If you’re heading north up the Hume Highway it’s always a bit of a juggle of the kilometres as to where to break the journey. Oh, for the days when we were 20 and just dashing up to Sydney for a sleepless weekend. Once you’ve reached Campbelltown there’s little chance of finding anything so it’s a case of picking up the expressways and pushing through to Newcastle or thereabouts. We once ended up spending the night in a truck load swap depot at Tarcutta, never again, sorry truckers.

Gundagai has several freedom camps and caravan Parks and is a very interesting town. Try the Coffee Pedaler for a good java and try to stop yourself from singing the song.

Jugiong is our favourite. Swing off onto the old highway and you’ll find a huge showground area in a wide bend of the Murrumbidgee River. Park anywhere and you can have fires If weather permits. It’s far enough away from the highway to give you a peaceful night’s sleep. There’s a toilet block at the gate near the donation box. If you’re lucky there may even be a horse event on. Across the road is a gourmet foodstore called the Long Track Pantry. If you want to try their jam-packed fruit loaf, you will need to ring ahead and order one. Trust Woody, it’s worth it. Next door is the grand old Sir George Hotel. A seriously good gastro pub with a pleasant atmosphere and once again you’ll probably need to book ahead for a meal.

Marulan, we only recently discovered this little pub in another bypassed yet historic town south of Sydney. Camping is behind the Terminus Hotel. A walk around town is well worthwhile as there are some delightful buildings. On the night we stayed it felt like snow wasn’t far off, but there were blazing fires in the pub and a welcoming bunch of rugby fans watching the finals. The meal was great, and we fell in love with the publican’s Jack Russell.

I can recommend the Moss Vale showgrounds too, but it is on a very busy road.