The Camping Thread

[buggerlugs]

Originally Posted by davenl5l

Leaving in 5 weeks to go north for 5 months. Parrachilna,innaminka,birdsville,mt.isa,barcley,ka kudo,darwin,lichfield and then the gibb river road(bucket list) unfortunatly have to be back for the bend 500 or would be gone longer

Can't you watch it on TV !!

[ThePursuit]

Originally Posted by davenl5l

Leaving in 5 weeks to go north for 5 months. Parrachilna,innaminka,birdsville,mt.isa,barcley,ka kudo,darwin,lichfield and then the gibb river road(bucket list) unfortunatly have to be back for the bend 500 or would be gone longer

Another good spot in Darwin area is Dundee Beach if you like fishing or just great sunsets away from the majority.

Jealous of the Gibb trip, maybe next year for us....

[davenl5l]

Already got camp sites and park n view we go every year with the stepson

[b0son]

Waiting for Alpine Way to be reopened so we can take our new camper down to Geehi…

[prydey]

Nothing planned until Easter when we go back to mambray creek.

Got to do the brakes on the van before then.

[Beastie]

We did a quick trip up to Maroochydore in Jan.





A quick pit stop in Port Macquarie



Ballina





Stayed on a friend's property in Diddillibah for a couple of nights.



Then one night at Alex Beach Tourist Park

[ThePursuit]

Gday fellow forumers, putting the feelers out well in advance as the wife and I start to plan for my long service leave later in the year.

We’ve got the new van ordered, should be ready the end of June, and we’ll travel down from Darwin to grab it in Victoria. Might take the kids to see some snow if there’s any hanging around close by at that time of year and catch up with some mates at Uluru as we pass each other on seperate travels, lucky buggers will be on their way home to Perth after doing the Gibb.

The big departure date however is the end of September and plan on being home for Australia Day 2021. So effectively 4ish months. We plan to head over QLD way then work our way down and around to SA and head up the guts again for home. WA will come at a later date as we both grew up in South West WA and anything up north is close to home from Darwin.

We did a similar 4week trip back in 2012 BC (we call it Before Children) in reverse though. It was a quick trip to see the major sites as neither of us had really been to the east coast beforehand.

We now want everyone’s help to plan the big trip, so if you know of any great secrets that can’t be found on google then let me know. From camping spots to specific towns, great food to the ‘odd’ must see, we’re all ears and your help would be appreciated. We are also mindful of the hard time a lot of places and people are having due to recent and ongoing events so even if the suggestion is to raise awareness and get some customers through the door then please suggest.

We will be travelling with our two boys, currently 6 and 3. Will be 7 and 4 whilst on our travels. We will have the Hilux and Masterpiece van and plan to do a fair bit of free camping. Should be self sufficient for a week I suspect.

We plan on documenting our travels subtly on social media between friends, family and the travelling community. We are definitely not ‘influencers’ by any means but would like to try and do our bit to promote travel within our own country, spend a few dollars helping the economy and stay away from those nasty viruses.

Sorry for the long post but in short if you have any suggestions that would be great.

Cheers, Sean

[Trevor 57]

Spent the weekend away in the Vict high country. 10 blokes, 7 vehicles. Didn't tow anything, just swagged it.

Met at Eildon Friday morning, climbed a few big hills around Eildon, did a bit of sight seeing at Rubicon. Camped the night near the hut on top of Mt Terrible (best views).

Saturday climbed a few more hills, went to the Mt Sterling, then to the mandatory Craig's Hut, I really couldn't give a **** if we went there or not - too touristy these days.

Camped near Kings Hut on the King River Saturday night, then home via a few hills to Lake William Hovell Sunday morning, then home.

I will post some pictures a bit later

[buggerlugs]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

Spent the weekend away in the Vict high country. 10 blokes, 7 vehicles. Didn't tow anything, just swagged it.

Met at Eildon Friday morning, climbed a few big hills around Eildon, did a bit of sight seeing at Rubicon. Camped the night near the hut on top of Mt Terrible (best views).

Saturday climbed a few more hills, went to the Mt Sterling, then to the mandatory Craig's Hut, I really couldn't give a **** if we went there or not - too touristy these days.

Camped near Kings Hut on the King River Saturday night, then home via a few hills to Lake William Hovell Sunday morning, then home.

I will post some pictures a bit later

Done a Trail Bike Tour up thru there years ago. Riding thru the snow was interesting..........

[Trevor 57]

My 2 young blokes and their mates ride motorbikes up there every year, they love it. They were reminiscing on the weekend

[Trevor 57]

[roKWiz]

High country trails are beautiful with great location names, did you see Mt Buggery and Mt Disappointment.

[prydey]

Very inspiring pics Trev.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by prydey

Very inspiring pics Trev.

thanks, we had an awesome weekend

[b0son]

Great to see its reopening.

[davenl5l]

Just booked ski beach at Innaminka for 21 days next month cant wait

[Beastie]

Looks like our annual Viscount group booking at Patonga is all systems go for August...

[Trevor 57]

My wife and I are planning a trip in Mid June now Victoria has opened up a bit - not sure where to go yet - got a couple of thoughts, but no 100% sure

[Trevor 57]

Just spent 7 nights at the Casuarina Camping Area in the Wyperfield National Park - drop toilet cleaned often, no fees, very clean site - you need to come in the Patchewollock end unless you are a true off-roader.

Was busy over the long weekend, which surprised us considering where it is, but absolutely no misbehaving, all very quiet. The last 2 nights we were on our own - 'twas lovely

[MercuryT]

I bought all the camping gear last year for the summer. New ideas and experiences etc.

"Black Wolf" brand which is apparently good quality.

Never camping again.

Ever.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

I bought all the camping gear last year for the summer. New ideas and experiences etc.

"Black Wolf" brand which is apparently good quality.

Never camping again.

Ever.

Why's that?

[BENT_8]

Spent the last 2 weekends in the Murray Mallee region, met someone with 20 acres of scrub land on the banks of a flood plain with a mix of Mallee scrub and river redgum.
As much seasoned wood as you could want, a basic dwelling with flushing toilet, hot water showers and mains power.

The owner is an older single woman who's struggling to keep it maintained so as a token of our appreciation for allowing us to spend time up there we've already helped her tidy up the dwelling and moved furniture she couldn't handle, fixed the leaking roof and laid a 4ft square slab for the rain water overflow tank to sit on and cut her 2 ton of firewood for the combustion heater to get her through Winter.

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Why's that?

Nothing against camping as I'm sure it's fantastic for many.

Well;
Brand new blow up mattress must have had a leak and died within an hour.

But worse.
Packing up the tent in rain was a nightmare!! I nearly lost it completely.

Most of it was probably my fault due to inexperience but no, never again.

Hence looking at Caravans!

[buggerlugs]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Nothing against camping as I'm sure it's fantastic for many.

Well;
Brand new blow up mattress must have had a leak and died within an hour.

But worse.
Packing up the tent in rain was a nightmare!! I nearly lost it completely.

Most of it was probably my fault due to inexperience but no, never again.

Hence looking at Caravans!

I was over a blow up mattress 30 years ago. I am now over swags. We have a LWB High Roof Sprinter Van decked out and a near completed 40 foot Hino bus/motorhome. The swag was burnt on a bonfire 3 weeks ago..........
The last couple of times in the swag killed my back.............

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

The last couple of times in the swag killed my back.............

I could never understand the rationale of a swag.

They seem to weigh quite a bit, have very limited room and cost a lot for what you get.

What is the advantage of a swag compared to a simple 2 person tent that costs 1/4th the price and weighs 1/4 as much?

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

I was over a blow up mattress 30 years ago. I am now over swags. We have a LWB High Roof Sprinter Van decked out and a near completed 40 foot Hino bus/motorhome. The swag was burnt on a bonfire 3 weeks ago..........
The last couple of times in the swag killed my back.............

Sounds great!

I'm genuinely excited about a Caravan.

I love the outdoors with my dogs but camping just seemed like a huge amount of effort for a weekend away (I'm pretty fit but I'm bloody lazy in other ways.....ha)

[Cav]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Nothing against camping as I'm sure it's fantastic for many.

Well;
Brand new blow up mattress must have had a leak and died within an hour.

But worse.
Packing up the tent in rain was a nightmare!! I nearly lost it completely.

Most of it was probably my fault due to inexperience but no, never again.

Hence looking at Caravans!

You can buy my caravan.

I've only had one root in it and that was on a Sunday.

[Cav]

I took a pole recently

100% of people were annoyed that their tent had fallen down.

(Better if you say it rather than read it.)

[Burnout]

Was going to the Gulf this year, now that's off.
So I'm off to Emerald, then Barcaldine & Aramac, then Longreach & Winton, then Kynuna & Isa and back to McKinley, then Blackall & Tambo, then Charleville & Mitchell, then onto Miles & home.

And to Scare the little Kiddies, I'm going with Cav. He'll be in his own van, so I can stay sane.
Expect lottsa photos on here of Cake.

[cheap]

^
Suggestion - assuming you have a 4WD

Miles to Roma
Roma to Carnarvon Gorge (camping)
Carnarvon to Emerald
Emerald to Cloncurry
Cloncurry to Lawn Hill (camping)
Lawn Hill to Mt Isa
Mt Isa to Boulia
Boulia to Birdsville (leave the van at Birdsville caravan park)
Birdsville to Big Red and then into Simpson and onto Poeppel Corner (2-3 nights camping)
Return to Birdsville
Birdsville to Miles