The camping thread

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Howard Moon

Howard Moon

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts Shiny Penny
Dec 14, 2008
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Essendon
clearly with international travel at a standstill, and after lots of us were cooped up at home for months, camping has been a great release for lots of people.

We have been avid campers for a while now, whatever it takes to get the kids out of the city and do something different i guess... hows it every time you overhear any parents talking the first thing you hear is.. 'yeh we gotta do something or else they just sit on the devices all day'. camping is as good a thing as any to remedy that.

anyhow id love to hear from fellow campers, whats your set up like? where are your sneaky go to places?

our setup is limited to what we can fit in the sedan - which i kind of like, we take everything we need and nothing we dont. We have a fast-up tent with 2 rooms and a front porch area which we have 3 walls fitted on (that area is our sanctuary if it rains...) under the porch we have a table, a small camp kitchen (table, zip cupboard, gas burner/grill) and 4 chairs, inside the tent we have a couple of stretchers a couple of air beds and sleeping bags. 1 esky full of food and ice, and thats about the extent of our space but as far as a setup goes we dont really lack for much.

We seem to frequent the same places alot so i wouldn't mind hearing any of your camp spots;


We mainly go to;

Tidal river, wilsons prom -

pros: close to beach/river/bushwalks/mountains. great amenities. Food available onsite. Roaming wombats
cons: always windy, get a few load hoon packs at night, bit far for a weekender, wombats rummaging through your tent if you leave food out at night. no fires (big downside)

I probably consider this the mcdonalds of camping, easy, fun, cant really go wrong but its hardley getting away from it all. plus no fiores is a bummer, you pretty much go to sleep when the sun goes down.



Bimbi park, otways

pros: great bush camping spots down the back, you feel miles away in the bush, good amenities, camp kitchen/fridges if you need to store food, koalas, fires anywhere you choose, good bush walks, cheap sites

cons: too far for a weekender, no real beach access




Halls gap/grampians

pros: great location, amenities, lots of wallabies, can have a fire
cons - just a caravan park really


cathedral range state park

pros: great areas for busk walks/waterfalls - rustic, away from it all
cons: no flush toilets..


Cumberland park, past lorne

pros: great amenities, lots to do, river, beach, mountains
cons: not really away from people and buildings, expensive


I've been meaning to try Marlo and Mallacoota in Gippsland next and also looking for some good Forrest/mountain places

anyhow, where do you go? how often do you camp? whats your setup like?
 
Howard Moon said:
clearly with international travel at a standstill, and after lots of us were cooped up at home for months, camping has been a great release for lots of people.

We have been avid campers for a while now, whatever it takes to get the kids out of the city and do something different i guess... hows it every time you overhear any parents talking the first thing you hear is.. 'yeh we gotta do something or else they just sit on the devices all day'. camping is as good a thing as any to remedy that.

anyhow id love to hear from fellow campers, whats your set up like? where are your sneaky go to places?

our setup is limited to what we can fit in the sedan - which i kind of like, we take everything we need and nothing we dont. We have a fast-up tent with 2 rooms and a front porch area which we have 3 walls fitted on (that area is our sanctuary if it rains...) under the porch we have a table, a small camp kitchen (table, zip cupboard, gas burner/grill) and 4 chairs, inside the tent we have a couple of stretchers a couple of air beds and sleeping bags. 1 esky full of food and ice, and thats about the extent of our space but as far as a setup goes we dont really lack for much.

We seem to frequent the same places alot so i wouldn't mind hearing any of your camp spots;


We mainly go to;

Tidal river, wilsons prom -

pros: close to beach/river/bushwalks/mountains. great amenities. Food available onsite. Roaming wombats
cons: always windy, get a few load hoon packs at night, bit far for a weekender, wombats rummaging through your tent if you leave food out at night. no fires (big downside)

I probably consider this the mcdonalds of camping, easy, fun, cant really go wrong but its hardley getting away from it all. plus no fiores is a bummer, you pretty much go to sleep when the sun goes down.



Bimbi park, otways

pros: great bush camping spots down the back, you feel miles away in the bush, good amenities, camp kitchen/fridges if you need to store food, koalas, fires anywhere you choose, good bush walks, cheap sites

cons: too far for a weekender, no real beach access




Halls gap/grampians

pros: great location, amenities, lots of wallabies, can have a fire
cons - just a caravan park really


cathedral range state park

pros: great areas for busk walks/waterfalls - rustic, away from it all
cons: no flush toilets..


Cumberland park, past lorne

pros: great amenities, lots to do, river, beach, mountains
cons: not really away from people and buildings, expensive


I've been meaning to try Marlo and Mallacoota in Gippsland next and also looking for some good Forrest/mountain places

anyhow, where do you go? how often do you camp? whats your setup like?
Click to expand...

Haven't been camping for years and married into a family where camping doesn't enter their vocabulary. When I grew up though, we went camping on the Glenelg River on Easter, ANZAC Day, Labour Day (SA) and Queens Birthday long weekends almost without fail.

All camp sites on the river have little jetty/landings to fish from (mullet, bream and the odd mulloway) or even swim in the warmer months, you can bush walk to your hearts content either following trails (Great South West Walk cuts through), fire breaks or even just wander through the scrub to see what you can find.

All camp sites have a picnic bench and a cast iron fire place with a flip down hot plate. This is great as you can load up the fire when cold and let it burn down so you can flip the lid down to cook, all fireplaces are surrounded by packed earth so you can shovel some coals out for camp oven cooking.

All sites also have a rain water tank and toilets, though almost all toilets, at least when I frequented it 25+ years ago, were long drops.

They have areas away from the fires where you pitch your tents but generally it's a 15m walk or so.

The only down side for you would be distance from Melbourne, but if you wanted to spend 4 or 5 nights there I'd suggest hiring a trailer and going for it. In the old days you'd have to pay at the rangers office in Nelson and get a permit (back then was like $10/night, probably triple now) but I am assuming they'd enable it to be done online by now.

The biggest thing to watch out for Melbourne folk is which camp sites to hire. There aren't many bridges over the river so you'd want to try get eastern side camp sites if possible (from memory Battersbys, Wild Dog Bend, Forest Camp, Red Gum Landing).

While the tent isn't in one of the approved spaces, this is a typical view of a camp site. Generally the rainwater/toilets would be 20 odd metres behind where the photo was taken:

1612303445387.png
 
I should add, the biggest threat to your food supplies here will be possums, not wombats.

Also there's a natural rain warning system. If you hear the kookaburras in the very far distance, then the calling gradually gets closer and closer you can almost guarantee it'll rain within the next 30 minutes to an hour.
 

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Pweter said:
Haven't been camping for years and married into a family where camping doesn't enter their vocabulary. When I grew up though, we went camping on the Glenelg River on Easter, ANZAC Day, Labour Day (SA) and Queens Birthday long weekends almost without fail.

All camp sites on the river have little jetty/landings to fish from (mullet, bream and the odd mulloway) or even swim in the warmer months, you can bush walk to your hearts content either following trails (Great South West Walk cuts through), fire breaks or even just wander through the scrub to see what you can find.

All camp sites have a picnic bench and a cast iron fire place with a flip down hot plate. This is great as you can load up the fire when cold and let it burn down so you can flip the lid down to cook, all fireplaces are surrounded by packed earth so you can shovel some coals out for camp oven cooking.

All sites also have a rain water tank and toilets, though almost all toilets, at least when I frequented it 25+ years ago, were long drops.

They have areas away from the fires where you pitch your tents but generally it's a 15m walk or so.

The only down side for you would be distance from Melbourne, but if you wanted to spend 4 or 5 nights there I'd suggest hiring a trailer and going for it. In the old days you'd have to pay at the rangers office in Nelson and get a permit (back then was like $10/night, probably triple now) but I am assuming they'd enable it to be done online by now.

The biggest thing to watch out for Melbourne folk is which camp sites to hire. There aren't many bridges over the river so you'd want to try get eastern side camp sites if possible (from memory Battersbys, Wild Dog Bend, Forest Camp, Red Gum Landing).

While the tent isn't in one of the approved spaces, this is a typical view of a camp site. Generally the rainwater/toilets would be 20 odd metres behind where the photo was taken:

View attachment 1050321
Click to expand...

you gotta break that cycle!

take your kids and family as a routine like once a year on a public holiday, turn them into a camping family so they can turn their family into one

i just know it wont be long before the kids wont be seen dead with the old man, im going to make the most of the time left by forcing them into the bush with no creatuire comforts ;)
 
Howard Moon said:
you gotta break that cycle!

take your kids and family as a routine like once a year on a public holiday, turn them into a camping family so they can turn their family into one

i just know it wont be long before the kids wont be seen dead with the old man, im going to make the most of the time left by forcing them into the bush with no creatuire comforts ;)
Click to expand...

Mate I wish. I thought I'd get things moving by starting in a cabin at a caravan park. Kids thought it was ok, the wife hated it.

The thing is friends and even her relatives are into it but she has no interest in getting back to nature, it's resorts and motels for her, not to mention the bloody dollars!
 
Pweter said:
Mate I wish. I thought I'd get things moving by starting in a cabin at a caravan park. Kids thought it was ok, the wife hated it.

The thing is friends and even her relatives are into it but she has no interest in getting back to nature, it's resorts and motels for her, not to mention the bloody dollars!
Click to expand...

might be your and the kids thing then - and you can dress it up as her having a weekend to herself. win win
 
Howard Moon said:
might be your and the kids thing then - and you can dress it up as her having a weekend to herself. win win
Click to expand...

Pass - I'm not risking a 13yo and 10 year old who thinks she's 13 (both girls) get bored with only me to take their boredom out on. The cycle needed to be broken about 5 or 6 years ago which is when I tried with the caravan park.

Oh well, when I go camping it will have to be lads weekends.
 
Love it.

We've got a secret spot we go to every December up near the border. Plenty of shade, creek, clean enough pits, $5/night honesty box, the works, and busy at new years but dead otherwise. We try to get away a few times during the year too. Off to Bimbi Park next weekend Howard, though going the quick and easy option of one of their retro caravans.

Our setup is mid-rejig now we've got a kid and aren't piling in with friends so much, and has necessitated a roof rack for the hatchback to haul up what we need. Big dome for the three of us, dome shelter out front with everything else in it. We've also got a huge multi-room thing in the shed but not sure that's a better option than pushing through until the boy's old enough to have my hiking tent.
 
GUMBLETRON said:
Love it.

We've got a secret spot we go to every December up near the border. Plenty of shade, creek, clean enough pits, $5/night honesty box, the works, and busy at new years but dead otherwise. We try to get away a few times during the year too. Off to Bimbi Park next weekend Howard, though going the quick and easy option of one of their retro caravans.

Our setup is mid-rejig now we've got a kid and aren't piling in with friends so much, and has necessitated a roof rack for the hatchback to haul up what we need. Big dome for the three of us, dome shelter out front with everything else in it. We've also got a huge multi-room thing in the shed but not sure that's a better option than pushing through until the boy's old enough to have my hiking tent.
Click to expand...

I actually got racks last week off marketplace, should gain us a few extra goodies.

We have always slept on air beds but last time we froze like no other time... Then I read something that I couldn't believe I didn't think of before... If it's freezing outside, the air inside the mattress will be the same temp duuuh. Hence we picked up some stretchers off marketplace this week, going to the cathedral ranges this weekend for a test run. I hate setting up for 1 night but it is what it is.

I'm just keen to sit around a fire and talk rubbish for a few hours without devices present

You been to Bimbi before?
 
GUMBLETRON said:
Yeah a few years back. Koalas at night are something else.

I did stretcher as a kid, graduated to the big air mattress, had one deflate on me overnight one time too many, went to the hiking mats with an extra sleeping bag over the top. I find stretchers a bit coffin-y.
Click to expand...
Stretcher?

iu-152.jpeg

Do you mean a swag? Or is there some other kind of stretcher I don't know about?
 
I usually camp at the Sawpit if I'm fishing in Portland.

Pros: it's free, close to some great fishing
Cons: it tends to attract an assortment of *******s who think 'free campground' means it's a free-for-all and play music, run generators and generally make a racket to all hours

Never had an issue with animals pinching my food although I keep it fairly well locked down. It's actually a lovely spot if you go outside of peak times.
 

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I forgot to mention there's no running water so you have to bring your own, and the toilets are not really maintained so BYO bog rolls.
 
GUMBLETRON said:
Yeah one of those - I find I wind up flat on my back with my arms straight down my sides like a coffin - where on a bigger bed (or closer to the ground) I'll sprawl my limbs every which way.
Click to expand...
Ah I see. I've been tempted to get a swag but I've always wondered whether it would be a bit claustrophobic with everything closed up :\
 
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