The Camping Thread

[kawazuki]

if your going to do caravan parks you cant go past a big4 or discovery, have great facilities and always very clean, if you become a memeber you get discounts and special rate

there s lots in reach from brissy
look at the national parks website.. sooo many nice places up there..

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Ohhh LOVE this thread.

As kids we used to go camping ATLEAST 2 major trips a year.
1 was always easter, 3 families went (dad & his best mates who's oldest kids are my age), it was generally 3 men and 6 kids OR 6 adults and 6 kids (dependant on our mums feeling like going or not).
As LO's we slept in our parents tent but once we got a little older we had a dedicated 'kids' tent, we had a food/wet weather tent and our parents either had small 2 man tents or slept in the back of utes etc.
We took motorbikes, lots of esky's fishing gear, enough food for the whole trip. We went 4WD, motor bike riding, fishing and swimming and it was the GREATEST fun growing up.

TIPS:
Have a 'camp box' buy bits and pieces you will need and store all your camping stuff in 1 spot.
Buy things like noodles, tinned soups, etc with long used by dates and keep them in the box sealed well, plastic knives & forks sets, cups, mugs, keep old pots & pans to use for 'camp'.
spare batteries, a torch etc.

At the moment we go to the caravan we have set it up so that when we get there everything is basically ready to go, we can unpack the caravan and DD's can nap straight away etc if they need to, we leave batteries and everything in their own little places and we know what needs to come out and what can stay until the next day.

I love camping, i tell DP the caravan is NOT camping, even though we cook on an open fire, have no running water etc.... i love the old school, pitch a tent and rug up camping... ahh the good old days.
Can't wait to get my girls their first tent.. camp outs in the backyard.. hehe

[kawazuki]

thats it ZF
we have 4 camp tubs lol :blush:

the fridge is constantly in the car, we are pretty much ready to go at any stage.. wake up lets go camping ok, its ready to chuck in the 4wd and go...

we always keep those big black rubbish bags, as 9 times out of 10 there aren't bins close by and we find the cheapo ones just dont cut it..

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Ohhh also to save on always buying ice... keep your old milk bottles or cordial bottles, fill them up and chuck them in the freezer ready to go whenever you are... the don't leak water everywhere so it stays 'ice' longer IYKWIM.
They are great for on the bottom of an esky with some crushed ice on top.

**obviously wash them out well**

[Miss.September]

WOW!!!!!

I was fully expecting to come on this morning to bump this but WOW!!!!

We love Best Friend Holiday Retreat in Yarram - gorgeous spot and super super dog friendly too, so the entire family can go. They have fenced camp sites so your pet can't escape your tent area, and you don't have to have them always tied up. We've camped on the Rye foreshore which was a disaster - too much noise and ratbags, fights breaking out at 3am.

DH and I went out yesterday and bought some bits - those interlocking rubber mats for the floor, another camp stove (those little ones with the tiny gas bottles), a little fold up chair for DD, a new air mattress and the first of what I'm sure is many storage tubs!! We've compiled a list of "Must Have's" so I'll post that here when I've got a bit more time later today, and then if anyone wants to add to it, fantastic! I'll get to personals then too.

YAY! Thread off to a great start!!

[Miss.September]

double post

[~Hestia~]

My tip is to invest in a vac sealer, I LOVE ours!
I cook basic things like meat sauce, casseroles, soups and vac seal a serve and then freeze it at home. Then all you have to do is stick the packet in a pot of boiling water until heated through, cut open the bag and voila - there is dinner! Soooo quick and easy for when you've been travelling all day and there is not enough daylight or energy left to actually cook something. It's even easier if you think ahead and move the meal out of the freezer into the fridge section so it defrosts while you're driving.
Also useful for freezing meat as it keeps for much longer when it's been vac sealed.

[Miss.September]

CM - How do you keep it frozen during your trip? Is an esky enough, or do you have a fridge/freezer of some sort? Also, how long does it keep once defrosted? TIA

[Jaycee]

Fantastic thread! Can't wait to hear your "must have" list MG!

We go camping 3-4 times a year, we're going this weekend actually to Robe (SA) which is a beautiful spot and great 4wdriving!

Lulu, we hired a motorhome in Cairns last months, and to be honest, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I've always, always wanted to own a winnebego, but after that trip we've decided caravan and car is definitely the way to go.

Main reasons are it was so noisy with all the stuff rattling around the back, and also every time you want to go somewhere you need to pack all your stuff up each time, where as with a caravan you just unhitch and off you go

[kawazuki]

we have a fridge freezer its an evakool
you can get waeco's but the motor is inside so you loose fridge space.

ours runs off the 12v car charger and draws almost no power
we leave it on connected to the second battery and the volts go from 13 to 12.5 over night.

running a second battery is also good as you can then run a hotwater heater off it when outback for your shower and instant hot water for cuppa tea or coffee..

the vac sealer sounds awesome, think i will have to invest in that one..

we are also putting to 8inch tubes off the roof racks to carry water with us, as we plan on being 00% self sufficent when we go out back

[AnyDream]

batemans bay big 4 beach resort right on the beach beautiful facilites, wonderful staff, the most awesome camp kitchen and its so close you can base yourself there and do dozens of day trips to different things

wehn we did our holiday earlier this year I told jase I would retire and live in a van park if I could live here LOL

Totally second the Bateman's Bay Big 4 - it is gorgeous and you are totally beachside there. We stayed in one of their cabins - bit pricey but OMG deluxe - even had an enormous spa bath for crying out loud! That's my kinda camping LOL.

Also want to put in a mention for Hervey Bay - there are a couple of van parks along the foreshore there - gorgeous location tho not sure about facilities or price etc.

We stayed in a great place in Brisbane - Brisbane Holiday Village - fantastic pool & playground for kids, really clean new facilities. We stayed in a cabin here as well, 4 star - it was fantastic. Would love to have lingered longer. While we were there DH and I did fantasise about camping trailers, and my latest obsession is campervans - after seeing the 3 guys in their vintage revamped VB going around UK on that telly show last month!

[Lulu]

Lulu, we hired a motorhome in Cairns last months, and to be honest, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I've always, always wanted to own a winnebego, but after that trip we've decided caravan and car is definitely the way to go.

Main reasons are it was so noisy with all the stuff rattling around the back, and also every time you want to go somewhere you need to pack all your stuff up each time, where as with a caravan you just unhitch and off you go

Oh good stuff, this was one of my main issues. Also with the bloody great big bus conversions I can't see me driving one through a city...or even to the good spots in the Top End.

[Ella]

just subscribing. We are another family that loves camping, haven't been able to go since DS was born, but definitely keen to find out how everyone else does it so we can too!

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Love to join up.
We are big campers and we usually go camping about 4 weekends a year plus a 2 week camp sometime during the year when dh has holidays. We are looking forward to when we can start going camping again with DD!
We feel like we are 'well set up' too
We use a good tent (an 8 man) and Im certain it will fit a portacot in it if that is what we end up using when we take DD out.
We have a 'saucepans' box
A 'utensils' box with all the cups, plates bowls & cuttlery
And a 'camping' box with toilet paper, fire starters, cans of random food, sponges etc
We have a bench with a zip up cupcoard underneath, we also store our plates in there
And we also have a kitchen sink! We found it on hard garbage but it was broken so we fixed it! Oh and I cant forget our fold up bbq!
We love going camping, the only problem is not having a toilet when we are going bush. I can imagine it will be hard with dd. So we may start with the big4 parks first with her so we have ammendities (sp?)
Dh has long service leave coming up in a year or 2, so we will probably do a big drive along the coast right round aus. SHould be exciting!!!

[Jaycee]

No probs Lulu. You definitely won't get a motorhome or bus past Cape Tribulation up north!

We really want to do a big trip around Australia in around 3 years time. I have lots to plan!

[aussienic]

Great thread We love camping.

My fave spots are: Agnes Waters & 1770 (qld) Cania gorge (qld) Mataranka (nt) Litchfield National Park (nt)

We have only started caravan camping since we had DD but hope to get back into bush camping soon.. Got a little to used to all the amenities I think

We bought a camper trailer in 08 and just love it.

Our next big holiday is to Cape York in 2012. I so wish we were going next year but the people we are travelling with need more then a year to save the cash needed. But thats ok it gives us 2 years to save and save..

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Ohhh Ohhh Ohhh something i thought of for people with LO's camping and no toilet, check out the (damn i forgot what it's called - will find it... , was suggested to me for DD while TTing for out and about but would sooooooo be a great campers tool.. and folds up small.. am looking into getting one if A decides she doesn't like weeing in the bush!

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Oh I went into Aldi yesterday and they had camping stuff on sale, tents and portaloooos and kitchen cupboard! so cool!