Nyah Gliding Camps

by Helen Miller

How To Get to Nyah

Getting to Nyah is fairly straightforward, and the roads are surprisingly quiet. I think that everyone was going up the Hume Highway, or down to the beach for their holidays.

There are the some things to look out for.

For starters, if you are travelling northwards on the Western Ring Road, and think that you are going to turn left onto M79 Calder Freeway, then have a closer look at the map. No left turn. You have to turn into Keilor Park Drive first.

You will probably wish to avoid going through the middle of Bendigo, so turn off just after Ravenswood onto the A790, and go up through Lockwood. Then turn left at Marong back onto the A79 Calder Highway.

At Bridgewater-on-Loddon you turn right and nip up to Serpentine on the C274 and then onto the B260 Loddon Valley Highway.

You will then start to come across large signs with large flies on them. This is because you are about to enter a Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone. No fresh fruit past this point, and that includes things like tomatoes. You may as well buy your fruit after you are past.

Then it is straight ahead until Kerang. Here you turn left onto the B400 Murray Valley Highway. Just after you turn, there is a picnic area on your left, but if you want to buy some lunch, you will have go straight ahead first, to the main shopping area.

When you get to Swan Hill, there is a big green sign, which shows how you can avoid the town by bearing slightly to the right. But if you want fuel, or food, you will have to turn off (straight ahead) and go up the main road. If you look to your right at this turn-off point, you will see the Swan Hill Laundrette, which you might like to keep in mind, for if you ever stay more than a week.

The main street of Swan Hill is one roundabout after another, with parallel parking either side. This is where the petrol stations and banks are. If you want supermarkets, they are one road over to your left.

Next you are in Nyah. There is a petrol station on your left, then another on your right. This second place is where you can buy alcohol, and food like pizzas and fish & chips. Next shop along is a milkbar, where you can buy sandwiches. Then there is a general store, which is also the post office and has public phone booths and internet access.

As you drive out of Nyah, you will come to a big green sign telling you how far it is to Tooleybuc. Just after this sign, to your left, is the entrance to the Swan Hill Gliding Club Airfield. The road will take you to the hangar, and beyond that, the cross strip.

Back on the highway, past the entrance to the airfield, you will find a number of properties "cut out" of the northeast corner of the airfield block. There is a store selling fruit. Then there are a number of houses, one with a truck tire with “Mack” painted on it, and then a house with two white painted tires.

The next entrance is that of the camp. The edge of the road has light coloured gravel like the camp roadways

The Camping Ground

Nyah camp is an ex Roads Board Camp. It has perhaps thirty powered sites with hardstands for caravans and campervans. Except for some in-the-know people, such as fruit pickers, we were the only people there. So no loud partying after midnight.

The amenities block is generous sized all round. The shower cubicles were the largest, and the shower roses the highest that I had ever seen at a camping ground. There is even a small laundry with a trough and a dead washing machine as well as some clothes lines

We also have access to the Camp Canteen building. This has a paved area and a BBQ out the front. The building is a relocatable for a hot climate, so has small windows and a huge air-conditioner. It also had termites in the floor, which is why some of the lino is up. There are lots of tables and chairs, and power points to charge up batteries.

The kitchen area has both a shelved area for dry goods, and a walk in coolroom. So everyone puts their food boxes here. There is a fridge, and a grill top, and two gigantic stoves with huge burners. Also a selection of saucepans. There is a toaster, a electric jug, and a huge microwave. This has only two settings, defrost, and nuke-em, but is very effective for a quick reheat. There is crockery, glassware and cutlery.

A Nyah Day

The day at Nyah starts with a briefing at the hangar at about 9am. Last Christmas we were even getting weather briefings from the internet link at the post office.

Then it is time to check the gliders, and perhaps add a bit of water ballast.

Then the aim, for most people, is to fly away, and not come back for a while. Though, this sometimes involves a second try. For this reason, a roster will have been drawn up, saying who gets which plane on which day

If you have not tried winch launching, now may be the time to have a go, using the Swan Hill winch

After the pilots have all gone, it can get quiet. Just the time to nip back to the camp for a cold drink, or at Christmas time, have a sit under the air-conditioner fan.

Here is where we find the big advantage of this site. The most often used launching place is the north one. And just over the fence is the camp. No long trips back to the toilets. Even if you are not at this end, there are lots and lots of trees.

Then you might like a siesta. For it certainly is hot in summer. But at least it is a dry heat. You just have to drink a lot, and you will be fine. In contrast, at Cup Weekend, you will need a sleeping bag at night.

Of course, some of the pilots may end up outlanding. There were three outlandings at the last Christmas Camp. Time for the retrieve team to go off on an adventure.

Once the sun is down, the showers become popular. Then time for a meal. Most people either get some take-away in Nyah, or nip across the river to the Tooleybuc Club for a sit down meal.

This is not to say that the kitchen can’t become quite busy at times, and not only when the social committee organises a New Years Eve BBQ.