"Kangaroo Valley, in the Illawarra near Nowra" Kangaroo Valley by Kate-Me

On one of our last nights camping before heading home, we wanted to find somewhere to camp for free around Nowra, (2 1/2 hours south of Sydney in the Illawarra region close to the coast) as we planned to visit friends in the area the following day. We looked on the map for a possible good place to camp for free, and the one which seemed to hold the most promise was a picnicking reserve next to a power station, about 5 kms outside the little town of Kangaroo valley. Free camping was allowed there as well, so with little daylight left, once again, after being on the road all day, we arrived at the reserve almost at twilight.....and this is the scene that greeted us as soon as we got out of the car.
I was delighted because in all my years camping and travelling Australia, the closest I've come to a wombat in the wild, are the dead ones seen occasionally by the sides of roads, after they've been hit by cars (cars which would no doubt come off second best after hitting a 45 kg creature such as these!).

And not only was there one near the flat grassy campsite we'd chosen, but several others near some trees and bushes a little further down.
I could get to within about 4 metres, but that was it. After that, they all took off for the bushes, surprising me with how fast they could actually run for such huge, fat animals (I guess they lumbered along - reminding me a bit of pigs)

Once our tent was up and our dinner was cooking on our portable gas stove, we could sit back and enjoy the twilight, and the sight of other wombats heading past, one with a small (maybe 20 kg - which is tiny for them) baby in tow. So cute.
These wombats made this campsite the best one of the trip.
We could hear them a little in the night, snuffling around, but by morning, even very early, they were all long gone.

We returned to this camping spot again 1 year later, and had even closer encounters with the wombats (one of them bumped into one of our car's tyres while we were sitting in it....and when a 40 kg animal 'bumps' your car, you feel it ;-)

The historic Hampden Bridge in the township of Kangaroo Valley.
Was an amazing sight to see a bridge designed like a castle!

In the main street of the quaint, crafty township of Kangaroo Valley.

• Pros:seeing wombats was great! A quaint little town too
• Cons:didn't allow enough time to see the area
• In a nutshell:a very picturesque valley with great wildlife and lots to see