Marg and I took up camping in 1985 because we both love the Australian bush, the country air and all the other things the ‘great outdoors’ brings you. It also gave us a chance to be by ourselves, away from a busy houseful of friends, girlfriends and anyone else who felt free to walk in.
They were all very welcome off course but by the same token it robbed us of a lot of privacy, and this seemed to be the only way we could spend our weekends alone. Camping also made it possible to have some different annual holidays as three years of Christmas breaks in a hired caravan at Jan Juc had lost its appeal by then.
We purchased a safari tent which is made of strong canvas, a heavy-duty vinyl floor, a doorway with a flyscreen, a window that is held up by a centre pole. We equipped ourselves with all the things for camping like cutlery, gas light, gas cooker, food box and a canopy in case of rain.
Our favourite camping spots are Marysville, Point Leo and Phillip Island which are all 2 hours away from home. For the long weekend we drive further and go to Cumberland river, Lorne, Wilsons Promontory and Dargo.
We’ve also had some annual camping holidays in the last few years in summer. Breaks like the Queensland outback, a tour through N.S.W and north Victoria, Barossa Valley and the Flinders Ranges and we’ve also toured around Tasmania which was a real highlight.
We’ve also taken part in two safari tours, one with AAT King Bus Company which took us to Longreach, Lawn Hill Gorge, Mataranka, Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine, Alice Springs, Ayers rock, Cooper Pedy and home again via the Barossa Valley, and the other one with Australian Pacific which took us to Brisbane, Frazer Island, Great Keppel Island, Cairns Cooktown, the Daintree Rainforest, Normanton, Mt. Isa, the Birdsville Track, Wilpena Pound and home via Mildura.
We are looking forward too many more camping weekends and have also planned to revisit Tasmania for four weeks during next summer’s Christmas break.
