Camping 2019

I want to camp more. Some days I don't even know why, because there are so many things about camping that are hard or inconvenient that it's hard to justify that the pros outweigh the cons at all. But I still want to do it. I want to be out in nature, unplugged and offline for even just a little while. Breathing fresh air and enjoying God's creation.

Steve had his fair share of camping as a kid, so he's probably more experienced, but less enthusiastic that I am. As the girls get older though, I think it's much more doable, and certainly an experience that I want to give them while we can. While I appreciate that it's not particularly Steve's holiday of choice, I'm still so keen.

So, this September holidays, I took the girls camping.

Steve doesn't get as many holidays as I do, working in the corporate world, and he is saving those up for Christmas, so I took the plunge and took the girls. Before you start applauding (or worrying) I'll let you know; I didn't go solo. We went we with a family we know. Sophie goes to school with their son. Three of them, three of us. The numbers were good, and the overall adult to child ratio was a fabulous 1:1.

We went down towards Mt Barney on the boarder of Queensland and New South Wales. It was great. The campsite was busy, but didn't feel crowded. A little rain but mostly fine, chilly at night, lots of animals to see and barely any phone signal at all. Perfect.

The second day we all did a 14k hike, which was pretty tough, but so worth it. It was seven k's to this waterhole (sourced from an underground spring), where we splashed and cooled off before heading back the way we came.

We also did all the things you usually do when camping, like sitting around in the shade eating, collecting sticks for fires, cooking marshmallows and playing card games. We saw wallabies, Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos, a Bower Bird, Kurrajongs and a goanna. There was rock hopping at the creek and torch games after dark. Rachel's Nature Explorer Bag was in full use.

In the end the fun of going and the good memories definitely outweigh the trouble of packing even the kitchen sink to get there. Let's go camping more! Maybe one day I will even feel like I can take the girls on my own, but I think they would need to be older and more able to help out first. In the mean time, we will enjoy the time with friends. And the marshmallows.