Tag Archives: Camping

Paradise Valley 2019

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Easter for another year. Maggie is now a bit over 2, so we were a bit uncertain how camping would go. Once again, the hardest part is to get a decent nap given the temperature on a mild day is blazing hot inside a tent.

However, we went down for two nights which proved to be a great success. It wasn’t long enough for her to get too tired, but it was long enough that she really had a good time.

She played really well with Olive and Paddy, she loved driving Pa’s truck, loved the river, loved sleeping in the tent… loved it all, but especially the Easter Bunny came and gave her some chocolate, which she thought was the best thing ever.


The Campsite
 


The best part of camping

Easter 2018 – Maggie’s first camping trip

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Easter and we decided to camp with Maggie – she had just turned one. I expected it to be difficult, and it was. The worst part of camping I think is nap time – on a warm day it is too hot to nap in her bed which was in a tent. Yes, you can nap her in the pram or the parent’s caravan etc, however, she will only sleep 30 minutes in that circumstance and it isn’t ideal.


Biccies and drink by the fire

So anyway.

We got there on Friday after a long day stuck in traffic (we usually try to avoid Good Friday traffic but it couldn’t be helped). Papa and Nanny had decided to come with us for a night – their first camping trip ever. We got there and Maggie was super excited. Pa and Grandee had already set up nearly everything for us, so it was a lot of fun around. We were a bit nervous about the night but Maggie slept very well. It is looked like everything would be smooth.


Swimming!

Action splash shot

The issue of napping arose on Saturday. It was a very warm day, lots of fun at the river. But it was very difficult for Maggie to nap. Plus she loved everything so much, she was very stimulated. That night was terrible. Firstly some horrible people in the camp site next to us were blaring music. The rule of the campsite says “All noise such as radios must be turned off by 10pm. Please be considerate of your neighbours”. They read this as “noise can be unlimited until 10pm”. I complained to the new owners who said they would act but didn’t until around 10.30pm. On one hand I don’t blame the campers, that rule is very ambiguous. On the other, they certainly had a red hot go at us and the onsite managers, so I hope they aren’t allowed back. But anyway.

That night was horrible for us. Maggie was completely overtired and just not herself. She only slept for small stints and basically slept on Claire most of the night.

The next day, Easter Sunday, half of the horrible-camp left, so we were tempted to drive back to sale but thought we would give it one last crack. We were glad we did. Maggie slept well until 3am, but was difficult from there. Which isn’t too bad. And it was a lot of fun sitting around the campfire. A few people suddenly came down with gastro… we got hit too, but not until we had arrived back home on Monday.


Easter egg hunt on Sunday

Happy Easter!

So, overall, it was a lot of fun during the day. I think we made the correct decisions based on the information we had at the time. But gees it was a tough work. Not sure when I will take Maggie camping next, earliest I think at 18 months, perhaps not until next Easter.

Cape Conran – Boo the BOM

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One of those trips.

Was supposed to be Wednesday Thursday. Next thing you know its Sunday and the weather says the only good days will be Monday Tuesday. I pack the car up and just before I leave the weather has changed again. Now Tuesday/Wednesday. So on Monday I drive 5 hours to cape conran… BOM update is issued 5pm Monday to say that there will be no fishing on Tuesday.

But come Tuesday, the weather is actually pretty good. Nevertheless the boat ramp is really prone to westerly wind and we aren’t going out. Instead we target bream and fail in the river. Quite annoying as we easily could have got a sunrise to 4pm fish in, when the wind hits. Or even midday you know?

The next day is 50/50 according to the BOM, but when we wake up there is zero chance of getting out. So I go back. My wife and future deckie are away so this is the only chance I’ve had in a while.

Ah well, nothing you can do about weather.

Caught:
Skipper: Nothing
Dad: Nothing
Me: One mullet


Got off the boat and tried the channel thinking some flatties might be about

 

One good story of the trip was seeing a seal pop his head up from about 1 metre of where a guy was hitching his jetski back up to his trailer. The seal watched him intently. When the guy realised there was a seal right next to him he got a big fright.

Day Trip to Paradise Valley

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Brad and the girls (and the other Brad and his girl) was going to Paradise Valley. Although I had university and could not actually camp, I decided to go down for a day trip. It was a very hot day, and it was so great to be able to enjoy the water – I haven’t done so since I was a kid. It was also fun to see the kids play there the same way that I used to.

Camping in the summer seemed like a great idea – though I have to say the wind was fierce at times. Once destroying a tent. Not sure if that is something that occurs in the summer, but that was the only drawback that I could see.

Maddie summoning the courage to jump!

Mt Buffalo – Day 4

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Not much to write about for this one!

We woke up after the very loud thunderstorm and it was raining good!

We crammed everything into the car and basically took off straight away. The wet stuff made for a difficult clean up. Claire discovered quickly there was a “big thing” for us to stop at on the way home. If you didn’t know, she loves Australia’s Big Things. And so we did.


The Big Ned Kelly

I’ll leave this write up with the best photo that I got from the trip – taken by the wife actually! Love the moon in the shot.


We spoke about how we could make this a yearly thing. Of course, Claire and I will have a 6 month old by then…