ‘is that your pet’ etc. There are no pets allowed in this free camp but that makes for a pleasant, quiet stay most nights. Like anywhere there are somtimes young ones that have no qualms about playing loud music until the wee hours but they usually only stay one or two nights in the weekends and it’s only happened once to us. Mid week though is usually very peaceful.

After we got our new poptop ready for free camping we took it here a few times and it worked brilliantly with plenty of sun for the solar panels and having water easily available is a real bonus.

Here’s a few photos from our last stay.