The Camping Thread - Page 3

BENT_8 · 12-04-2016, 12:18 PM

Most memorable trip i've done was 4 days on the back waters of the Murray at Chowilla Creek.
Had to fit everything i would need for the whole trip into my Kayak. Tent & Acc., SI mat, sleeping bag, food, clothing, drinking water etc.

Left the old customs house just out of Paringa near Renmark SA and paddled upstream over the SA/Vic border and set up camp just short of the entrance to the back waters of Chowilla.
Up early the next morning, repacked and on the water by 8am for a solid days paddle.
Late evening and we're almost to our destined camp site when we interrupted a family of ducks and ducklings. The parents became seperated from the young and as we set up camp a few hundred meters further down we could hear the banter as both parties tried to find each other in the dwindling light.
Soon enough the ducklings found their way to the glow of our campfire, so we carefully picked them up and carried them through the bush towards the still persistant calls of what must have been a frantic mother.
Five minutes after returning to our campfire we heard the unmistakable chirping of the ducklings on their way back and soon enough they wadled up from the waters edge and nestled in a huddle beside our fire with us.
Mum and Dad eventually made their way over to us, however, they were a lot more suss of us than their offspring and kept their distance, one eye on their young, one on us.

You couldnt script that stuff, to be under a cloudless, starlight night, around a campfire with mates, 2 days paddle from civilisation and in the company of a family of wild ducks.

Rose early the next morning, packed and onto the 3rd leg and another full days paddle.
Another night of isolation and up early the following morning for the paddle back to reality.

It is a beautiful part of the world and provides the opportunity to tour as we did or set up from a vehicle in one of the numerous campsites around the area. If you ever get the chance to get out there, take it, you wont be disappointed.

Unfortunately were putting camping on hold for a few months now, got a road trip to the Gold Coast coming up in June where my Daughter will play in the Australian Open, but when we get back i will be itching to pack the wagon and get back to nature somewhere.

We'll have to start a 'show us your camping trip' thread.

Mulga · 14-04-2016, 08:01 AM

Great thread......i love camping, but my boys are now in their late teens and have lost interest. It's always diffcult trying to get my mates to commit to a weekend......everyone always seems so busy. I just love the fact that you can get away from all the rubbish, even if it's just for a couple of days.

Would be good to get another thread going on favourite camping locations.

prydey · 14-04-2016, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulga

Would be good to get another thread going on favourite camping locations.

Probably doesn't need another thread. All things camping can go in here.

BFGasUte · 14-04-2016, 10:53 AM

Mulga,

What type of things do you want to do when you go camping ? Post up some and tee up a trip with other Forum members. I got to talking to the bloke at the local bottlo, and we did a trip. Have been out for some other adventures since. Your boys may rediscover camping as a cheap way to travel. If they have GF's that like it they will be away every week-end. Sadly not with Dad though !

Mulga · 19-04-2016, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prydey

Probably doesn't need another thread. All things camping can go in here.

Ok....here we go, here's my top three spots in NSW.....my first priority is that you must be allowed to have a camp fire.

For the battle hardened campers, these may not be considered as being remote enough, but they suit me fine.

1) Dunns Swamp - abt 20 mins east of Rylstone.
2) Coolendel - abt 1hr west of Nowra on the Shoalhaven River
3) Euroka - abt 20 mins from Glenbrook. Yes, this is close to a populated area, but for me its only a 75min drive, so very convenient.

**hawkgirl** · 21-04-2016, 11:29 AM

If you are considering going to rylstone, there's also Lake Lyell, if you want to try fishing for trout

nstg8a · 26-04-2016, 11:59 PM

We are going camping this weekend, can't wait. We haven't been out in ages.

Been doing the important prep work, like repainting the trailer haha

prydey · 27-04-2016, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

Been doing the important prep work, like repainting the trailer haha

funny you should mention the trailer. i have a 6x4 which my dad handed down to me. its about 37 years old, but its a good solid trailer and nice deep sides and i've redone the lights to LED's and put 15" ford steelies on it with 215 tyres.

anyways, all its been required to do over the last couple of decades is the occasional dump run and trip to the hardware store/landscape supplies etc etc. i rarely stick my head under the thing. seeing as how it was about to get a bit of a highway run with about 2-300kg in it, i thought i better have a look. i knew the floor was rusting away at the front, but discovered a lot of the welds that hold the A frame on were starting to look a bit suspect, as were the u-bolts holding the springs on....

long story short, i decided to borrow my brother in laws trailer for this trip. my one probably would have made it, but the noise from the passenger seat would have been unbearable if it failed in any way.

BPXR6T · 27-04-2016, 01:03 AM

Did Kangaroo Island recently and am looking forward to going back.

Work rented a big fancy house at a winery for a week for me to say thanks for my last project.

Not really my style so I was sure to throw some gear in the jeep and ended up spending most the week fishing around the island. Lots of good little camping spots around the island. Can drive on the beaches too.

Heading up into the Vic high country or possibly around Stahan in Tassie next week. Flip a coin.

**ebxr8240** · 28-04-2016, 02:01 AM

Love ruffling it.. Traveling around Aus at present .. In Monkey Moiré ..

prydey · 28-04-2016, 03:46 PM

firstly, apologies if the pics are a bit large for some. i've recently built a new PC with windows 10 and have yet to figure out how to resize pics....

so, just a couple of shots..

arriving at the visitor centre.

campsite

we were blessed with pretty good weather all weekend. it was quite cold the first couple of nights but we had enough bedding so after the first night we adjusted the amount of layers... our queen sleeping bag (oztrail) is apparently rated at -5c but after the weekend, i'd have to question how they come to that conclusion. thankfully we had more rugs to put on. the days were quite warm and on the it got quite windy toward the end as well.

the only drama we had was with our gas cooker. the jury was out on whether we needed a regulator on the gas bottle and in the end we didn't use one. this turned out to be a mistake. in the mornings and evenings it was fine, but at lunchtime we were having issues with massive flare ups. had to have the gas turned right down to control it. bottle wasn't in direct sunlight but it was out and must have been enough to change the pressure in it. the gas cooker was also borrowed off a work mate and had been sitting around for a while. it worked fine friday night and sat morning, but come sat lunch time, along with the flare ups, it then decided to get blocked. after a bit of a panic, rushing in to naracoorte to see what options were available and finding everything shut at midday!!... ended up buying a cheap kettle from woolies as the camp ground had a power socket in the bbq area.. common sense kicked back in and i decided to pull the burner apart. long story short, i managed to get one burner working and the other one could get a small flame going but not really enough to do anything. at least we had a burner again though.

apart from that, everything went pretty smoothly. the caves were awesome and plenty of bush walk trails and wildlife to keep everyone entertained. did a trip to Mt Gambier on monday to look at the lake and the sink hole which were both worth the trip.

all in all, it was quite a success i would say and the general consensus was that it would happen again.

next time we would organise a bit more storage, just to keep things tidy, and probably some more lighting. we kind of underestimated the lighting situation, but we also discovered you don't have to spend big dollars to get by. we picked up a couple of LED lights from a cheap shop in naracoorte for $8 each, and they actually worked really well. mind you, they weren't really built to last, but if you are stuck, and need something quick, they did the job.

BENT_8 · 28-04-2016, 04:06 PM

Good work fella, glad to see you had an enjoyable trip.

Can you give me more info on the campgrounds, are there plenty of sites on offer, are they reasonably level, all grass.
What facilities are available.

As for lighting, i always take my 2kg bottle with extension pole and gas lantern but to be honest, it usually stay in the storage box and we use a few battery operated led lights with magnetic bases and remote controls.
The remote controls are a good idea as you can climb into bed and then switch off the lights.
I usually have one in the tent and one under the awning incase of midnight dunny runs, they give off good light, are relatively cheap at Rays and the 4xAA batteries last for what seems like forever.

I plan to eventually install permanant 12v led lighting in the camper trailer at some stage.

prydey · 28-04-2016, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Can you give me more info on the campgrounds, are there plenty of sites on offer, are they reasonably level, all grass.
What facilities are available.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37....!3m1!1e3?hl=en

looking at the google maps link (if it doesn't work, look up wirreanda campground or bunkhouse) the drive goes in to a central roundabout. to the left is 4 powered sites in front of a row of trees. the small clearing directly behind these trees is the tent area. i was backed up directly behind these.

the campground consists of 10 powered sites apparently. you can see most of them are fairly defined on the map. they are generally hard gravel, and level, suitable for vans and campers. a few had grass nearby to pitch a tent if you wanted power.

the closest building is a shower/toilet/laundry block. the rest are other camping options (dormitory etc) but we never saw anyone using this part of the site the whole time we were there.

the down side is they don't take bookings, so its very much first in best dressed, and its a long way to go to discover you might miss out altogether. having said that, you can contact the national park and they were pretty helpful with us, letting us know it would be pretty quiet that weekend and we'd have no trouble. while we were there only half the sites would have been used at any one time. most people only stayed for a couple of nights. i guess once you have done the caves there isn't that much else to do if you don't like walking or just kicking back.

this is the toilet/shower block. its a nice big room with toilet cubicles one side and shower cubicles the other. it was cleaned daily.

this is looking at the tent area from the entrance at the top of the roundabout

from the other direction. there is about the same amount of room behind where the pic is taken from.

a bit further back

we took a gas lantern also, more for nostalgic reasons and for that camping atmosphere

prydey · 28-04-2016, 08:17 PM

the hut you can see in the pic is the free bbq. it has lighting so can be used at night and also a 240v power outlet. just out of shot to the left is another hut the same with table and chairs and a large double sink. its only cold water and it is drinkable but they recommend using your own water for drinking if you have it.

we did use the bbq once when our burner died temporarily, but otherwise we only used the toilets and were self contained for the rest. it was nice knowing you had the back up if needed though.

now the search begins for next time

this was a nice spot, but once you have done the caves and all the walk tracks, there really isn't that much to do. the caves are quite pricey as well, so if we returned they would probably be off the table, so it really is a sort of once only type spot, and sort of explains why it was pretty low key and most campers only stayed for one or 2 nights.

Mulga · 28-04-2016, 06:49 PM

That's a good set-up.

nstg8a · 28-04-2016, 08:21 PM

What are people using for cooking?

At the moment we just use a couple of those small butane burners but I hate the things haha.
Was thinking of just buying a small cheap gas bbq. Not a Weber fan haha, but there's so many different types of camp cookers.

It's just me and missus so we don't need a huge four burner set up.

prydey · 28-04-2016, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

What are people using for cooking?

At the moment we just use a couple of those small butane burners but I hate the things haha.
Was thinking of just buying a small cheap gas bbq. Not a Weber fan haha, but there's so many different types of camp cookers.

It's just me and missus so we don't need a huge four burner set up.

we used one of these
http://www.snowys.com.au/images/prod...35987-1_lg.jpg

i bought a smaller 'gasmate' one from bunnings, but that will be going back as you can't fit a kettle and a pan or saucepan on it side by side. when we eventually buy our own, it will be something similar size to what is pictured.

even for just 2 of you, i think they are still ideal, as you can fit a kettle and a pan of some sort on at the same time.

i noticed that some have different BTU rating for the gas. i have no idea what this means.

BENT_8 · 29-04-2016, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

What are people using for cooking?

At the moment we just use a couple of those small butane burners but I hate the things haha.
Was thinking of just buying a small cheap gas bbq. Not a Weber fan haha, but there's so many different types of camp cookers.

It's just me and missus so we don't need a huge four burner set up.

Depends on the time of year and environment, in winter we head inland so its usually a plate over an open fire, during the summer months its a 2 burner gas stove on a stand.
When im doing an overnight hike or kayak camping i take my Trangia cooker.

Mulga · 29-04-2016, 07:21 AM

I've got a Coleman dual fuel with two burners....it was expensive when I bought it, but its lastest 15 years and still going strong. It's very light and burns clean.

falcon_bandit · 29-04-2016, 08:50 AM

We usually bring a half drum for fires, then lay an oztrail plate across
https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sal...t-plate-cooker

Or just pinch a small plate from your home bbq and get creative lol.

It aint luxurious, but the food tastes better

**thefargo** · 30-04-2016, 11:08 AM

Spent a fair bit of time around Wilpena. I find Wilpena is too 'commercial' for me, so I go a bit more remote, but that means no toilets, showers etc. My preference in that area would be Chambers Gorge. Take your own, everything, but it is a great place and plenty of good spots to be found. I could go on for hours, so let me know if you want to know more, unless I'm talking to someone who already knows! Back from wilpena, at Rawnsley park, are some nice spots, but I haven't been there for a fair while, and it's not free.

BENT_8 · 30-04-2016, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefargo

Spent a fair bit of time around Wilpena. I find Wilpena is too 'commercial' for me, so I go a bit more remote, but that means no toilets, showers etc. My preference in that area would be Chambers Gorge. Take your own, everything, but it is a great place and plenty of good spots to be found. I could go on for hours, so let me know if you want to know more, unless I'm talking to someone who already knows! Back from wilpena, at Rawnsley park, are some nice spots, but I haven't been there for a fair while, and it's not free.

I've only been once myself, spent a week camping around the area.

I agree, Wilpena is pretty commercial, but its a good spot if your not into really roughing it, if i were taking the missus and kids i'd stay in Wilpena campground.

I spent 2 nights there, did St Mary's Peak through the inside on the first day, Black Gap and Bridal Gap back the second. Packed up and spent a night out in Brachina Gorge, a few good walks around there.
Then a few nights up at Aroona Ruin, beautiful place.

I've been meaning to get back for a while, i'd love to take the kids for a look.

nstg8a · 03-05-2016, 07:16 PM

This was our long weekend. Bloody loved it.
Even though first night we had a baby screaming it's lungs out half the night, and second night we had dingoes howling (now isn't that a creepy damned sound)... If only the dingoes had come a night earlier they could have sorted the baby problem for us.

That's the view we had from our campsite

Weather was a bit soggy the second morning but we were well set and really didn't care haha

XB GS 351 Coupe · 15-05-2016, 11:41 PM

Just preordered a new swag today

Can't wait to get out and use it when it gets here. Time to get the guns or bow out and head out on a hunting trip.

$349, preorder price $199 delivered.

Will report how good it is when it gets here:

https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adv...uble-swag.html

**fordomatic** · 16-05-2016, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Just preordered a new swag today

Can't wait to get out and use it when it gets here. Time to get the guns or bow out and head out on a hunting trip.

$349, preorder price $199 delivered.

Will report how good it is when it gets here:

https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adv...uble-swag.html

From all reports i have read they are a very good swag. I'm considering selling our very expensive Darche swag for one of these and then pocketing the change.

I love our Darche swag as we can still just roll it out and use it as a normal swag but in the winter i think it will be nice to have the extra room inside. When you get up and it's -10 outside it would be nice to not struggle to get changed. Let me know how you find it

XB GS 351 Coupe · 16-05-2016, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordomatic

From all reports i have read they are a very good swag. I'm considering selling our very expensive Darche swag for one of these and then pocketing the change.

I love our Darche swag as we can still just roll it out and use it as a normal swag but in the winter i think it will be nice to have the extra room inside. When you get up and it's -10 outside it would be nice to not struggle to get changed. Let me know how you find it

This will be my third swag, tried a few including the Darce one, and was not 100% happy with any of them, as they always feel too cramped. I know it's a swag but I still like some space.

So I have no swag at the moment as the others have been sold on, and looking forward to receiving this. It's almost like a 1 man tent but it's a swag

XB GS 351 Coupe · 18-07-2016, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Just preordered a new swag today

Can't wait to get out and use it when it gets here. Time to get the guns or bow out and head out on a hunting trip.

$349, preorder price $199 delivered.

Will report how good it is when it gets here:

https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adv...uble-swag.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordomatic

From all reports i have read they are a very good swag. I'm considering selling our very expensive Darche swag for one of these and then pocketing the change.

I love our Darche swag as we can still just roll it out and use it as a normal swag but in the winter i think it will be nice to have the extra room inside. When you get up and it's -10 outside it would be nice to not struggle to get changed. Let me know how you find it

I camped in my swag for the past week (Sunday to Sunday), one night was -2 degrees and it was fine inside the swag, (I do have a quality Doona I use for camping)

Was very spacious and comfortable, the mattress could have been a bit thicker or more dense, but was fine.

Plenty of space inside for gear, and cloths, if you don't store gear it would be a true two person swag.

**fordomatic** · 18-07-2016, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I camped in my swag for the past week (Sunday to Sunday), one night was -2 degrees and it was fine inside the swag, (I do have a quality Doona I use for camping)

Was very spacious and comfortable, the mattress could have been a bit thicker or more dense, but was fine.

Plenty of space inside for gear, and cloths, if you don't store gear it would be a true two person swag.

Awesome mate, thanks for keeping me posted

falcon_bandit · 16-05-2016, 03:15 PM

Camped on the weekend. Hate when this **** happens...... ground looked solid to me at the time, perhaps the drinks might of affected my judgement.

XB GS 351 Coupe · 17-06-2016, 04:38 PM

Got my new swag and set it up for the first time today just to see ow it sets up and packs up.

It's massive and appears to be of great quality it's a true two person swag, but will be great for just me and some gear.

Looking forward to using it hopefully next month as I have three week leave coming up. Will report again after I spend a night or two in it, mattress is nice and better than any swag I have owned in the past, material seems good quality, plenty of ventilation and openings quality fine grade fly/mozzie mesh.

Here is the link again, bargain price for what you get:

https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adv...uble-swag.html